Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsDopamine: Too High or Too Low?How Dopamine WorksCauses of Low Dopamine LevelsTreatment for Low Dopamine LevelsHow to Increase Your Dopamine Levels Naturally

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Dopamine: Too High or Too Low?

How Dopamine Works

Causes of Low Dopamine Levels

Treatment for Low Dopamine Levels

How to Increase Your Dopamine Levels Naturally

Close

Dopamine, achemical messengerin your brain that governs motivation, mood, movement, memory, sleep, and behavior regulation, is central to the brain’s reward system. It rewards you with a euphoric feeling whenever you engage in a beneficial behavior, which motivates you to repeat the behavior.

Read on to find out the symptoms of low dopamine levels, and discover ways to increase your dopamine levels naturally.

Every time we do something enjoyable, like eating a nice meal, having a positive social experience, going for a run, or having sex, a little bit of dopamine is released in our brain. However, engaging in vices like alcohol or recreational drugs also causes dopamine to be released into the brain. This is why the chemical messenger has been closely linked toaddiction.

Having a balance in the synthesis, availability, and receptors for dopamine is the key. When levels are too low or too high, we experience changes in our mood, thoughts, and behavior.

High levels of dopamine activity in certain parts of the brain are implicated in manic episodes (inbipolar disorder), as well as psychotic episodes where someone may experience hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, and unusual motor activity (inschizophrenia).

Using various substances can cause a dopamine rush that creates feelings of euphoria as well as feelings of detachment and dissociation. Excess dopamine from substance abuse has been associated with “bad trips” and can trigger transient or permanent psychotic disorders.

Low dopamine levelshave been linked to several medical conditions likedepression,attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, addiction, andParkinson’s disease. Low dopamine levels can make you feel less motivated, apathetic, and listless and affect your ability to concentrate.

Some symptoms of low dopamine levels include:

The Chemistry of Depression

There are four major pathways for dopamine in your brain. Each one controls a different process in your body. Three of these pathways are your rewards pathways, known as the mesocortical, mesolimbic, and nigrostriatal pathways, and their function is to release dopamine into different parts of your brain when you engage in a rewarding activity.

What Causes Low Dopamine Levels?

Many things could cause low dopamine levels. Some of them include:

Treating dopamine loss aims to cause the production of more dopamine, slow down the breakdown of dopamine that is being produced, create more dopamine receptors, and repair existing dopamine receptors so that they can work better.

Prescription Drugs that Mimic Dopamine

However, there are some techniques you could also use to increase your dopamine levels naturally.

Get Enough Sleep

Getting an adequate amount of sleep every night is necessary for maintaining our health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that adults get an average of seven or more hours of sleep every night.

When you don’t get enough sleep, dopamine receptors in your body can be adversely affected. Research has linkedsleep deprivationto the suppression of some dopamine receptors in your body.

Listen to Some Music

Make a playlist of some of your favorite music and listen to it when you are feeling listless, unmotivated, or experiencing other symptoms that indicate your dopamine levels are low. Imagine yourself driving down the road, with your windows down, your hair blowing in the wind, and your favorite tunes playing loudly. Just thinking about it might make you smile.

In a 2011 study, researchers found that when you listen to music you find pleasurable it can lead to a release of dopamine in your brain.

Maintain a Healthy Diet

Eating a healthy diet has several benefits for both your body and mind and increasing your dopamine levels is part of this. Foods that are rich intyrosinelike almonds, eggs, fish, and chicken are especially good for boosting dopamine levels.

Drinks like coffee also boost your dopamine, but keep in mind that as your dopamine levels drop after drinking it, this could cause acaffeine addiction.

Exercise More

Exercising regularly has been proven to be very important for your brain’s health. It can also help you boost your dopamine levels. Whenever you exercise your brain releases some dopamine.

While more research needs to be conducted into the exact mechanism that leads the brain to produce dopamine when we exercise, you are probably familiar with the feeling you get after a workout.

Increase Social Activity

Humans are social creatures and low dopamine levels are associated with social isolation. Stay connected to friends and family who are a positive source of support in your life. Seeking out new friendships and social activities are also good for brain health and the release of those “feel good” chemicals.

Meditate

Meditating has a positive effecton a host of mental health conditions. Research also shows that meditation has the ability to increase your dopamine levels.

Cut Down on Processed Sugars

Consuming processed sugars like candy and soda have the ability to increase your dopamine levels, but this increase is only temporary and artificial. Like with alcohol and recreational drugs, sugar can give you temporary boosts of dopamine while affecting the rate at which your body produces it naturally.

Remove Stressors From Your Life

Stressis a precursor to many medical conditions, it also causes low dopamine levels. We aren’t always in control of the things that bring stress into our lives, but you caneliminate stressorsthat you have some control over.

For instance, if a long commute to work is causing stress, you might consider moving closer to work. You may need to step away from toxic relationships and eliminate drama. You can also engage in activities that reduce stress like meditating, exercising, or getting a massage.

Recap

Ways to increase dopamine levels naturally

Parting Words

If you are experiencing symptoms that indicate that you might have a condition linked with low dopamine levels, it’s important to see a doctor to determine the underlying cause. If the cause of your low dopamine levels is an underlying medical condition, treating the condition will alleviate your symptoms and leave you feeling healthier and happier.

If you can identify one or two lifestyle changes mentioned in this article that you would like to start working on, you can boost your dopamine levels naturally and feel better as a result. You may be surprised to find you have more control over your sense of well-being than you originally thought.

What to Do When You Have No Motivation

7 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Science in the News.Dopamine, smartphones & you: A battle for your time.

Health Direct.Dopamine.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.How much sleep do I need?

Volkow ND, Tomasi D, Wang G-J, et al.Evidence that sleep deprivation downregulates dopamine d2r in ventral striatum in the human brain.J Neurosci. 2012;32(19):6711-6717. doi:10.1523%2FJNEUROSCI.0045-12.2012

Salimpoor VN, Benovoy M, Larcher K, Dagher A, Zatorre RJ.Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music.Nature Neuroscience. 2011;14(2):257-262. doi:10.1038/nn.2726

Kjaer TW, Bertelsen C, Piccini P, Brooks D, Alving J, Lou HC.Increased dopamine tone during meditation-induced change of consciousness.Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2002;13(2):255-259. doi:10.1016/s0926-6410(01)00106-9

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