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  • It's quite well known that SM sites capitalise on our dopamine receptors to promote continued use, inventing ever more instant ways that we can interact with content or each other, and different kinds of "notification" or reward that trigger the dopamine response, which we normally get when completing a task in the real world or finding something we were searching for. Basically SM and the internet more widely tricks the brain into thinking we are making/ achieving/ finding things when we are not.

    If you have a naturally low dopamine response, the effect can be quite extreme. I realised recently that my internet use was taking the place of things like bulimia, self harm and binge drinking as release valves for ADHD and associated issues. I would scroll or check sites obsessively without really registering what I was looking at, or realising what I was doing, and find I had lost up to 4 hours at a time, sometimes whole days. The only solution I found was to go out without a phone, which meant I started losing work and missing social events.

    I have enabled 2 factor authentication on FB and Twitter, and put a close friends number as the second factor. Now every time I try to log in, I can't. What this means is, if for any reason I need to contact someone through these channels the accounts are still there I just need the code from my friend. If you have someone you trust enough to do this with I have found its a great solution. I've been free for two weeks now and it's a big boost to my mental health.

    The other great tool I have is a dumb phone with no internet capabilities that I switch to. Only problem is many people use WhatsApp instead of Text now which is frustrating.

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