Do you often lose track of time while scrolling through your social media feed? Or do you feel helpless, hopeless, or drained after scrolling?
If yes, you might be experiencing doomscrolling & definitely you are not alone.
It is a compulsive urge to scroll through a continuous feed of distressing, negative news & social media content. The distressing information of natural disasters, wars, massive shootings, or a polarised vote in a presidential election leads to doomsurfing.
This term gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic, as individuals desired to stay alert regarding the perceived threats. However, even after years, individuals are still living through enormous social, political, and economic rage, and it has become a threat to our mental health.
What is Doomscrolling?
Doomscrolling defined as a habit of scrolling through negative content online, usually through social media or news. It is a compulsive urge to stay informed, whether the point is useful or not. Instead of stopping this habit, individuals keep going to find out what is happening in the worst-case scenario.
Moreover, doomsurfing can also give an illusion of control: “If I read everything, I’ll be prepared”. This makes putting the phone down feel impossible.
However, after some time, it causes mental health issues, anxiety, depression, and leads to seeing the world as dark & more dangerous.
How Does Doomscrolling Affect Mental Health?
It severely impacts mental health and causes extreme stress, anxiety, and sometimes triggers PTSD. Individuals who expose themselves to negative news & content are at high risk of developing mental health issues. It is associated with greater psychological distress and lower overall life satisfaction and well-being.
The Psychology Behind Doomscrolling
Our brains are connected to perceived negative news more quickly. It is a primal instinct to know new technology. Social media algorithms show sensational content that can catch the eye of a layperson, which eventually makes it hard to look away from the negative news.
1. Illusion of Control
Individuals seeking every bad information think as if they know every bad thing happening around them, they can be prepared for it before time. However, this is just an artificial sense of control.
2. Dopamine Loop
The dopamine hormone is released after perceiving negative news; the hit of dopamine makes one addicted to such news. It eventually leads them to doomscrolling.
3. Anxiety Loop
People who are habitual of scrolling cannot stop themselves, as it becomes a vicious cycle.
Anxiety triggers that they need to scroll their phones to perceive negative information, which then leads them to scroll more. It can trigger or worsen panic attacks, irritability, and mood swings, especially if they are already vulnerable to anxiety or depressive disorders.
4. Neuroticism
It’s a personality trait that makes individuals naturally stay more worried and fearful about situations. So, doomsurfing can help them experience a sense of control over negative situations, which results in some level of soothing or comfort.
5. Negativity bias
There is a theory of Negativity bias that suggests humans remember negative experiences longer and react to them. It eventually causes people to do doomscrolling and other related behaviors.
Why is Doomscrolling Dangerous?
It can be dangerous for our mental well-being, especially for people who are already suffering from mental disorders. It worsens their health and increases panic attacks, worry, irritability, mental fatigue, and leads to poor cognitive function. However, the constant exposure to alarming materials leads to changes in mood, stress-related physical symptoms, and sleep disturbances.
Moreover, it also causes feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, as the world starts to look overwhelmingly dangerous or broken.
Effects on Sleep & lead to Insomnia
Most individuals scroll while they are in bed late at night, which delays their sleep and exposes them to blue light. It makes it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep, which eventually leads to irritability. Over time, it impacts work, study, relationships, and hobbies.
Leads to “Crazymaking”
The excessive exposure to social media manipulates your mind to know the difference between perceived reality and social media. Most of the social media platforms provide different information on different pages, which keeps the mind to remain in clash of conflict to reconcile both news.
Isolation
People who are habitual of scrolling tend to remain alone so that they can get to know what is going on around the world. To relieve the anxiety, they remain most of the time alone, which eventually leads to isolation.
Note: It is really important to be aware of the time one spends on scrolling so that one can take steps toward reducing its impact on mental health.
When to Seek Professional Help?
If you feel like your symptoms are overwhelming and cannot be controlled on your own, seek professional support immediately. A mental health professional conducts interviews with the person who is suffering from doomscrolling and checks the symptoms. After diagnosing the exact condition, they recommend the treatments tailored to the unique needs of the individual.
What Professional Treatment Options are available for treating Doomscrolliong?
People experiencing mental health issues due to doomsurfing are highly treatable. A mental health professional recommends therapies and medication to help individuals reduce their symptoms. Some of the common medications that can be helpful include antidepressants & antipsychotics.
Psychotherapies for Reducing Mental Disorders
Psychotherapy can be beneficial for reducing unhealthy behaviors such as doomscrolling. A mental health specialist in talk therapy changes the thoughts and perceptions of the individuals and leads them to follow healthy behaviors.
Some of the common psychotherapies include Cognitive behavioral therapy. It is in particular
may be particularly helpful for Doomsurfing. It’s a form of therapy that helps people learn to recognize unhelpful thoughts and behaviors and helps them cope with them in order to improve mental health. Exposure Therapy, in this therapy, a mental health professional exposes the individuals to the things they fear in a safe environment. It reduces anxiety and builds confidence, and manages symptoms.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), In this therapy, a mental health professional combines mindfulness meditation with CBT to help manage negative thoughts and emotions by helping them to focus on the present moment. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is often used to help reduce emotional distress. It is a type of CBT that helps in coping with distress and improving relationships.
Takeaway
It is very common to get lost in the distressing news around the World. But if this negative news is causing stress to your mental health, then it’s a serious thing, and one should take professional help. Common signs of doomsurfing include ignoring responsibilities, constant checking, difficulty disconnecting, mindless habit, increased anxiety & fear, Sadness & depression. However, with some effort, individuals can focus their attention on more positive activities.
If you find you can’t stop doomscrolling or it makes you extremely upset, it’s time to discuss it with a professional at Inland Empire Behavioral Group. You can get compassionate treatments from our top-notch mental health experts. We provide personalized treatments and adjust medication according to the severity and needs. You can also get in-person and online treatments through our telepsychiatric services.
