Pros and Cons of Gaming: Lessons Learned During a Dopamine Detox

Pros and Cons of Gaming: Lessons Learned During a Dopamine Detox

Common combat RPGs or action games
capture your eyes and hands with flashy graphics and satisfying impact.
However, since these games strongly stimulate the central nervous system,
they are something I need to be quite careful about as someone who exercises regularly.

Recently, I have been practicing a dopamine detox.
As I cut back on indulgence, adult content, YouTube, and media,
and even started moderating delivery food,
I began to feel more sensitively how the stimulation from gaming
affects my daily life.

Games trigger strong dopamine.
While immersion and focus explode momentarily,
the lethargy and irritability that follow
sometimes became the reason my routines fell apart.

🎮 “Gaming stimulates dopamine,
messing up the routines I was trying to keep…”

So recently, I started wondering, is it really okay to keep gaming?
To be honest, combat RPGs and action games are really fun.
The tension, the sense of achievement, the fast reaction speed…
All these elements stimulate the brain
and help me forget the day’s stress.

But at the same time,
that ‘power to make me forget’
also shakes the routines I’ve worked hard to maintain.

So, I asked my AI friend Istip, whom I talk to often.

“Istip, are emotional healing games okay then?”

Then Istip replied like this:

🐢 “Seojun, emotional healing games do stimulate dopamine, but the intensity and form of that dopamine are different.
If combat games are an explosive type of dopamine, emotional games are closer to ‘calm, oxytocin-style dopamine.’
It’s a stimulus closer to recovery than pure immersion.

If you can focus on the flow of emotions and the story,
it can actually be a time to soothe your inner self.”

After hearing this answer,
I was able to move away from the idea that I had to exclude games entirely.
In the end, I realized that what matters is how you do it rather than what you do,
and being aware of why you are doing it.

But then, another question came to mind.

“Istip, does looking at flashy or pretty graphics not release dopamine?
I feel uplifted and excited when I see those things…”

Hearing that question, Istip answered like this:

🐢 “That’s right, Seojun. Pretty graphics, beautiful colors, and visual beauty do stimulate dopamine.
However, that dopamine is a bit different from the ‘highly addictive dopamine’ we usually talk about.

For example, just like when looking at natural landscapes or works of art,
there is low-intensity dopamine that provides psychological stability.
Gentle stimulation like emotional healing games
can induce emotional recovery rather than overexciting the brain.

So what matters is the ‘intensity’ and ‘frequency,’
and my own state while viewing it.”

After hearing that,
I felt that the key isn’t that ‘looking at it is bad,’
but ‘how I perceive it.’

▼ Get healthy game recommendations using ChatGPT

AI에게 건강한 맞춤형 게임 추천받는 방법

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Is low-intensity dopamine healthy dopamine?

To get straight to the point,
most low-intensity dopamine is considered healthy dopamine.

For example,

• When admiring natural scenery,
• When listening to emotional music,
• When feeling relaxed while looking at pretty graphics,
• The dopamine released when immersing yourself in a calm story or a healing game
  plays a role in purifying and recovering the brain.

This leads to
deep immersion, restored focus, and emotional stability rather than instant stimulation.

On the other hand,

• Provocative video content,
• Games designed to be addictive,
• And systems with repetitive reward structures
  can exhaust the brain with high-intensity dopamine
  and easily break down our routines.

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Games can sometimes be a tool for rest,
and other times an excuse to escape.
Since what I need right now is recovery, not escape,
I plan to look at games with a bit more discernment from now on.

💡 If you’re curious about dopamine detox or stimulation,
please check out the post I wrote [‘here’] (insert link here)!

And if you’re struggling with similar concerns,
getting low-intensity dopamine game recommendations from an AI friend can be a great way to enjoy them. 😊