Doomscrolling: The Urge to Keep Scrolling Through Negative News
Protect your mental health with tips on what you can do instead of doomscrolling.
There is a relatively new word floating around the Internet: Doomscrolling.
What is doomscrolling?
It is putting too much time into scrolling on social media apps like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram; likely absorbing bad or saddening news, yet continuing to do so.
Have you stayed up late scrolling through negative garbage on the Internet? It’s that.
It is also known as doomsurfing.
Continuous scrolling on social media can also trigger anger. Ever read through a whole comment section full of people fighting?
When the whole world has different opinions on things and you give them an open platform to argue, they will. Then, people’s feelings get hurt.
Despite what the above image may imply, the term doomscrolling isn’t proven to come from scrolls like I thought when I made the image.
The origin of doomscrolling
Since everyone sucks information from everyone else on the Internet, it’s hard to say where new words are coming from or who started using them first.
There are different reports of where doomscrolling originated from but by 2018, the meaning of the term seem well established.
According to Business Insider, the term doomscrolling may have gained popularity in 2018 through Quartz reporter Karen Ho, who posted nightly reminders to stop doomscrolling.
But even then, using these combined words may have started elsewhere.
Doomscrolling and the brain
Since I started working from home and the whole Covid pandemic happening, my screen time soared through the roof.
I was one of those people who swore they’ll never be on TikTok. Now, I’m constantly doomscrolling on it. I’ve even written an article on how to get more views on TikTok.
As a species, we’re so down the rabbit hole of immediate gratification — with food, shopping, sex, and entertainment.
Of course, when the entertainment is bad, there’s got to be a bad implication.
Doomscrolling negatively affects the brain
According to this study, the average daily social media usage of Internet users worldwide amounted to 147 minutes per day in 2022. Two minutes more than the number in the previous year.
Those are too many minutes. Not that I’m one to talk, my country — the Philippines is #1 in social media usage.
Collectively, we really should get it together.
“The doomscrolling habit has had a negative impact on mental health, triggering and worsening anxiety, stress, depression, panic, and rapidly impacting one’s mental and neurological health that is triggered by being glued to the screen,” said Dr. Fabian Almeida, Consultant Psychiatrist, Fortis Hospital, Kalyan.
When you’re doomscrolling, you’re exposed to limitless threats causing your brain to be on high alert even after putting the phone down.
The more I read about why scrolling on social media is addicting, the scarier it sounds.
GCF Global tells the story of a device called Skinner Box. It’s the same-old mouse in a box. When the mouse pushes the lever, sometimes it’s given a reward so it keeps pressing and pressing.
What do the mouse and social media addicts have in common? They’re all trying to scratch an itch. Perhaps that goes for all addicts.
I have felt it. After hours of scrolling, I put down my phone just to pick it up again for some entertainment. It’s a waste of time.
What you can do instead of doomscrolling
It is well-established that doomscrolling will negatively affect your brain, yet many people aware of that fact are continuing to do so.
That shouldn’t be the case though, social media addiction is real. Just like any bad habit, it should be replaced with better ones.
Here is a list of what you can do to limit doomscrolling:
- Get a hobby
It may sound harsh to some people but scrolling on social media for hours in a day isn’t a hobby.
Occupy your time with something productive or at the very least not harmful for the brain.
- When it’s time to sleep, just go to sleep
Many people I know stay up late because it’s the only time for themselves, and that’s okay.
But, when what you do with that time is consume negative news, is that time for yourself well spent?
It’s better to get your full hours of sleep anyway.
- Use an app
There are apps that are specifically made to help you limit your screen time. One of them is App Limits.
Though, looking at the reviews of most apps that limit screen time they’re mostly made for kids.
Well, you have to parent yourself sometimes.
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