What Happens When You Doomscroll Every Day For A Year

And How Doomscrolling Reprograms Your Brain

You opened Instagram to “quickly check something” three hours ago.

Right now you don’t even remember what that something was. But you’ve watched 47 reels, you know your cousin’s ex is in Bali, you learned the world’s ending in 2027 for five different reasons, and you’re absolutely certain your life is shit compared to literally everyone else on the planet.

Congratulations. You’re a human functioning normally.

What happens when this isn’t an “oops, happened today”? What happens when this is literally every single day for an entire year?

Spoiler: it’s not pretty. But it’s fascinating.

Doomscrolling isn’t about information. It’s about avoidance. You’re avoiding boredom. Avoiding loneliness. Avoiding that project you should start. Avoiding that difficult conversation. Avoiding the deafening silence of your own mind.

Your phone is the perfect opioid. Doesn’t leave track marks on your arms. Doesn’t get you drunk. But serves exactly the same function: anesthesia.

You think you’re “relaxing”. You’re dissociating.