Unlocking the dopamine code: A blueprint for college student well-being

As college students navigating the complexities of academia, we often find ourselves contending with formidable adversaries: seasonal depression, lack of motivation and high levels of stress. According to the National College Health Assessment, approximately 80% of college students report experiencing overwhelming levels of anxiety, and nearly 40% grapple with symptoms of depression at some point during their academic journey. These figures underscore a pressing need to address the mental health crisis gripping university campuses across the globe.

During these struggles, the neurotransmitter dopamine is a pivotal player in the intricate web of human motivation and pleasure. Dopamine, often referred to as the “feel-good” chemical, plays a central role in regulating our drive to pursue rewards and seek gratification. Its influence extends beyond momentary pleasure, affecting our capacity for focus, goal-setting and overall well-being. In light of the profound impact dopamine exerts on our psychological landscape, we need a novel approach to tackling the challenges faced by college students. If we better understand the neurochemistry and scientific research surrounding dopamine regulation, we can forge a path toward enhanced motivation, greater academic success and, ultimately, improved mental health.

Traditional methods to improve mental health include learning a new hobby, taking breaks from work, connecting with nature and honing time management skills. Engaging in hobbies, for instance, can offer a temporary escape from academic stressors but does not leave a lasting impact on dopamine levels. Similarly, taking breaks and practicing self-compassion can alleviate immediate feelings of overwhelm yet fail to address the root cause of negative emotions. Connecting with nature and practicing time-management skills are valuable strategies — just not the best.

The limitations of these approaches arise from a common scientific misconception about dopamine. What’s important, baseline or spikes? Baseline dopamine levels, the amount of dopamine in your system on average throughout the day, are responsible for your general mood and motivation levels. A stable dopamine baseline within a healthy range creates a positive mood throughout the day with plenty of motivation. Traditional methods to improve mental health often cause spikes in dopamine production. While most people would naturally think that baseline dopamine levels would increase after the spike, the opposite occurs. After the initial dopamine increases dissipate, we are left with a baseline significantly lower than before the spike. Engaging in sporadic, unsustained activities can effectively decrease dopamine levels over time.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also point out a hard truth: Social media is killing our ability to regulate dopamine. When we are scrolling through TikTok or get notified that someone liked our comment or post, we experience spikes of dopamine. Unfortunately, the byproduct of this happening too often throughout the day is that our dopamine baseline is drastically lowered. This reality, combined with poor long-term mental health improvement strategies, is leaving college students in particular completely defenseless against intense negative emotion and a lack of motivation when we need it the most.

To effectively combat negative emotions and feeling unmotivated, we should adopt strategies that increase and maintain our dopamine baseline. One great way to do so is viewing early morning sunlight for 10-30 minutes daily. If done consistently, this helps maintain your dopamine baseline throughout the day. Another strategy is to boost your intake of tyrosine-rich foods like red meats, nuts and hard-fermented cheese. Tyrosine, an essential amino acid found in these foods, serves as a fundamental building block for dopamine production in the body. Incorporating a diet abundant in tyrosine can effectively support your body’s natural dopamine synthesis, promoting sustained levels of this crucial neurotransmitter.

Consistent exercise, particularly strength training, is also extremely helpful in maintaining good dopamine levels. If you are really interested in getting the best dopamine levels and overall mood enhancements, deliberate cold exposure — such as ice baths or cold showers — drastically increases your dopamine levels for long periods of time. Consistently engaging in activities that trigger sustained dopamine releases, ones that increase baseline not spikes, also upregulates gene expression for specific dopamine receptors. This means that when we do these things, our body creates more dopamine receptors, making us better able to respond to dopamine and improving our average mood and motivation. Over time, this can lead to an increase in the density or sensitivity of these receptors, further enhancing the effectiveness of dopamine signaling in the brain. By fostering a consistent pattern of dopamine release through activities such as exercise, cold exposure and eating Tyrosine rich foods, individuals can support their long-term motivation and overall mental well-being.

The key point here is consistency. If the goal is to create a life where we are not weighed down by erratic dopamine levels with sharp peaks followed by much larger and longer valleys, then we need to create lifestyles to match that. Unfortunately, we aren’t taught how to do this. We aren’t taught how to manage our lives and emotional pitfalls. Most certainly, we aren’t taught how our physiology impacts our everyday lives. As such, I believe that all students coming into college should take an emotion and happiness course, similar to the drug and alcohol education course students are already required to take. Educating students with a course about how to handle new environments and emotions will help to combat depression on campus, leading to a better society as a whole — one where we control our dopamine rather than letting it control us.

Seth Gabrielson is a student at the University of Michigan. This article was originally published in The Michigan Daily and is posted here with permission form Seth Gabrielson.

Like most of the pictures on TeensParentsTeachers, the picture posted with this article is courtesy of a free download from Pixabay.com.