Your brain's dopamine system wasn't designed for infinite scroll, autoplay, and variable notifications. It was designed for earned rewards — and social media is engineered to exploit the gap between those two realities.

In this episode, Dr. Kelsy Vick closes out the April Spring Cleaning Series by breaking down what dopamine actually does in the brain, how social media platforms are specifically built to trigger tolerance and receptor downregulation, and why real life starts to feel flat when your reward system has been worn down.

Plus — the personal story of traveling with her phone on airplane mode and what it revealed about how automatic scrolling had actually become.

What you'll learn:

• Why dopamine is your brain's engine for motivation, not just pleasure
• How infinite scroll, pull-to-refresh and variable notifications exploit your reward system
• What "dopamine scrolling" actually is — and why researchers named it a public health concern in 2025
• The science behind why real life feels flat after chronic overstimulation
• 5 evidence-based ways to restore your dopamine system starting this week

This is the spring cleaning your brain actually needs.

🎧 Miss the rest of the series? Start with our episodes on the lymphatic system and glymphatic system linked below.

Dopamine System Episodes:

The Female Brain, Dopamine, Motivation, & Our Menstrual Cycles!: https://youtu.be/vp5mqJNcXmQ?si=QCtMbHgz7sVSe_HW

Spring Cleaning (Dopamine Detox!): https://youtu.be/IKAUeugRBbc?si=nitogU1bmaSoCCWR

Build Your Own Dopamine Menu: https://youtu.be/NkBMiiMG_mw?si=LuvBj_sTUPa_hVx1

The Summer I Turned Pretty & Your Dopamine System: https://youtu.be/wnkYARrPL8o?si=S5jUC8WJLd-OSSC8

The Female Brain on Motivation & Discipline: https://youtu.be/ckrbPK9mmgs?si=oJOqno8srn-d5hay

Lauretani et al. (2024) — International Journal of Molecular Sciences — Dopamine as neuromodulator

Dresp-Langley (2023) — Biomedicines — Dopamine, anhedonia & anti-reward brain state

Sharpe & Spooner (2025) — Perspectives in Public Health — Dopamine-scrolling as public health concern

Internet addiction & dopamine tolerance — PMC — Receptor downregulation mechanism

Emotional Reinforcement & Social Media (2023) — PMC — Intermittent reinforcement & dopamine sensitization

Tyler et al. (2023) — Frontiers in Public Health — HIIT & dopamine D2 receptor upregulation

Bastioli et al. (2022) — Journal of Neuroscience — Voluntary exercise & striatal dopamine release

Desai et al. (2024) — Cureus — Dopamine fasting & mindfulness evidence

loving the pod? click the follow button, & we'd love if you could leave a review! thank you x 1000 :)

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insta:: @dr.kelsyvickdpt & @wellnessbigsispod

youtube:: @dr.kelsyvickdpt

tiktok:: @dr.kelsyvickdpt & @wellnessbigsispod

Welcome to Wellness Fix the pod, a

bi maven media production where we

2

believe you deserve real education

from real experts delivered

3

in a way you can actually use.

4

I'm Dr.

5

Kelsey Vick, your board certified

orthopedic doctor of physical therapy, and

6

this podcast was built for the girl who

is done feeling overwhelmed and frustrated

7

by conflicting health noise and is ready

for something she can actually trust.

8

Every week we have honest

science-backed conversations

9

about your health, your hormones.

10

Your brain, your body and

everything in between.

11

No fluff, no fear mongering, just

the truth because understanding

12

your body is the most powerful

thing you can do for yourself.

13

A table full of experts built for

the curious girl who wants the truth.

14

So welcome.

15

Your seat is waiting for you.

16

The way social media grips our

attention was not an accident.

17

It was engineered to specifically

exploit the way your reward system works.

18

The cruel irony is that the things

that we often reach for to help with

19

this dysregulation are often the

things that are directly causing

20

the poor functioning of the system.

21

Each one is a cheap stimulus

that the brain just adapts to

22

making real life feel dimmer.

