What is a Dopamine Menu? ‘Dopamenu’ TikTok trend explained

If you’re in need of a little brain reset or some extra motivation, a Dopamine Menu might help. So, what the heck are they?

TikTok trends rise and fall on the whims of the merciless algorithm and keeping up with them can be a little tough. One week everybody’s losing their teenage features, the next, your feed is clogged with Dark Fantasy TikToks assigning you a dragon for your birth month. We’re an Ice Dragon by the way.

Of course, some TikTok trends have a little more staying power than others, and the Dopamine Menus you might have seen recently have actually been around for quite a while. If you’re wondering what they are, we’ve got you covered.

This handy guide will run through exactly what a Dopmine Menu is, why they’re trending on TikTok, and how it could help your productivity.

What is Dopamine?

Before we get stuck into what a Dopamine Menu is, we should get a quick armchair science lesson out of the way regarding its namesake. Dopamine is colloquially referred to as the “happy chemical” but that’s a bit of an oversimplification.

According to the National Institute of Health, Dopamine is a chemical naturally produced in the brain that sends messages to let you know when something pleasurable is occurring. It can also be used by the brain to reward certain actions.

You might trigger Dopamine production through inane actions like eating food you enjoy or hugging someone you love. Of course, you could also aid its production with some outside help…

Too much Dopamine can cause impairment to your impulse control and even aggression in some cases. Too little Dopamine or the inability to produce healthy amounts is a common side effect of depression. You need to get the balance right.

Dopamine Menus explained

A Dopamine Menu, sometimes called a ‘Dopamenu’, is a fun little list of activities and items that produce happiness and can help focus the minds of certain people. The term was coined all the way back in 2020 by ADHD specialist Eric Tivers when talking about ways to manage this particular kind of neurodivergence with YouTuber How to ADHD.

The simple explanation is that many people with ADHD can struggle to focus on tasks without sufficient levels of Dopamine. The kicker is, they also run out of Dopamine faster than people without ADHD.

Rivers suggested that people with ADHD looking to focus should craft a list of positive ways to stimulate their Dopamine production. This way, when they need a boost, they’re not searching for quick fixes like, ironically, scrolling through TikTok.

Everyone is different so these lists are referred to as menus because different situations and states of mind might require different methods of producing Dopamine. You wouldn’t eat ice cream for breakfast, unless maybe that’s on your Dopamine Menu.

In their original video outlining the Dopamine Menu, How to ADHD’s Jessica McCabe broke down how you might separate your sources of dopamine. Naturally, these were themed around cuisine and broken up into categories.

McCabe’s suggestions for organizing your own Dopamine Menu were:

• Appetizers: Easy and brief activities to give you a quick little Dopamine boost
• Entrees: Longer activities that are fulfilling and offer you excitement
• Sides: Anything you can add to another activity on your Doamine Menu that will increase the Dopamine boost
• Specials: Extra big and exciting activities that can only happen occasionally like traveling or concerts
• Desserts: Things that you find yourself reaching for when bored but may not be especially fulfilling

Dopamine Menus on TikTok

Despite tracing the origin of the Dopamine Menu back to 2020, it was only really relevant within tight-knit ADHD communities online for a while. In 2023, they achieved more mainstream exposure on TikTok.

Many creators on the platform used features like slideshows or quick edits of short clips to illustrate the items on their Dopamine Menus.

Others with a little more artistic flair have even crafted physical menus to show off to their followers. Incidentally, arts & crafts might be a good addition to your own Dopamine Menu.

Now that you know why Dopamine Menus have taken over your for you page, you might even want to craft one yourself. Just make sure not to overload on deserts.