Because video games and pornography can be habit-forming, some researchers — including Dr. Lembke — have hypothesized that they might cause similar signs of tolerance in the brain. However, in an interview with The New York Times, she admitted that this theory is inferred from studies of stimulant drugs and that there isn’t currently evidence to back it up.
As a result, Dr. Berridge and others have critiqued the idea. One reason is that the amount of dopamine released in response to video games, pornography, social media and junk food is substantially lower than that released in response to addictive drugs.
And while, for some people, video games cause a greater dopamine response than board games do, that doesn’t mean the board game causes a smaller dopamine release than it used to, and it isn’t because of an inherent change in the dopamine system, Dr. Namboodiri said. It also doesn’t mean that video game lovers will never want to play board games again. The same goes for eating candy versus eating fruit or watching YouTube versus reading a book.
Taking a break from video games or social media can be a good idea if you want to spend more time on other pursuits. But that’s not because you need to reset your dopamine system, Dr. Namboodiri said. (There is reason to believe that our digital lives have shortened our attention spans, but that’s a different story.)
“If the advice that someone’s giving you about what you should do holds regardless of whether dopamine is in play, it’s probably useful advice,” Dr. Namboodiri said. But he noted that “as a field we are still pretty far from having a complete understanding” of dopamine and how to manipulate it in daily life.
Addiction is about more than dopamine.
Some rewarding behaviors can cause problems in people’s lives. Although activities like gambling, watching pornography and playing video games don’t stimulate as much dopamine release as drugs do, they can lead to patterns of behavior similar to those seen in substance use disorder — namely, continuing the activity despite severe negative consequences.
But that is the exception, not the rule. Most people are not losing their jobs or relationships or experiencing negative health impacts because of these activities. Roughly 2 to 3 percent of people who watch pornography report being addicted to the behavior. Similarly, 2 to 3 percent of people who play online games qualify as having internet gaming disorder.
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