23

By comparison, the boredom

is the actual point.

24

Over time, as the cheap stuff

decreases, the real stuff

25

starts to feel real good again.

26

And this is the actual spring clean,

not eliminating pleasure, but restoring

27

your ability to find it in real life.

28

When was the last time you sat somewhere

without reaching for your phone?

29

I know anytime I am waiting for a friend

at a coffee shop or just trying to zone

30

out my phone is the first thing I grab.

31

And if you've ever tried to do some

sort of phone or social media fast,

32

you know that sometimes when you pick

up your phone, you just out of habit,

33

go to the apps that you frequent.

34

It's scary how automatic this

has become and how much we rely

35

on that external stimulation.

36

so let's chat about spring

cleaning this entire experience

37

And about one of the most important

aspects of our dopamine system

38

That so many people forget.

39

Welcome back to Wellness Fixes the Pod.

40

I'm your host, Dr.

41

Kelsey Vic, a board certified

orthopedic doctor, physical therapy,

42

and a pelvic floor physical therapist.

43

And this is the final week of

our April spring cleaning series.

44

Not spring cleaning your house or

organizing, although that is also

45

great, but spring cleaning your brain

and body health and wellness style.

46

So the first few episodes we talked

about the lymphatic system, the

47

cleansing system, the immunity system,

the waste clearance system of the body.

48

We talked about the glymphatic system,

which is like the lymphatic system.

49

But for the brain.

50

We talked about alcohol, our liver, and

this week we are going to talk about

51

the dopamine system, but in a new way

that we haven't chatted about it before.

52

We've done quite a few episodes on the

dopamine system here on wellness fixes

53

the pod, so I'll link all of those below,

but you can also just scroll back through.

54

We have covered motivation, the

reward system, dopamine detoxes.

55

We have covered the

dopamine system extensively,

56

But what we haven't covered yet is

the dopamine system as sort of our

57

brain's engine, not necessarily just

its reward and motivation system.

58

Most people equate dopamine to pleasure,

59

but researchers in the Journal of

Molecular Science have described it more.

60

Accurately as the chemical responsible

for motor control, motivation, reward,

61

and cognitive function like your brain's

engine, not just it's reward button.

62

It is the neuromodulator in

your brain that makes things

63

feel like they are worth doing,

64

the wanting after certain things,

not just the having when you

65

actually receive that reward.

66

Dopamine is a neuromodulator,

meaning it doesn't just send signals.

67

It's actually in charge

68

of modifying your brain's

physical architecture over time.

69

this is why what you expose your

dopamine system to repeatedly actually

70

matters from a structural level.

71

When your dopamine system is working well,

you feel great in the morning, small wins

72

actually matter, and you can be present

without needing this constant input.

73

When it's worn down,

everything feels flat.

74

Nothing feels that motivating.

75

You can't focus and living your day-to-day

life just doesn't feel like enough.

76

And this is the part of the

dopamine system that we will

77

talk about spring cleaning today.

78

The part of the dopamine system that

is in charge of you reaching for

79

your phone when you are just sitting

alone, because you need some of that

80

input, some of that stimulation,

and I know we've all been there.

81

As a quick little story, my

husband and I took a trip to Asia

82

earlier in the month of March.

83

It was the most wonderful trip, but

anytime we go abroad, I'm always the one

84

that turns my phone on airplane mode.

85

We don't wanna have to pay for data

for two of our phones are international

86

data for two of our phones.

87

So my husband's phone is the one

that we always leave on because

88

he is the expert navigator.

89

I am terrible with direction,

so it just makes sense that.

90

His phone has the GPS and mine stays

on airplane mode, the entire trip.

91

And at the start of the trip, I actually

hate it because I realize how often I'm

92

grabbing for my phone When I'm riding

the subway or just waiting for my meal

93

or waiting for my coffee, it acts as this

94

stimulus for awareness for how often I

actually grab my phone because I'll grab

95

it, And I'll realize that I can't just go

on social media or surf the web because

96

I'm on airplane mode and not in wifi.

