RETROSPECTIVE
Endless Doomscrolling: Should We Look Away from the News?
When I woke up this morning, I reached for my phone to turn off the alarm, but it wasn’t the only thing I did. I was barely awake when I scrolled through my Instagram page. Almost compulsively, I kept scrolling through the bad news and spent more time than I intended.
You probably have experienced something similar, or even currently struggling with it. This behavior is also known as doomscrolling. The term was popularized during COVID-19 when news about the pandemic, political unrest, and global crises dominated our feeds. During the pandemic, the term “doomscrolling,” which describes the behavior of continuously consuming negative news, became popular. It began to be used around 2018 on Twitter and was popularized by Karen Ho, an American journalist for Quartz. The term became widely recognized, even becoming one of the most Googled words in 2021.
Doomscrolling and Why It’s Bad
This behavior was getting attention in psychology. In an article journal titled “The Dark at the End of the Tunnel: Doomscrolling on Social Media News Feeds” doomscrolling is conceptualized as a habitual, immersive scanning for timely negative information on social media newsfeeds. In other words, it’s a compulsive behavior where you seek out bad news through social media platforms such as Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and others.
The habit of doomscrolling can be debilitating once it gets severe, making us feel hopeless and useless against the horrible things happening around the globe. A study found that people who are more engaged with doomscrolling are more likely to experience psychological distress that can lead to lower mental well-being, life satisfaction, and harmony in life.
Solutions by Offered Psychologists
The unjust government, violence against innocent people, ongoing genocides around the globe — these are very much out of our control; we are becoming witnesses to all of them. The big question is, if scrolling through negative news is bad for us, should we hop off social media altogether and take a break for the sake of prioritizing our mental health?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer, but there are strategies that can help. According to an article published by the American Psychological Association (APA), some effective ways to manage doomscrolling are:
- Turning off all notifications.
- Adding tech-free periods to the day and not bringing phones to the dinner table.
- Limiting social media checks to 15 minutes can also prevent the endless cycle of negative news consumption.
Although this strategy is aimed at teens and children, it can still be considered for adults. There’s another way to deal with doomscrolling instead of looking away completely.
On The Native Informant podcast, Dr. Saliha Afridi offered a realistic way to regulate your nervous system while constantly seeing bad news on social media, particularly in the context of the genocide in Gaza. She emphasized the importance of self-awareness: “You need to know yourself. You need to know your limits. You need to know what the day is asking of you. You need to know the tasks you must complete in your day to get through. You need to know that you need to witness this.”
In the same podcast, she stressed that the things you’ve seen are not just social media content — you are witnessing people being traumatized. Therefore, you must prepare yourself before going online and know you will encounter painful news. Observe what you need to observe and recognize your limits (try to be aware of your emotions and stop before you get overwhelmed). Therefore, you can regulate your nervous system in a way that doesn’t add to the burden of feeling guilty, worthless, or lost.
Conclusion
Doomscrolling, a behavior in our digital age, can affect our mental and physical well-being. The constant exposure to negative news can lead to feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, and even depression. However, completely disconnecting from social media isn’t always the best solution, as staying informed is also important.
The key lies in finding a balance. By setting boundaries, such as limiting the time spent on social media, turning off notifications, and being mindful of our emotional responses to what we see online, we can protect our mental health while staying informed. It’s essential to recognize when the stream of bad news is overwhelming and take a step back when needed.
As Dr. Saliha Afridi suggests, it’s crucial to know your limits and to approach social media with the awareness that you’re not just consuming content — you’re witnessing real events that affect real people. Doing so enables you to engage with the world around you in an informed and sustainable way.
Ultimately, many of us have fallen into the habit of doomscrolling, especially in times of crisis. But with conscious effort and self-awareness, we can learn to navigate the digital world in a way that protects our mental health while still allowing us to bear witness to the events shaping our world.
