Fasting may reset your body, but can it reset your mind? The new trend of dopamine fasting claims it can. And wait, there's more. This trend also works against dopamine resistance, implying that things that did not make you happier before will now do. You see, dopamine is a part of the brain's reward system and plays an important role in your pleasure reception. While this neurotransmitter is not directly linked to an individual's happiness, it triggers feelings of satisfaction, motivation and pleasure.

However, a person can also reach a stage of dopamine resistance if they continue to indulge in activities that trigger its frequent or constant release. In this case, the individual stops feeling the impact of this neurotransmitter and thus, does feel good or happy.

So does dopamine fasting work?

Dopamine fasting is a practice where individuals limit their exposure to activities or stimuli that typically provide a surge of dopamine. The idea behind dopamine fasting is to reset or recalibrate the brain's reward system. This is usually done by abstaining from gratifying things or experiences like social media, junk food, and even sex. Proponents of dopamine fasting argue that continual overstimulation from digital devices, social media, and easily accessible indulgences has numbed our brain's reward pathways. By regularly denying ourselves these dopamine triggers, the idea claims, we might restore our ability to acquire fulfilment from life's basic pleasures.

How Does Dopamine Imbalance Affect Your Mental Health?

Having low levels of dopamine can make you less motivated and excited about things. In Parkinson's disease, there is not enough dopamine in the areas of the brain important for movement. This leads to problems with muscle stiffness and movements such as walking.

The symptoms of a dopamine imbalance depend on what is causing the problem. They include physical symptoms such as:

• muscle cramps, spasms or stiffness
• digestion problems, such as constipation or reflux
• pneumonia
• trouble sleeping
• moving or speaking more slowly than usual

• feeling tired and unmotivated, or sad and lacking hope
• having low libido (sex drive)
• hallucinations (experiencing something that's not real)

How Can I Adjust My Dopamine Levels?

Adjusting dopamine levels is complicated, as it is involved in many different roles in the brain. Your doctor won't measure your dopamine levels directly, and there is no simple test to measure it. Your symptoms will be the clues that tell your doctor if you have too much or not enough dopamine. They will then prescribe medicines to adjust your dopamine level, based on your symptoms, and make adjustments based on how your body responds and how you feel.

ALSO READ: Not Just a Screen Time Fix: 5 Timeless Health Habits from the ’50s

34 children have been infected in North London due to a measles outbreak. Health officials have confirmed the outbreak from Enfield in laboratory tests. Doctors too have pointed that children were not fully immunized. Measles was earlier eliminated in the UK, however, the disease is making a come back with UK losing its elimination status. The World Health Organization (WHO) also announced the elimination status of UK based on 3,600 suspected cases in 2024.

Read: North London Measles Outbreak: 34 Cases Confirmed In Unvaccinated Children From Enfield

Unique Symptoms Of Measles

With the disease now making a comeback, the worry is real. Measles has a high transmissibility, and high measles immunity levels are required to prevent sustained measles virus transmission.

This is why herd immunity for measles could be easily breached.

It easily spreads from one infected person to another through breathes, coughs or sneezes and could cause severe disease, complications, and even death.

Symptoms include:

• High fever
• Cough
• Runny Nose
• Rash all over the body

The most unique symptom or the early sign of measles in the Koplik spots. These are tiny white dots that look like grains of salt on red gums inside the cheeks that appear before the red rash starts to appear on a person's face and then the body.

Read: Measles Outbreak In UK: NHS Is Failing To Vaccinate Children, Warn Experts

Furthermore, the symptoms of measles are also characterized by the three Cs:

• Cough
• Coryza or runny nose
• Conjunctivitis or red and water eyes

How Long Does The Infection Last?

The progression of the symptom comes in two stages, first is the prodromal stage or Days 1 to 4, where one would notice high fever, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes, sore throat, fatigue, and Koplik spots.

The second stage is called the rash stage or the days 5 to 10 or even more where rash start to appear on the hairline, and then it runs down the body. It lasts for several days and fades in the same order.

The first symptoms, notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), appear 7 to 14 days after a measles infection. Often, it could also lead to ear infection, or even diarrhea. Though these complications happen in every 1 in 10 children or individual with measles.

Who Is At Risk Of Measles?