97

So it's this really eye-opening experience

for a,, how often I actually reach

98

for my phone when I am just sitting

alone and relatively bored, rather than

99

just sitting in that boredom and B,

by putting my phone on airplane mode,

100

I'm sort of forced into

cleansing the system.

101

And let me tell you by like the second

or third day in, I feel amazing.

102

I love having my phone on airplane mode.

103

I love that it forces me to be more

present with where I'm at, especially

104

on vacation when I'm in a super

cool place like Seoul, Tokyo, Kyoto,

105

Kura, like exploring the world.

106

I love having my phone on airplane

mode to help sort of cleanse

107

this part of the dopamine system.

108

Our brains were not designed for this

constant stimulation from our phones.

109

your dopamine system evolved for a world

where rewards were spaced out and earned.

110

If we think about ancient history.

111

Things like finding food, making friends,

112

or doing some sort of physical activity

required purposeful, hard work and effort.

113

Which helped deliver a

meaningful dopamine response.

114

We actually had to work for some

of those rewards that we wanted,

115

and the reward was typically

proportional for the effort involved.

116

we now live in a world where we get

rewarded for constant low effort actions.

117

Every scroll, every like every refresh

of the page gives us more and more

118

of that stimulation with

little to no effort.

119

Research has shown that initially

when we open one of these social

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media apps, that initial stimulation.

121

Causes a rise in dopamine, but this

constant overstimulation actually

122

causes the opposite effect to happen.

123

decreasing the number of

dopamine receptors and making

124

the dopamine receptors.

125

We do have less sensitive.

126

, Researchers have actually called this

tolerance the same phenomena that is

127

shown in substance addiction.

128

Where neuroimaging and brain

imaging studies have actually found

129

measurable, decreases

in brain dopamine levels

130

in people with long-term compulsive use.

131

Which is wild to think about because

I can vaguely remember when my

132

parents got a cell phone and if

they are considering that generation

133

long-term use, and it wasn't even

a social media cell phone, right?

134

It was one of those bar cell phones with

one, two, three actual buttons on it.

135

So I can only imagine the

compounding effects of what truly

136

is long-term use when we talk about.

137

Kids born into the social media

generation and the cell phone generation

138

versus long-term use is studied

by adults who got their first cell

139

phone at the age of like 25 or 30.

140

A 2023 review found that social

media actually thrives on

141

intermittent reinforcement.

142

If you think of a slot machine, it is

143

that unpredictable reward placement.

144

Like randomly appearing likes

or ads or aesthetic content,

145

the intermittent nature, the randomness,

the unpredictability is the actual point.

146

Uncertain rewards create a stronger.

147

Dopamine response then guaranteed ones.

148

And we've talked about this before

when we dove into the science of how

149

the actual dopamine system works.

150

But these uncertain, intermittent

rewards placed throughout our

151

social media is one of the reasons

we can't stop checking our phones.

152

Think of some of these design

features on your social media apps.

153

You have the Infinite Scrolls, so you're

constantly getting this low effort reward

154

without any sort of breaking points.

155

The pull to refresh, to actually

refresh your Instagram, your

156

TikTok, your Pinterest, that

mimics pulling on a slot machine.

157

The autoplay features on YouTube

or TikTok or Instagram removes

158

that barrier to make that decision.

159

Do you wanna continue?

160

It says, nope.

161

We're gonna just autoplay the next

one and keep your attention here.

162

You get variable notifications, so this

random, unpredictable nature of these

163

notifications keep you engaged and wanting

to come back and check more frequently.

164

Researchers actually coined a

165

they called it dopamine scrolling.

166

Identifying it as a separate

public health concern

167

from just general internet addiction.

168

Dopamine scrolling is characterized by.

169

Active content seeking, rapid

platform transferring, and of

170

course, significant time investment.

171

These researchers found

that dopamine scrolling.

172

Releases small doses of dopamine,

and because the reward is variable

173

and unpredictable, you come back

over and over and over again,

174

building up a tolerance over time,

175

meaning you only need more and more

stimulation to feel the same thing.

