(IMAGES: SHUTTERSTOCK)

Sitting on a grounded plane recently, I noticed almost everyone around me was doing the same thing: scrolling through photos on their phones, as if voyeuristically glancing through windows into other people’s not-so-private worlds.

There was something unnerving about the scene. I imagined all the beautiful enormity of the stories behind those images: the candid wedding photo, the needs-no-words snap of a 12-week scan, the close-up of a celebratory meal; all these personal milestones, reduced to morsels that someone flicks away with a single finger as if looking, hungrily, for something more satisfying to feast upon.

A young man paused at a selfie of a couple on a date, deftly zooming in to secretly scrutinise… what? His physique, her face? What are we doing, I wondered, consuming each other’s private moments, freely offered up for public inspection, to numb the boredom while waiting for planes to take us somewhere more exciting?

You don’t have to be a phone addict to know that mindless scrolling can leave you feeling like you’ve overindulged in something tasty but lacking in nutrition. Watching strangers do this in disconnected silence heightened my discomfort around the way we use phones today, which is why hearing about dopamine detoxing felt like a cool drink on a hot day.

But what is this wellbeing trend, and why is it gaining such interest? ‘Dopamine is the brain’s own reward system – think of it as your brain’s way of saying, “Hey, that felt good, let’s do it again!”,’ says Smriti Joshi, a licensed clinical psychologist. ‘Dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of pleasure, reward, and motivation. Whether it’s biting into your favourite dessert or achieving a personal goal, dopamine is there, cheering you on, keeping you coming back for more.’

Tasha Bailey, an integrative psychotherapist, adds: ‘Having these activities as part of your lifestyle allows...