We live in the age of hyperconnectivity. In our always-on world, a new online addiction has taken hold, one so pervasive and psychologically powerful that it has been called a form of social control. Doomscrolling is the behavior of excessively consuming short-form videos, infinite-scrolling social media feeds, and streams of negative news online. The term appeared in 2020 during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the World Health Organization cautioned against an “infodemic” of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and clickbait rife with fear-inducing content.
Research suggests doomscrolling is particularly prevalent among younger people, men, and those who are politically engaged. The behavior has been associated with internet addiction disorder. A 2019 National Academy of Sciences study linked doomscrolling to both mental and physical health declines. But what causes people to keep scrolling even as it makes them feel so terrible? Psychologists have identified a number of culprits, including negativity bias, fear of missing out, anxiety, and an attempt to create a sense of control over a chaotic world. But why is doomscrolling so hard to quit?
Vulnerable Demographics
The activity is driven by the limbic system, or as it’s known in the community garden of informal neuroscientific nicknames, the “lizard brain.” The lizard brain contains the amygdala, which is responsible for, among other things, our fight-or-flight response. The lizard brain is how we survive. It makes sure we’re always on the lookout for predators and other threats. When you scroll through the headlines about some fresh horror or watch another explainer video about a school shooting, the amygdala hears that as a message that the world is a scary place, that you’re in danger, that you need to be on high alert.
The more stressed out we get, the more we feel the need to get information we think might help us predict or prevent danger (information that might just scare us even more). The more we scroll, the more anxious we feel. It’s a vicious cycle.
It’s a cycle we’re all vulnerable to, as soon as we pick up a smartphone, basically. But two populations are at particularly high risk: women and survivors of trauma. Watching this content could affect women more deeply and contribute to a feeling of fear and emotional distress that leads to more compulsive doomscrolling.
The Lasting Effects
Doomscrolling can also affect our physical and mental health in ways that are similar to chronic stress. The stomach-churning news headlines we love to hate can make us actually nauseous. But the other physical side effects are even more similar to a state of chronic stress. Harvard Health states that individuals who engage in excessive doomscrolling may experience additional physical symptoms, including headaches, body aches, neck and shoulder tension, sleep disturbances, reduced appetite, and even elevated blood pressure. And if doomscrolling is keeping you on your couch for hours at a time, your body’s lack of movement doesn’t help, either.
Doomscrolling might even hurt your productivity. Doomscrolling at work can make employees less engaged and more distracted from their jobs. The most immediate impact, however, is popcorn brain, when our minds feel overstimulated and “pop” in our heads after we’ve been staring at a screen for too long. The more time you spend doomscrolling, the more your brain becomes acclimated to the quick stimulation of short bursts of information scrolling by on your screen. But once our brains adapt to being on digital high alert, it can make the slower-paced interactions and activities of the real world feel more monotonous. You might also find it harder to focus or get impatient more easily.