176

The way social media grips our

attention was not an accident.

177

It was engineered to specifically

exploit the way your reward system works.

178

and it's not this dramatic incident.

179

It's not this dramatic crash.

180

It's a slow dimming, and you've

probably already felt it.

181

Just like I had once I.

182

Was forced into airplane mode on

my phone and had to take away some

183

of that constant need for scrolling

184

because I didn't wanna pay

for international data.

185

You might resonate with my own

example, but you also might resonate

186

with putting your phone down after a

scroll and feeling somehow worse than

187

before you actually picked it up.

188

The book that you used to love, that

you now cannot read for more than five

189

minutes eating while watching tv, because

eating alone with your own thoughts feels

190

like too much and you need some sort of

stimulation while you're eating a meal.

191

Sunday afternoons.

192

That should feel peaceful

and restful and zen.

193

Now feel

194

restless and empty.

195

This low grade constant inability to be

somewhere without reaching for your phone.

196

This inability to just sit with

yourself, sit in that boredom

197

and sit with your thoughts.

198

or having the experience that things

that used to make you happy no longer

199

make you feel as excited anymore.

200

Researchers call the end

stage of this anhedonia.

201

Which literally means the

inability to feel pleasure.

202

They describe it as the result of what

they call an anti reward brain state,

203

where the dopamine circuitry

has been so dysregulated

204

by some sort of compulsive behavior.

205

That it begins producing the

opposite of what the reward

206

system is supposed to deliver.

207

They also found that things like chronic

stress and poor sleep actually feed in

208

to this dopamine system dysregulation.

209

So it's the cyclical pattern that

people can't seem to get out of.

210

That's not only perpetuated

by this low effort,

211

consistent reward, scrolling

pattern or behavior, but it's also

212

amplified by things we all probably

experienced at one point or another.

213

Sleep dysregulation and a chronic stress,

214

and we might all feel this way, but

the cruel irony is that the things

215

that we often reach for, to help

with this dysregulation are often the

216

things that are directly causing the.

217

Poor functioning of the system,

218

the scroll, the snack, the show, they're

all feeding in to this calibration issue,

219

not because these things are bad,

220

but because each one is a cheap

stimulus that the brain just adapts to.

221

Making real life feel

dimmer by comparison.

222

We've all experienced this, especially

in this age of cell phone use and

223

social media and all of the things

that we find inspiration from.

224

But if we rely on that too, too much, if

we do it compulsively, if we continue to.

225

Have this lack of awareness

surrounding this low effort, multiple

226

consistent reward sort of pattern.

227

It's going to wear down the system,

but worn down systems can be restored,

228

which is why we're talking about

spring cleaning the system today.

229

And it's something I need

to be reminded about.

230

And I was only just now recently.

231

kicked out of this pattern

and forced outta this pattern

232

because of that vacation.

233

But if you guys also struggle

with this awareness, maybe when

234

you go on vacation, it's okay to

put your phone on airplane mode.

235

And I know so many people are better about

this than I am, but I was so grateful that

236

we were traveling internationally and I

was pretty much forced to put my phone on

237

airplane mode because it ended up being

one of the best ways to feel so much

238

presence and so much gratitude about the

experience I was experiencing right then.

239

So to spring clean this system,

it's not necessarily what you can

240

add, but it's what we can subtract.

241

The way we help restore this

system's proper functioning

242

is by reducing those cheap hits.

243

So the real ones, the ones we

want to enjoy, the ones we work

244

hard for, can actually land again.

245

You are clearing out some of that

clutter so that those major moments

246

can feel that much more rewarding.

247

So here are some tools for

your toolbox if you are also

248

looking to clean up the system.

249

Number one, create daily

low stimulation windows.

250

The discomfort we feel when we sit without

our phones, whether we are waiting for our

251

friend at happy hour or even just sitting

after a meal is our brain recalibrating.

252

So try one meal a day without your phone.

253

One walk without headphones

driving, without a podcast

254

or your favorite album on.

255

That one's hard for me.

