Dr. Park’s 9 Step Addiction Support Protocol

One of the reasons addiction becomes such a chronic, relapsing disease is its chaotic effects on dopamine and dopamine receptors.

Let’s take a quick look at addiction inside the brain. We will use opiates as the example.

Opiates (like heroin, fentanyl, kratom, pain pills) cause a massive increase in dopamine levels. Continued stimulation over time desensitizes dopamine receptors. This causes your normal dopamine mechanisms to “dull”. Which in turn makes typical life less enjoyable. This depression can then lead to further drug use as the only way to endure life.

Another problem is withdrawal. When the drug is gone, not only has your artificial dopamine stimulation plummeted below normal levels, but you also have inadequate natural dopamine response. This experience is the opposite of Euphoria. It’s a painful, restless sensation of Dysphoria.

Now, obviously there’s a lot more going on inside the brain than this. But I wanted to write out the big idea in a way that’s understandable. And I also want you to understand, this is not the overall cause of addiction, but it is a huge obstacle to your recovery.

I don’t like to think of brain chemistry as “happy” chemicals or nonsense like that. But just know that they are important for brain health.

The above physiology is why you can’t only “increase dopamine”. That won’t work. You have to also desensitize the receptors.

In some ways, this is very similar to treating insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes. Yes, giving insulin works to bring blood sugar down, but it doesn’t reverse the problem of insulin resistance. Instead, it tends to cause more weight gain and more resistance over time. It’s not the best long term solution. Whereas, in some cases, diet and exercise can completely reverse Type 2 Diabetes. The reason? It fixes the insulin resistance which was the problem in the first place .

So how do we take this information and help someone struggling with addiction? How do we reverse the dopamine resistance?

Dopamine fasting.

Yep. And it’s going to be difficult! That’s just the way it goes.

Before you accuse me of taking all your fun away, I’m approaching this as an anti-addiction model. You can do what you want with the information.

I’ll give you the protocol. And I’ll list some research articles if you want more info.

1. Stop eating junk food. It’s not just opiates that affect dopamine levels. Chronic overeating with junk food can cause a similar scenario. This is why cravings for donuts, ice cream, Oreos, potato chips, and cookies are so strong. Because they are delicious! There aren’t many natural foods that I can think of that have carbs and fats mixed together in high amounts. But that’s exactly the kind of foods that are the most enjoyable.
2. Eat these instead: meat, fish, eggs, greek yogurt, blueberries, apples, potatoes, white rice, veggies. Make 9/10 of your next meals from something here. Make protein the main thing. If you need a little white rice or veg to keep it from being too boring, that’s okay. Drink black coffee, unsweet tea, water. No sugar or sweetener. This isn’t for weight loss. It’s for general health.
3. Drop the smart phone. Try a 72hr fast from your phone and repeat every 7-10 days. If you can’t do this, consider deleting all apps for the same time frame.
4. High Intensity exercise. Any exercise works, but my bias in this situation is for high intensity. So, even though I prefer walking and lifting weights for general health, for the purposes of restoring dopamine, I’d say hit it hard. Think 15-20 minutes of pain and sweat. Crossfit, kickboxing, hyrox, etc
5. Intermittent fasting. Fast for 12-16hrs/day. It’s okay to drink water, tea, or black coffee during fasting window. No sugar.
6. Sleep better
7. Prayer. This should be first, but I knew if it was, you wouldn’t keep reading. I’ll include a specific prayer you can use at the end. I would also recommend praying for those you’re trying to forgive and those that you’ve wronged. Do these prayers twice a day. Upon waking and before going to bed.
8. 30 minutes of walking daily. No treadmills. No headphones. Embrace the silence.
9. Cold showers. I put this last because it’s the least likely to get done. Just do this gradually.

That’s the protocol. No magic pills or quick fixes. Just hard work.

Now remember, this doesn’t fix your addiction. This is to help your brain heal while you’re doing the other things. Like admitting you’re powerless, taking a moral inventory, forgiving those who’ve wronged you, making amends, etc. You know….the 12 steps.

p.s.

Prayer For Those Struggling With Addiction

O Master, Lord Jesus Christ, our God who hast said, “Without me, you can do nothing”: Help me according to thy mercy, and leave me not to perish in my transgressions, nor allow me to follow the desires of the flesh over those of the spirit.

I am thy creature and servant, disdain not the work of thy hands. Turn not away, be compassionate and merciful, neither scorn me, O Lord, as I am weak.

Unto thee, my strength, my firm foundation, my refuge and my deliverer, have I now fled. Save me for thy mercy’s sake, and drive away from me every evil, filthy and wanton desire.

For thou alone art mighty and able to grant victory over every evil to those who call upon thy name and preserve to the end, and to thee do we ascribe glory, together with thine unoriginate Father and thy life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

p.p.s.

Talk to your doctor before making big changes.

p.p.p.s.

Sources:

A Pocket Prayer Book for Orthodox Christians

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Johnson PM, Kenny PJ. Dopamine D2 receptors in addiction-like reward dysfunction and compulsive eating in obese rats. Nat Neurosci. 2010 May;13(5):635-41. doi: 10.1038/nn.2519. Epub 2010 Mar 28. Erratum in: Nat Neurosci. 2010 Aug;13(8):1033. PMID: 20348917; PMCID: PMC2947358.

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Volkow ND, Chang L, Wang GJ, Fowler JS, Franceschi D, Sedler M, Gatley SJ, Miller E, Hitzemann R, Ding YS, Logan J. Loss of dopamine transporters in methamphetamine abusers recovers with protracted abstinence. J Neurosci. 2001 Dec 1;21(23):9414-8. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.21-23-09414.2001. PMID: 11717374; PMCID: PMC6763886.

Winterdahl, M., Noer, O., Orlowski, D. et al. Sucrose intake lowers μ-opioid and dopamine D2/3 receptor availability in porcine brain. Sci Rep 9, 16918 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-53430-9

Søberg S, Löfgren J, Philipsen F …Altered brown fat thermoregulation and enhanced cold-induced thermogenesis in young, healthy, winter-swimming menCell Reports Medicine, 2021;

Haage, Sophie & Schmitgen, Mike & Henemann, Gudrun & Koenig, Julian & Otte, Marie-Luise & Bach, Patrick & Wolf, Nadine & Wolf, Christian. (2025). Smartphone restriction modulates intrinsic neural activity in problematic smartphone users: Evidence from resting-state fMRI. Addictive Behaviors. in press. 10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108575.

Kirste I, Nicola Z, Kronenberg G, Walker TL, Liu RC, Kempermann G. Is silence golden? Effects of auditory stimuli and their absence on adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Brain Struct Funct. 2015 Mar;220(2):1221-8. doi: 10.1007/s00429-013-0679-3. Epub 2013 Dec 1. PMID: 24292324; PMCID: PMC4087081.