Published February 25, 2026 | By Alyx E, Founder of Collectors MD
Recovery has a way of creating open space. When one behavior is removed or slowed down, something else often rushes in to fill the gap. Sometimes that replacement looks healthier on the surface – more acceptable, more productive, more socially reinforced. But that doesn’t always mean it’s harmless.
Social media is one of the most common places dopamine relocates. Likes, views, comments, followers, engagements – they deliver fast feedback and instant gratification. The brain doesn’t spend much time judging the source. It just registers stimulation. Over time, that stimulation can start to feel necessary rather than optional.
Things get especially complicated when money enters the equation. Someone decides to pay for an algorithm boost on a post, and it performs well. Or maybe a TikTok or an Instagram Reel goes viral organically. The attention, that sudden spike, feels validating – maybe even encouraging. The next post feels heavier. Expectations creep in. When the numbers dip, discomfort follows – and the solution starts to sound familiar: spend a little more, push a little harder, chase the feeling back.
What began as sharing becomes performance. What began as connection becomes comparison.
Not every form of momentum is progress – sometimes it’s just the nervous system looking for its next hit.
For people with a history of compulsive behavior, this pattern can mirror addiction in subtle ways. Chasing highs. Avoiding lows. Tying self-worth to outcomes. Escalating effort – or spending – to recreate a moment that already passed. The platform changes, but the mechanics stay the same.
This isn’t about demonizing social media or ambition. Just like collecting, engagement isn’t inherently unhealthy. The issue is what’s driving it. When dopamine replaces intention, the nervous system takes over and awareness quietly slips away.
Even something healthy, like exercise, can become a problem if it becomes the sole way we regulate our emotions. If we suffer a physical injury, we’re suddenly out of commission and that outlet disappears overnight. And in that space, it can become easy to drift back toward old patterns.
The goal isn’t to swap one coping mechanism for another. It’s to avoid becoming dependent on any single thing and instead build a balanced mix of movement, connection, rest, awareness, and support that can adapt when life inevitably throws a curveball.
Recovery isn’t only about stopping harmful behaviors. It’s about noticing where that energy tries to go next. Paying attention to new patterns before they harden. Letting pauses exist without filling them immediately.
If something starts to feel compulsive, costly, or emotionally loaded, that isn’t failure. It’s information. And listening to that information is part of protecting our mental health – not limiting our growth.
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Awareness isn’t about removing pleasure, it’s about staying in control of where we seek it.
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