WHAT IS "DOOM SCROLLING" AND HOW DO I STOP?

 

Scrolling on our phones or other mobile devices has become automatic. For most of us, anytime we wait in line at a store, sit in traffice, and even inbetween commercials on TV we pull out our phones. For some of us we will window shop and for others this is a chance to read articles or read a book on a tablet.

However, the concept of "Doom Scrolling" comes into play when you are scrolling through bad or negative topics. When the pandemic began, so many of us became glued to the news, always looking for the Covid hot-spots around the globe. The anxiety of the unknown with our health and the health of our family left many people scrolling from one news story to the next all the while adding to the anxiety and lack of sleep.

Additionally some people will read news online from political news sources and feel drawn into the negativity there. Regardless of your political beliefs, reading about politics is not always the most relaxing way to spend your time.

Instead of continuing to give your attention to this habit, it's best to set limits on how much time you spend online and even to create a restriction of the topics that you will allow to scroll. While this may sound overly stringent, it tends to work best to implement hard, fast boundaries that can always be lessened as you learn to avoid this unfortunate habit.

Overall, "Doom Scrolling" tends to be anxiety driven. We seek out more and more information to soothe ourselves when anxiety is brought to the surface through challenging topics. As you avoid this behavior it may be helpful to substitute something else in it's place. Take a walk, watch something goofy on You Tube. Anything that can offer distraction as well as interest. The goal is to remove the effect that this negative scrolling has on your overall mental health.