The Digital Fog: How Screen Time, Processed Food, and Dopamine Dysregulation Have You Trapped in a Negative Feedback Loop

How I Started Seeing the Patterns

Before I fully understood the situation with families—how their homes reflected not just disorganization but also signs of neurological and behavioral challenges—I went through a period of considerable change myself.

Sure! Here’s a revised version of your text without the word "fascinated":

I was studying psychology and anthropology, as I deeply interested in human behavior, cognitive development, and the way people assign meaning to their surroundings. My plan wasn’t to become an organizer. I was focused on understanding how humans think, evolve, and interact with their environments.

I've frequently heard clients jokingly say “Just burn it all!" ...and that's precisely what happened to me.

My house caught fire, taking everything—my home, my dog, my school materials, almost every possession I owned. My sense of stability burned with it.

Three months later, I found out I was pregnant with my second daughter.

This wasn’t the path I had envisioned for my life, but you know the saying—“Man makes plans, and God laughs.” A change in course rarely makes sense in the moment, but further down the river, you start to see why it had to happen. After month of living temporarily in a studio, I found myself in government housing, told I couldn’t work because we were at the $15-an-hour income cap. It was extremely frustrating and a story for another day.

I had been working and taking care of myself since I was 16, waiting around wasn’t in my nature. So, being the stubborn person I am who can't just sit around...

I started an errand-running side gig. Not because I had a grand plan, but because I needed to move, to engage, to keep my mind sharp. I was falling into depression.

One of my clients, a female scientist, whom I had been cleaning and running errands for, asked me to help her organize her library. That led to another referral. Then another. And before I knew it, I had built a business completely by accident.

At first, I focused on the mechanics of organization—how to create order, how to make spaces functional. But, over the course of the first 2 years, as I spent time in people’s homes, I began noticing something else.

I wasn’t just seeing a mess. I was watching people become desensitized to their own spaces, their awareness distant—almost detached, as if they were floating above the clutter, not a refusal to engage with their environment.

It wasn’t just disorganization. It was changes playing out in the children, and it was wild to see. Many of the homes I entered shared the same unconscious story. Not all, but many. And I just wanted to fix it all.

I was running around putting out mini fires everywhere, not understanding why people are making things harder on themselves by having SO much around them. This is visually overstimulating alone. The excess. The distractions. The endless consumption.

It’s not making life easier and in fact the opposite.

Why?

A Culture Designed for Cognitive Weakness

Every home I entered followed the same story it seems.

Parents are exhausted, mentally foggy, and feeling behind on everything. Children are overstimulated, struggling with shorter attention spans and higher agitation. Clutter everywhere, half-finished projects, impulsive purchases, a constant state of disorder.

At first, I thought it was modern stress. But then I started looking deeper.

The same three things were always present. Many similarities I saw and here are some:

Excessive Screen Time

We are living in a digital fog.

Attention spans are shrinking. Focus is disappearing. The ability to sit still, think deeply, or follow through on tasks is becoming for of a challenge. Even for myself I will admit.

Now, I am NOT a doctor, nor do I give advice. BUT, I was diagnosed with ADHD and Tourette Syndrome. I have done so much research, but I’ll keep it simple—this is pretty straightforward, and I think people already know.

Every scroll, every swipe, every hit of new content releases dopamine, the brain’s reward chemical. Research shows that screen addiction reduces gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for impulse control, attention regulation, and long-term decision-making.

The more we scroll, the harder it becomes to focus, regulate emotions, and get things done.

Screens rewire the brain, making real-world tasks feel impossible.

The Processed Food Problem: Malnourished Brains

The modern diet isn’t just bad for the body. It is destroying the brain.

Ultra-processed foods are stripped of essential nutrients that fuel cognitive function. Without them, we lose neurotransmitter production, stable energy regulation, and brain plasticity—the ability to learn, adapt, and retain information.

Instead of nourishing the brain, processed foods create dopamine spikes and crashes, keeping people in a constant state of fatigue, distraction, and low motivation.

Over time, this weakens mental resilience, making it harder to focus, follow through on plans, or even think clearly.

Dopamine Hijacking and The Passive Consumption Loop

Dopamine is supposed to be a tool for motivation, for completing meaningful tasks.

But now it is being hijacked by passive consumption.

Scrolling instead of learning. Junk food instead of real nourishment. Buying more instead of using what we have.

This creates a dopamine dependency cycle, where people feel unmotivated yet compulsively seek low-reward stimulation to get temporary relief.

The outcome? A significant feedback loop of unfulfilled commitments resulting in shame and an increased desire to seek pleasure externally.

People feel drained, overwhelmed, stuck, yet unable to break the loop.

And all of this—the screen addiction, the food addiction, the dopamine hijacking—weakens the prefrontal cortex.

This is the part of the brain responsible for discipline, decision-making, and long-term planning.

When the prefrontal cortex weakens, people lose the ability to follow through on things that matter.

They buy the planner but don’t use it. They purchase storage bins but never fill them. They have good intentions but never act on them.

The clutter builds. The tasks remain undone. Shame sets in.

And to escape that discomfort?

Another scroll. Another purchase. Another distraction.

And the cycle continues.

Breaking the Cycle: A Simple Daily Reset

Now, I have a challenge for you if you would like to participate.

For at least three days this week, commit to these small incremental changes.

At the Beginning of the Week (Or any time of the week)

• Set one small goal. Maybe finish an uncompleted task? Organize one room in the house starting with 2 drawers a day. Spend 15-30 minutes a day working toward it.

Morning Routine

• Drink lemon water. Hydrate first thing, before coffee or screens.

• Get outside for 10 minutes. Sunlight before screen helps regulate circadian rhythm

• Breathwork for 10 minutes. Try "Breath of Fire" to increase focus and clarity. I will post a video

Midday Reset

• Write down one thing you're grateful for. Even something simple, like “I'm thankful for the sunshine and I'm proud of myself for choosing that time for me.”

Movement & Mindset

• Move for at least 15 minutes. Walk, stretch, or do any form of physical activity that gets the heart bumping.

• Limit passive consumption. Less scrolling, fewer impulsive distractions.

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This isn’t about perfection. It’s about retraining your brain to focus, follow through, and function outside of these habits we've created for ourselves.

Try it. See how you feel and lets build on that.

Breath of Fire: https://youtu.be/GPo4EFq4XeY?si=JrU8q5b61vrBlRGE