• Children who are younger than 5 years of age: nearly 1 to 3 of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complication, notes the CDC
• Adults older than 20 years of age
• Pregnant Women
• People with weakened immune system, such as from leukemia or HIV infection

Why Has Measles Return To The UK?

In late 2023, measles outbreaks were reported in the UK, which led to a surge in cases in 2024. Vaccination uptake at the end of 2024 was 92% for the first dose, however, for the second dose, it was below 82%.

Dr Vanessa Saliba, consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA said, "Infections can return quickly when childhood vaccine uptake falls - measles elimination is only possible if all eligible children receive two MMRV doses before school. The NHS is making vaccination easier, including offering the second MMRV dose earlier at a new 18-month appointment to boost uptake and support elimination goals."

Read: UK Loses Measles Elimination Status: Why Is This Disease Making A Comeback?

She also noted that children and adults must get vaccinated as NHS also offers catch-up jabs.

Dr Baharat Pankhania, from the University of Exeter, as reported by the BBC said, "Measles is an infection that can be prevented by vaccine - and it's extremely concerning that in the UK we now have pockets of low or no vaccine uptake. We urgently need to remedy this situation." Pankhania also noted that there is a need to make the access to GPs easier, and for an effort that could immunize babies in their homes and counter wrong information around vaccine safety.

Often, we underestimate the way our brain works and daydreaming has long been seen as a major sign of creativity. Many artists have used their imagination to bring their work to life. However, science offers a different perspective.

Coined in 2002 Dr. Eliezer Somer, those who experience “maladaptive daydreaming” often fantasize about celebrities, historical figures or idealized versions of themselves. Their imaginations are more elaborate, diverse, and complex as compared to other daydreamers.

A 2012 Consciousness and Cognition study found that maladaptive daydreamers spend, on average, 57 percent of their waking hours daydreaming far more than their counterparts.

Dr Somer explains: "The greatest difference is the maladaptive daydreamers reported that the activity interfered with their daily life. They also reported higher rates of attention-deficit and obsessive compulsive symptoms, and more than 80% used kinesthetic activity or movement when daydreaming, such as rocking, pacing or spinning"

He further noted that while everyone experiences moments of mind-wandering, it usually does not interfere with daily life. But maladaptive daydreaming does interfere in regular life. The condition has not been classified as a mental illness and there is no treatment for it yet.

What Do People Say?

Many Reddit users have shared their experiences with maladaptive daydreaming, often asking questions such as: “Is it normal to daydream for such long hours?”

While some responses described daydreaming as a form of dissociation when bored, others relied on music or movies to fuel fantasies of being a “better version” of themselves, often struggling to return to reality.

Common Symptoms Of Maladaptive Daydreaming

Here are some early signs of maladaptive daydreaming to keep an eye out for:

• Compulsive need to daydream
• Avoiding social interaction and activities
• An inability to perform work or other daily tasks
• Extreme feelings of shame or guilt
• Feeling a compulsive need to daydream that you can't control
• Making a conscious effort to stop or lessen daydreaming episodes.
• Intense and extremely vivid daydreams
• Complex and elaborate daydreams, often with many people involved
• Daydreams accompanied by repetitive movements such as pacing
• Prolonged daydreams that may last hours at a time
• A feeling of disconnect or dissociation from people and reality during the episode.

What Does Science Say?

Rachel Bennett, a member of Dr. Somer’s online community, shared she usually dreams up new episodes of her favorite Japanese animé characters and TV shows. She’s also created four families of fictional characters which have grown with her over the years.

“I’d much rather stay home and daydream than go out,” she said.

What Causes Maladaptive Daydreaming?

Dr. Somer noted that about one-quarter of maladaptive daydreamers are trauma survivors who use daydreaming as an escape. Many report family members with similar tendencies, as well as being shy or socially isolated.

Meanwhile, a Harvard Medical study found that 80 percent of maladaptive daydreamers have ADHD, followed by anxiety disorders, depression, and OCD. Researchers believe daydreaming often acts as a coping mechanism for pent-up emotions that cannot be expressed in real life, so they are released through imagination instead.

How Do You Cope With Maladaptive Daydreaming?