256

Doing dishes without a show on or some

sort of stimulation in the background.

257

A 2024 literature review found

that people who engage in these

258

intentional low stimulation periods

259

reported reduced impulsive behaviors,

increased ability to focus on tasks

260

for longer periods, and feeling less

overwhelmed and more in control.

261

they also note that mindfulness

activities like meditation

262

have been shown to have positive effects

on this dopamine system regulation.

263

However extreme versions of these

low stimulation periods, so think

264

complete isolation or severe

restriction can actually backfire,

265

moderate, slow, and steady wins.

266

The race is truly the take

home message when it comes to

267

daily low stimulation periods.

268

The boredom is the actual point.

269

Sitting with it is what recalibrates

the system, and it takes practice,

270

but it is one of the tools for the

toolbox to spring clean this cyclical

271

pattern that we might find ourselves in.

272

You can think of it like physical

therapy for your reward system.

273

The second tool is to add friction

between you and your phone.

274

And Erin, who we chatted with back in

February, she is the habit coach and ex.

275

On behavior change, especially when we are

talking about forming or breaking habits

276

to help us eventually reach our goals.

277

She talked about how she approaches

social media with multiple barriers.

278

So anytime she feels like going on

social media, she has to redownload

279

the app from the app store, re-log in

before she actually engages in that

280

behavior, which is providing two barriers.

281

Provides even more friction

between her and that activity.

282

So the second tool for

your toolbox is to actually

283

purposefully put in that friction.

284

Things like charging your phone outside

your bedroom, making yourself actually

285

search for the apps on your phone.

286

Or doing what Aaron does and just creating

multiple barriers before you partake in an

287

activity that might be feeding into this

dysregulation of your dopamine system.

288

the 2025 perspectives

of public health study.

289

I specifically found that ethical

nudging interventions or small design

290

changes that make social media less

accessible, like having to completely

291

download the app again, we're effective at

minimizing time spent on these platforms.

292

They also found that newsfeed

diets are actually auditing

293

what shows up in your feed

294

showed promise in reducing

these doom scrolling behaviors.

295

And all of these things work because

they bring possibly an unconscious

296

behavior into your consciousness

by letting your brain catch up to

297

something that might have become a

habit or just a compulsive behavior

298

that you revert to whenever you are

bored or need some sort of stimulation.

299

So with this tool, you're not

fighting your dopamine system, you

300

are redesigning your environment so it

doesn't get hijacked in the first place.

301

The third tool is probably my

favorite tool, but it is to

302

move your body into exercise.

303

Social media might wear your doping system

down, but exercise helps to rebuild it.

304

And if you think about it, it makes sense.

305

Exercise is hard work.

306

It takes a lot of physical effort

to receive the reward of a completed

307

workout or reaching a certain body

composition or body recomposition

308

goal that you have, or reaching some

sort of longevity goal that you have.

309

So it makes sense that exercise

is one of the best recalibration

310

tools for your dopamine system.

311

a 2022 study published in the Journal of

Neuroscience, found that exercise actually

312

increased straddle dopamine release, and

that effect persisted for up to seven days

313

after your last exercise training session

314

and all movement counts,

walking, dance, weights, any

315

sort of form of exercise counts.

316

The results of exercise

is an earned reward.

317

Exercise is that hard work and effort that

you have to put in to earn that reward.

318

Your body and brain knows the difference

between a cheap hit and a real one.

319

Exercise is one of the ways to

get a positive dopamine response

320

that doesn't come at the cost

of receptor downregulation.

321

Tool number four, one that we talked

about this spring cleaning series

322

pretty extensively, but sleep is key.

323

You've gotta protect your sleep.

324

It's a non-negotiable.

325

You can't possibly spring clean

a system that you are actually

326

destroying every night with poor sleep.

327

Our dopamine circuitry is

consolidated, reorganized, integrated

328

through brain structures that

329

control our circadian rhythms.

330

So your dopamine system's

ability to function is directly

331

related to your sleep quality.

332

Disrupted sleep doesn't

just make you tired.

