So earlier today, I was going through YouTube... It is usually something that I do to pass the time especially when I am bored or waiting for someone to get back to me on something.
So, while on YouTube, I stumbled on a video where a psychiatrist was explaining a couple of things about procrastination. Maybe one day I will make a post about that because it is something that is completely new to me and I do feel like I need to do a little bit more study on it.

Anyways back to the video. The Psychiatrist was talking about procrastination and he mentioned a tool that has been used by some scientists and some labs to help people with addiction especially with alcohol and drugs... It's called the doorway effect.

What does that even mean?

In summary, the doorway effect is a phenomenon that describes a temporary form of amnesia that happens once you go through a door. Take for instance you are in your bedroom probably watching a movie and you suddenly thought to yourself

"I am going to go to the kitchen and get me a glass of milk and some cookies."

You stand up from your bed, you walk out of your room, and you get to the kitchen and can't remember the reason why you are in the kitchen.

It has happened to me a countless times, so when I heard that there was a name for it, it kind of freaked me out.

What's the mindset behind it?

So, some scientists have done some weird studies and come up with an idea that our brain works in a way that it compartmentalizes short term working memory. What that simply means is that, whatever memory you have in a particular context seems to remain in that context after you have left that context. ( It sounds like I'm confusing myself here).

Okay! Let me explain it in a different way. The doorway effect proposes that if you think of something while in your bedroom in the comfort of your bed, with the air around you and in the comfort of your bed sheet, by the time you step out of your room and cross the threshold of your door that memory seems to reset itself. It also seems to work whether it is a physical doorway or a virtual doorway.

The idea is that when our forefathers who were hunter gatherers came into a new environment the brain found a way to reset itself in order to absorb new information about the new environment to aid survival. Could this be true? Maybe, I don't know.

And when I say reset, I do not mean that all of your memory suddenly vanishes.

Of course it' might take you a while but you would eventually remember what you came to the kitchen for and get your glass of milk and cookies and go back to complete your movie in your bedroom. Or maybe, you could find yourself doing the dishes after about 30 minutes, not remembering that the reason why you got to the kitchen and the first place was to get the glass of milk and some cookies.

However, it is quite fascinating to find out that our brain works in such a way as to put our short term working memory in compartments...sometimes literally

Ok! I am going to speculate

If our brain works in such a way that it puts our memories into small boxes that are associated with the places that we have been in and in addition reset itself when we find ourselves in another environment, this might provide some insight into memory and how to remember things.

I remember reading something about a memory technique called the method of loci. The method works by associating memory or what you want to remember with a physical object or environment. So, anytime you want to draw from the memory, it is as easy as going to the physical environment or retrieving the physical object and the memory suddenly comes to you.

How does it help people with addictions?

Well, here's the best way I can explain it. Imagine someone that is addicted to alcohol but wants to quit. He will have days when he wakes up and he is feeling like he needs to take a lot of alcohol in the morning.

Now it is a feeling that happens when he wakes up in the morning... It is said that if he gets up and goes out of his room, probably takes a walk, he is less likely to succumb to his desire of having a full bottle of beer that morning.

The doorway effect kicks in once he leaves his room and takes a walk. His brain, somehow, resets his short-term working memory, and he begins to think about something else even if it is for a short period of time.

Is this a foolproof recommendation? I don't know. But personally I don't think it is. It might be a tool in the arsenal of tools used by psychiatrists or psychologists to help people with addiction to quit. However I do not think that it is a magic bullet.

What do you think?

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