How many times have you been lulled to sleep by neon blue hues of your phone's screen as you continue to skim headlines while in bed? The answer for nearly all is zero; yet we're collectively still reaching for gadgets as soon as our head hits the pillow. It's a phenomena that we now know as "doomscrolling", a term that has gained popularity during the pandemic, election season, and ongoing social discourse on race and equality. Whether you're more likely to doomscroll at night or during the day, the impact on your brain can be immediate, and may be much more of a thorn in your mental wellbeing over time, according to experts.
The pull to scroll is a psychological phenomenon — like not being able to turn away from a train wreck, says Judy Ho, Ph.D., a California-based clinical neuropsychologist specializing in forensics and professor within Pepperdine University's Graduate School of Education and Psychology. "It's a way for your brain to try to maintain control in a very uncontrollable situation in our world," she adds. "When you feel out of control, the weird thing is, actually, you're going to want to read more bad news. It's like a way for you to basically say, well, 'At least I knew about it in advance.' It somehow makes you feel like you are in control… even though we know it's not going to be anything good, and we always tend to feel horrible afterwards."
Scientists have long established a link between excessive social media use and depression and loneliness (especially during the pandemic), and Dr. Ho explains that "doomscrolling" can compound that effect by increasing our brain's cortisol levels within minutes of picking up our phones. "Elevated cortisol caused by stress or a 'flight or fight' response isn't something that just lasts over a few minutes; when someone's cortisol peaks, it's a phenomenon that goes on for the entire day where they feel unhappy or tired."
In the long run, you shouldn't be surprised to hear that scrolling feeds endlessly can also impact your sleep and energy levels. Exhaustion is a direct byproduct of a scrolling habit because you may turn to questionable practices to deal with all the extra fear, leading to what Dr. Ho calls a "crazy negative cycle." Maybe it's more "doomscrolling" overall, failing to meet responsibilities during your day because you're avoiding them, consuming unhealthy food or too much alcohol, or simply becoming more isolated than before. And if you're scrolling before bed, the cortisol may impact how you fall asleep, whether you stay asleep, or if you have nightmares; all of which can also impact your mood and stress the next day.
Dr. Ho says that you can train yourself to limit access to feeds and social media by scheduling only 25 minutes of time up against another commitment ("Do it at 9:35 if you start work at 10") that you can't miss. But you might need a bit more accountability than that — which is why we're turning to (surprise!) tech to help us all through.
These free apps can be installed on your phone (and in some cases, as a web extension) to either forcefully block access to social media sites, or provide un-ignorable notifications that it's time to put the phone down. If you're finding yourself "doomscrolling" on a frequent basis, these apps can help break the habit before the new year arrives.