Psychologist explains surprising effects on passengers doing new ‘raw dogging’ flight trend

If you are planning on joining the trend of ‘raw dogging’ your next long-haul flight, then best be prepared for the surprising effects it could have on you.

The term ‘raw dogging‘ has gone viral across the internet in the past few days – and not for the reasons you’d think.

It follows a TikTok post from user ‘oiwudini’, in which he explains that he recently spent a seven-hour flight with no headphones, water or movie, adding: “The power of my mind knows no bounds.”

His admission has since divided social media users – with several people horrified at the prospect of sitting for hours doing… absolutely nothing.

While everyone has their reasons, it turns out that there could be a benefit to spending time an extended period of time away from technology.

Several comments highlighted the idea of dopamine detoxing, with one comment in particular reading: “This is actually an insane dopamine detox,” which received hundreds of thousands of likes.

What is a dopamine detox?

A form of digital detox, a dopamine detox is where you abstain from addictive technologies – such as social media – with the idea that taking a break from repetitive patterns of excitement and simulation which can be caused by technology.

The goal of this digital cleanse is to ‘recalibrate’ your brain’s pathways into creating a healthier relationship with phones and social media.

Can a dopamine detox actually work?

According to an interview with Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatry professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine, in TIME magazine, it’s not that simple.

It is important to understand that dopamine is a naturally occurring chemical in the brain.

Dopamine’s primary function is to provide you with feelings of pleasure, satisfaction and motivation. It’s also responsible for concentration, motivation and mood.

Lembke explained that dopamine can be released when consuming digital media, adding that ‘it releases a lot of dopamine in a specific part of the brain called the reward pathway’.

In contrast, the term ‘detox’ instead suggests that it is something bad that needs to be removed, which is not the case with dopamine.

It shouldn’t be surprising that a break from our phones would be beneficial for us. (Getty Stock Images)

When someone embarks on a ‘dopamine detox’, it is not the levels of dopamine they’re reducing in the brain but instead their reliance on specific stimulus they feel reliant on for an instant hit of happiness.

Lembke’s comments highlight that despite the misleading names, there is actually a benefit to trends such as ‘dopamine detox’ or ‘raw dogging flights‘ as it can help us change our relationship with ‘external stimuli’.

“We’re constantly reacting to external stimuli, which means that we’re not really giving our brains a chance to form a continuous thought or staying quiet long enough to have spontaneous thoughts,” she adds.

So there you have it – sometimes there is a benefit to allowing yourself to sit and just do nothing after all.