333

It actually interferes with

Your brain's ability to maintain

334

a healthy dopamine system.

335

So late night phone use is

a compounding issue here.

336

Not only does it actually affect the

quality of your sleep, your ability to

337

get into all of those different sleep

phases and clean your brain like we

338

talked about in our glymphatic system,

but it also feeds into that compulsive

339

behavior with that doom scrolling.

340

Low effort, multiple reward behavior

that we're trying to recalibrate.

341

So of course, sleep ties into all

aspects of our health and wellness.

342

Not only our brain cleaning, but

also our dopamine system regulation.

343

The fifth tool is a little more

purposeful and more intentional, but

344

it is to deliberately and purposefully

345

invest in higher effort rewards.

346

The goal is not to feel nothing

but to train our brains, to

347

feel things from real life.

348

To pull back from cheap stimulation

349

and replace it with things that require

high effort and deliver a real reward.

350

Learning something new, building

something, finishing something.

351

Having a real conversation,

getting outside, creating anything.

352

The reward system research consistently

distinguishes between this low

353

effort, high frequency reward, and

high effort, high value rewards.

354

The dopamine response to

these two types of rewards is

355

neurobiologically different I

356

and the high effort, high value reward.

357

Kind does not produce the same receptor

downregulation that the low effort,

358

high frequency rewards lead to.

359

Over time, as the cheap stuff

decreases, the real stuff

360

starts to feel real good again.

361

And this is the actual spring clean, . Not

eliminating pleasure , but restoring

362

your ability to find it in real life.

363

You don't have to overhaul your

life or completely get rid of social

364

media or any of those low effort.

365

High frequency rewards, but I think I need

to be better about occasionally checking

366

in on my use and frequency of those things

compared to what are the things that I'm

367

actually creating, building, finishing

those high effort, high value rewards

368

that I want to recalibrate my brain with.

369

Or maybe it means I just need to

schedule intermittent multiple times

370

a year, international vacation, so I'm

forced to put my phone on airplane mode.

371

I'm kind of kidding.

372

But that really was one of the.

373

More eye-opening experiences

that I had while on vacation

374

was how much more comfortable.

375

I was just sitting with myself on the

subway, looking around, enjoying the

376

scenery, enjoying this experience that

I was getting on vacation because I

377

had a major barrier and major friction

between me and the use of my phone.

378

It was incredible.

379

So I hope you guys enjoyed this episode.

380

You've learned a little bit of a

different part of the dopamine system.

381

Again, I'll leave all of the links to the

dopamine system episodes that we've done

382

in the past below for you guys to check

out if you are interested in learning

383

more about how it actually works and

the brain mechanisms involved in our

384

dopamine system, because it is super

duper complex and we really only touch on.

385

One side of the equation the other

side is that movement quality side of

386

it that we haven't even touched yet.

387

But I learn so much anytime I research and

pull studies about the dopamine system.

388

And this is one take that I feel

like we haven't talked about on

389

the podcast before, but it was

relatively recently in my mind after

390

my vacation, and I figured it was

perfect for the spring cleaning series.

391

So I hope you enjoyed this episode and

I'll see you guys again on the next

392

episode of Wellness Fixes the Pod.

393

And if you have enjoyed this series,

I would love for you to share it with

394

Any of your other health and wellness

friends, and I would appreciate

395

any sort of like, comment, review,

subscribe on any of the platforms

396

that you're listening or watching on.

397

I very much appreciate each and every

one of you guys who tune in every week.

398

Any new listeners that are.

399

Entering our little wellness business

community for the first time.

400

I'm grateful for you.

401

Thank you.

402

I love doing this.

403

I love learning with you guys,

and I hope you guys gain something

404

from these episodes that you

can apply to your own life.

405

So thank you again for just your support.

406

Even if it is something as small as just

listening to this episode on your morning

407

commute or during your Smart Girl walk.

408

I really appreciate it, and I

feel very grateful to, be a part

409

of your routine in that way.

410

So thank you.

411

Thank you.

412

Thank you.

413

All right.

414

See you next week.