Resilience: How Breaking Free From Doomscrolling Is A Step Towards Well-being
xavierarnau
Imagine having a productive day and going to bed early with the intention of waking up refreshed to continue your good work—only to end up scrolling for hours. Unfortunately, for many of us, this has become a familiar reality. There could be many reasons for this. Maybe you struggle to find a balance between the stress of your own life and what’s going on outside of it. You might have anxiety about your career, relationships, health, or life, while having to deal with a sudden pandemic, natural disaster, recession, or war. You try to alleviate your anxiety by reading the news but feel worse. You think that you just need to keep scrolling, causing you to stay up past your bedtime, endlessly consuming social media posts about the latest crisis.
You may have fallen down the rabbit hole of doomscrolling. Doomscrolling is spending “excessive time online scrolling through news or other content that makes one feel sad, anxious, etc.” It gained popularity in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic which led many people to compulsively consume news. According to a Morning Consult survey, 31% of U.S. adults who use social media said that they doomscroll either “a lot” or “some.” The percentage was higher among millennials (46%) and Gen Z (53%). Signs that you may be doomscrolling include displaying behaviors identified on the Doomscrolling Scale such as
I feel an urge to seek bad news on social media, more and more often
I lose track of time when I read bad news on social media
I constantly refresh my newsfeeds to see if something bad happened
I stay up late at night trying to find more negative news
Reading negative news on social media is more of a habit now
When I am online, I feel tense as if something bad is going to happen soon
I constantly feel panicked while scrolling on my device
I unconsciously check my newsfeeds for bad news
Even if my newsfeed says I am all caught up, I just keep scrolling for negative news
I find myself continuously browsing negative news
I check social media in the morning to see what bad things have happened
I feel like I am addicted to negative news
My social media searches probably make my newsfeeds more negative
I am terrified by what I see on social media but I cannot look away
It’s difficult to stop reading negative news on social media
We are drawn to negative news, because we are biologically predisposed to pay more attention to negative information than positive information due to a cognitive bias called the negativity bias. Although this evolutionary adaptation helped our ancestors scan for threats and survive in their environment, nowadays, it can lead to negative effects on our health. Lessening the negativity bias and negative thought patterns is a goal of many therapeutic techniques that improve neuroplasticity and well-being. Conversely, doomscrolling conditions the brain to seek out and expect negative information, reinforcing the negativity bias.
Research shows that doomscrolling can negatively impact our mental health and how we view the people and world around us. It can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, difficulty concentrating, and stress-related physical symptoms. This is due to the effect that it has on our brain and nervous system. Upon encountering negative news, the amygdala, the area of the brain responsible for processing fear and other emotions, detects threats and initiates the fight-or-flight stress response. This leads to the release of stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones lead to changes that allow the body to respond to perceived threats. Some of these changes include emotional reactivity, hypervigilance, sleep disturbance, muscle tension, and increased respiratory rate, heart rate, and blood pressure. When the amygdala is dominant, it lessens the activity of the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for decision making, leading to decreased concentration and impulse control.
When we discover new information, dopamine, a reward neurotransmitter, is released and reinforces the behavior as with other behavioral addictions. Additionally, social media platforms use algorithms that are designed to keep users engaged for as long as possible. They prioritize emotionally charged content, such as negative news, personalize content according to user engagement, and use the infinite scroll feature that makes content endless. They also operate on a variable reward system, like slot machines, where the unpredictable nature of the content and feedback that users receive keeps them hooked.
This creates a feedback loop of anxiety that reinforces our negative thoughts and beliefs and that makes us feel that we need more information to protect ourselves from a world that seems far more dangerous than it actually is. What starts as an attempt to manage anxiety and a fear of uncertainty—and to feel in control—can have the opposite effect, leaving us feeling more anxious, unsafe, helpless, and hopeless. Our ability to feel safe with others, the most important aspect of mental health, is undermined. Our resilience is eroded and our coping capacity is lowered. How can we break free from this self-defeating, vicious cycle?
It all starts with awareness. Psychologist Megan Johnson, PhD, says, “Doomscrolling is essentially an avoidance technique used to cope with anxiety, so wherever you are vulnerable to anxiety, doomscrolling can become an unhealthy coping mechanism.” “And ironically, the very things doomscrolling can rob you of—healthy sleep, meaningful social interactions, fulfilling work, and hobbies—are also the things we know are most supportive of our mental well-being. So it becomes a vicious cycle.” She suggests getting in touch with the thoughts and feelings that are driving the compulsion, understanding what your need is, and finding an appropriate way to get that need met. For example, if you are feeling overwhelmed and what you need is support, you could reach out to someone and ask for help rather than distracting or distancing yourself by turning to your phone. Some other options include engaging in healthy activities such as meaningful connection, exercise, hobbies, being in nature, mindfulness, meditation, and therapy. Also, focusing on what you can control is empowering and will improve your resilience. It will help you take action and find solutions, like volunteering for a cause appearing in the news.
In addition to setting boundaries and limiting your content consumption and exposure, you can also try hopescrolling, joyscrolling, or what psychologist and professor Kim Penberthy, PhD, calls kindness scrolling. She explains, “What we know from decades of psychophysiology research is that these perceptions of either positive things – like when we see people being generous, or we see things that are kind and calming, or funny and charming – they send out these hormones in our body that are going to promote that feeling of connectedness, of safety. They’re good for us. They’re good for our body. Our body is saying, “Oh, you can relax here. You’re safe. This is good.” And when we do that over time, it is more helpful. We feel more positive, we are more relaxed, our stress is reduced, and thus our stress hormones.”
As you choose more uplifting and positive content, it will eventually replace the negative content in your newsfeed and beyond. This shift also applies to your life, as focusing on the positive, having gratitude, and being present are essential to well-being. This brings us to a powerful question—are you ready to embrace uncertainty? Breaking free from doomscrolling can help you let go of what you can’t control and step into greater well-being.