After struggling with ADHD symptoms for several years, Samantha was encouraged by an ad she saw on TikTok for dopamine patches. Samantha, who uses her first name to protect her privacy, never was formally diagnosed with ADHD. Still, she says she struggles every day with the severe symptoms of the condition.
“I have a bazillion ideas in my head, but none of them will come to light, and it’s so frustrating,” Samantha tells SELF in a direct message on Reddit. “I feel the ability under the surface, but I just shut it off.”
So when Samantha came across spots that promised to increase her motivation and focus, she hoped that trying them might help.
Dopamine patches are stick-on, brightly colored patches sold in various online stores, advertised as containing natural ingredients such as mushroom and bean extracts, and marketed as increases concentration and increases energy. (They’re quite different from dopamine agonist patches, a prescription drug used to treat Parkinson’s disease and restless legs syndrome.) For about $15, a month’s supply is delivered right to your door—no prescription or pharmacy visit required. However, it remains unclear whether the patches—another product on the unregulated supplement market—are actually effective in treating ADHD.
Still, dopamine patches quickly built a following on social media. This videowhich has more than 27,000 likes, is a paid partnership with one of the distributors of the patch. The creator shares her positive experience with the patches, writing that after trying it, she “danced around the kitchen instead of distancing herself.” While some comments are skeptical, many are encouraging and express hope that the fixes can help improve their mental clarity.
Although dopamine supplements are available in pill form, patches seem to be the most popular. Transdermal patches are a drug delivery system that allows the drug and ingredients to be absorbed directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the digestive system. As a result, research suggests that patch users are less likely to experience digestive side effects and that continued use is easier than daily oral supplements. The patch method also allows the ingredients to be absorbed slowly over a longer period of time.
How dopamine patches are marketed
Dopamine plays a key role in maintaining motivation, and research suggests that ADHD may be linked to problems with the transmission of dopamine within the brain. As a result, many people with ADHD struggle to stay on task.