Experts emphasize that maladaptive daydreaming is not an extreme condition requiring formal diagnosis, but many people have shared strategies that help:

• Exercise: One forum user reported swimming daily, gradually reaching 2,000 meters, which acted as meditation and grounded them in reality.
• Remove triggers: Avoid activities that spark daydreaming episodes.
• Practice mindfulness: Stay present and aware of thoughts.
• Limit music use: Music is a common trigger.
• Scheduled daydreaming: Set aside specific times with a timer, then consciously exit the session.
• Seek professional help: Therapies such as CBT, DBT, and mindfulness-based stress reduction have shown benefits.
• Stay busy: Engage in tasks to prevent wandering thoughts.
• Improve sleep quality.
• Make daydreams less appealing: Reduce instant gratification.
• Self-development and creativity: Channel imagination into productive outlets.
• Journaling: Record thoughts daily or weekly.
• Practice self-acceptance.
• Find group support.

In January 2026, a Guardian investigation uncovered something deeply unsettling. Google’s AI summaries, designed to quickly answer search queries, were giving users inaccurate health information. Some of the advice was not just misleading but potentially dangerous.

One striking example involved liver function tests. The AI presented incorrect “normal ranges,” which could make someone with a serious liver infection believe their reports were fine. Following the investigation, Google quietly removed AI Overviews for certain queries such as “normal range for liver function tests” and similar searches.

Soon after, another finding raised further alarm. Researchers discovered that Google’s AI Overviews frequently relied on YouTube rather than established medical websites when responding to health questions. Considering nearly two billion people use Google search every month, the implications were hard to ignore.

Is AI Replacing Medical Advice

For years, doctors have warned about “Dr Google” and self diagnosis. But the situation has now moved beyond search results. People are increasingly asking AI tools directly for answers to complex medical problems.

The search optimization platform SE Ranking analyzed more than 50,000 health searches in Germany. The most cited source in AI responses was YouTube, which accounted for 4.43 percent of citations. That is about 3.5 times more than netdoktor.de, one of the country’s biggest consumer health portals. It was also cited more than twice as often as the well known medical reference MSD Manuals.

Only 34.45 percent of citations in AI Overviews came from reliable medical sources. Government health institutions and academic journals together contributed roughly one percent. No hospital network, university, or medical association came close to YouTube’s citation numbers.

Read: ChatGPT Health Explained: Will This New OpenAI Feature Replace Doctors?

Why Experts Are Concerned

The concern is simple. YouTube is a video platform, not a medical publisher. While qualified doctors upload educational videos, the platform also hosts wellness influencers, life coaches, and creators without medical training.

In one particularly worrying example, Google’s AI advised pancreatic cancer patients to avoid high fat foods. Medical experts say this recommendation is the opposite of what many patients actually need and could increase mortality risk.

AI Overviews also gave incorrect information about women’s cancer screening tests. Experts warned this could lead people to dismiss serious symptoms and delay diagnosis.

The Rise of Chatbot Medicine

The shift is not limited to search engines. Chatbots are rapidly becoming everyday health advisers. OpenAI estimates about 40 million people globally use ChatGPT for healthcare guidance each day.

A 2026 Health and Media Tracking Survey by the Canadian Medical Association found roughly half of Canadians consult Google AI summaries or ChatGPT for medical concerns.

Read: AI Therapy Gone Wrong: Psychiatrist Reveals How Chatbots Are Failing Vulnerable Teens

The outcome has not been reassuring. People who followed AI advice for self diagnosis and treatment were five times more likely to experience negative health effects than those who did not.

Studies help explain why. A 2025 University of Waterloo study found GPT 4 answered open ended medical questions incorrectly about two thirds of the time. Another 2025 Harvard study showed chatbots often agreed with flawed assumptions instead of correcting users, such as confusion between acetaminophen and Tylenol.

Researchers say AI systems tend to be overly agreeable and confident, prioritizing helpful responses rather than critical reasoning.

Confidence Versus Care

Despite knowing AI can be wrong, many people still rely on it. Long waits for specialists, lack of family doctors, and limited access to healthcare make instant answers appealing.

The real concern is not curiosity but unquestioned trust. Looking up symptoms is one thing. Acting on AI advice without verification is another.

The technology is powerful and useful, but when confident sounding answers replace medical judgement, the consequences can affect real lives.