How We Can Break the Doom-scrolling Habit
Yes, it’s an addiction; yes, we can break it
It’s addictive. We fill our social media feed with news about politicians we either love or loathe, catastrophes near and far, discrimination, violence, crime, war, and more. It’s as if a part of us thrives on worse and worse stories. I’m guilty of it too when it comes to politics.
According to Suzanne Degges-White Ph.D. writing in Psychology Today:
“It’s like scratching an itch when you see a headline or tweet that either reinforces a negative feeling you have or proves that your perspective on an issue/person/movement is vindicated. When someone agrees with our beliefs and viewpoints, our brains register that as a ‘win’ and we might get a hit of dopamine from the external validation of our inner thoughts….When we focus on arousing our outrage or validating our negative opinions, our brains become primed for negative feelings. While it can feel ‘good’ to have a negative opinion validated, it is priming our brain to offer rewards for negative mindsets.”
While it’s important to stay well-informed, it’s also important to keep our system from being overwhelmed. The more we feed our addiction, the worse and worse we feel. It can affect our digestion, give us headaches, contribute to sleep problems, and impair our memory. Our…
