Here’s what happens to your brain when you take a break from social media
From dopamine deficits to withdrawal symptoms, detoxing from social media can be challenging. This is how to make it work for you.
Think you’re spending too much time scrolling on your phone? You’re not alone. The average American adult logs over two hours a day on social media, while teens double that on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
As experts warn of the addictive features of social networks, more people are looking for ways to break free—evidenced by a 60 percent surge in Google searches for “social media detox” in recent months.
But does stepping away from your feed really make a difference? Researchers say yes, and the benefits for your brain and well-being might surprise you.
Effects of social media on the brain
Many of us suspect we spend too much time scrolling—a concern underscored by Oxford University Press selecting “brain rot” as 2024’s word of the year. But finding the willpower to cut back is not an easy feat, thanks to how social media taps into our brain’s reward system.
Anna Lembke, addiction medicine expert and author of Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence, explains that people can get addicted to digital media just like they can get addicted to drugs. Based on what we know about how drugs and alcohol affect the brain, we can infer that a similar process takes place when we check social media, with every like, comment, or cute cat video triggering a surge of dopamine, the brain’s “feel-good” chemical.
However, our brain is designed to maintain an overall dopamine balance—what Lembke describes as a teeter-totter mechanism. Endless scrolling eventually disrupts this balance, prompting the brain to compensate by producing less dopamine or slowing its transmission. Over time, this can lead us into a state of “dopamine deficit,” where we need more time online to get back to feeling “normal.”
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Hitting “pause” on this social-media-induced dopamine cycle can allow the brain to reset reward pathways, Lembke says, allowing us to stop the kind of compulsive overconsumption that leads to “brain rot.”
There is no one-size-fts-all solution when it comes to social media detoxing, says Paige Coyne, co-author of a study on the health impacts of a two-week social media detox on 31 young adults. “Excessive social media use can mean different things to different people,” she says, adding that what’s key is to make realistic goals to bring down our usual social media consumption. “Some people may want to give it up entirely while others may want to cut down time spent on social media by half.”
To help rewire the brain reward pathways, Lembke recommends abstaining for as long as you can—ideally at least four weeks. But even short breaks have proved effective for improving mental health. A study of 65 girls aged 10 to 19 found that taking a three-day break from social media improved their self-esteem and self-compassion, resulting in lower body shame.
How to cope with social media withdrawal
Whether you decide to stop using social media for a few weeks or limit your everyday use for some time, you’ll probably find the first few days are the hardest to get through, says Sarah Woodruff, who co-authored the social media detox study with Coyne.
Experiencing “withdrawal symptoms” like cravings or anxiety is to be expected, Lembke says, as the brain adjusts to lower levels of dopamine. But enduring these uncomfortable feelings allows our brain reward pathways to reboot and stop the cycle of craving and consuming. Eventually, the cravings will stop, and it will be easier to get through the day without constant dopamine hits. “As the days went by, people found that the detox was easier than they had expected,” Woodruff says. “Once they got into a groove most people enjoyed it.”
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By the end of the two-week detox, where social media consumption was capped to 30 minutes per day, most participants reported mental health benefits such as greater life satisfaction, reduced stress levels, and improved sleep compared with the period before the study.
Getting over the hump may be easier if you join forces with one or more detox buddies. In the study on teen girls, Tomi-Ann Roberts, a professor of psychology at Colorado College, asked participants to check in with each other through a WhatsApp group during each day of the experiment to find support. “We found that girls experienced feelings of disconnection and fear of missing out,” Roberts says, “but they could share their experience with others, so they felt less alone.”
On top of rewiring our brain’s reward pathways, taking a temporary break from social media can make us more aware of our relationship with social media platforms. “We can use this time to take a step back and become more aware of what is it that we do [on social media] and whether it benefits us,” Woodruff says. “Things like do I get everything that I need to get done in a day or I am missing out on face-to-face interaction because of social media.”
Maintaining balance with social media
After a period of detox, it is important to create guardrails to avoid falling back into compulsive overconsumption, Lembke says. “I recommend creating physical or mental barriers between us and social media,” she says. “Things like not keeping our phone in the bedroom or turning off notifications.”
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Replacing the quick-hitting dopamine hits with less-instant types of gratification can also help keep brain reward pathways in balance. “Healthy sources of dopamine usually come with upfront work,” Lembke says, citing things like playing an instrument or cooking, “when we engage with actions that require our attention our brain will release dopamine with some delay keeping the overall balance in check.”
Finally, experts recommend scheduling periods of social media detox throughout the year to maintain a balanced social media use. “We can’t get rid of social media altogether,” Woodruff says, “but taking a break once in a while can help us reset and take stock of how we are using these platforms and how they make us feel.”
