What is Doomscrolling and Why is it Bad?

Modern society provides us with a lot of reasons to worry; first we had to endure the pandemic, then abruptly unfolded the war between Russia and Ukraine, and those alone were considerable stress factors to humans, not to mention other, not so global, issues. All these events caused the level of people’s anxiety to skyrocket, making many of them exhausted and nervous, constantly scrolling their newsfeed and trying to figure out what’s waiting for them in the future. 

This abnormal fixation on bad news is called “doomscrolling,” or “doomsurfing.” In general, it’s a tendency to scroll through bad news. When doing this, people usually don’t looking for anything in particular and just numbly reading everything about crimes, wars, and crises. 

Even though it may seem that reading negative news can help to reduce anxiety levels and alleviate one’s fears, in fact it’s working completely the opposite— after doomscrolling users feel worse than when they started. 

Reasons for Doomscrolling
Even though it may seems that doomscrolling is a result of a lack of self-discipline, in fact this activity is caused by many reasons. People don’t seek out bad news just for entertainment, and actually doomscrolling is a behaviour that conceals more serious psychological problems. 

Anxiety. When people feel nervous and anxious they look for ways to ease their emotional pressure, and doomscrolling helps with that. When an anxious person consumes news reports about bad occurrences, it gives them the illusion of control. Unfortunately, this feeling doesn’t last long and after some time, a person again need to read bad news in order to feel themselves better. 

The fear of missing out (FOMO syndrome) The fear of missing out is a modern issue that has become ubiquitous with the development of social platforms. People with FOMO are afraid of missing out on what’s happening in the world, regardless of whether we’re talking about positive or negative events.  

The lack of self-control. Some people can’t stop scrolling through newsfeed no matter how bad they are feeling after that and how much consumed input increases their anxiety. Over time the act of doomscrolling often develops into a full-fledged addiction, so it’s understandable why for many people it’s becoming quite difficult to get rid of this harmful habit. 

Why Doomscrolling is Harmful 
In some sense, doomscrolling is a ritual behaviour people use to alleviate their anxieties and get rid of negative thoughts. At first glance, it may seem that there is nothing wrong with doomscrolling since it theoretically helps people to feel better. In fact, doomscrolling not only doesn't help us feel better, it worsens our mood and aggravates our worries and doubts.

One study found that doomscrolling is linked to poor physical and mental health, increasing stress and anxiety levels. According to the report, repeated acts of scrolling through the newsfeed and consuming negative news increase the amount of negative thoughts, make people feel helpless and desperate, and considerably enhance the risk and existing symptoms of depression. In addition to that, if you're reading bad news right before sleep, there is a huge risk of having nightmares. As a result, you might wake up the next morning in an unhappy mood. 

How to Prevent Doomscrolling
Reduce the use of social media. Even though it's considered to be natural to blame doomscrollers for their harmful behaviour, in fact social media platforms are also have their share of responsibility. Social media is designed to provoke people to scroll news, and one of their main goals is user retention. To put it simply, Instagram and other platforms are interested in you scrolling their feeds, so it would be sensible on your part to deliberately reduce the amount of time you are spending online. 

Fill your time with other activities. Doomscrolling is an activity that consumes time, and the less someone busy with tasks and activities, the higher the chances they'll open a newsfeed and start reading news. Having hobbies helps to prevent a tendency to numbly scroll newsfeeds; it doesn't let a person dive deeper into the black hole of crimes, catastrophes, and crises. It's better to choose activities connected to nature, such as exercising, meditating, or walking. 

Seek out positive news. There's nothing strange about the fact that newspapers and magazines don’t pay attention to happy occurrences. From a long time ago, catastrophes and crises usually attract much more attention than news about how good life is. Despite global tendencies, the report finds that deliberately seeking positive news helps to change people's perception of things and makes them more optimistic about themselves and the world. 

Key Takeaways
Doomscrolling, or doomsurfing, is a harmful activity focused on seeking out and reading bad news. Doomscrolling is harmful for people's mind and body; it causes harm to cognitive abilities and levels of anxiety and depression, and worsens sleep, and provokes nightmares.

In order to prevent doomscrolling, try to reduce your usage of social media and fill your time with other activities, such as sport or meditation. Intentionally seeking positive news and avoiding negative ones will also be helpful.

Modern society provides us with numerous reasons to worry; first, we had to endure the pandemic, then the war between Russia and Ukraine unfolded abruptly, and those alone were considerable stress factors to humans, not to mention other not so global issues. All these events caused the level of people’s anxiety to skyrocket, making many of them exhausted and nervous, constantly scrolling their newsfeeds and trying to figure out what’s waiting for them in the future. 

This abnormal fixation on bad news is called “doomscrolling,” or “doomsurfing.” In general, it’s a tendency to scroll through bad news. When doing this, people usually don’t look for anything in particular and just numbly read everything about crimes, wars, and crises. 

Even though it may seem that reading negative news can help to reduce anxiety levels and alleviate one’s fears, in fact it’s working completely the opposite way— after doomscrolling, users often feel worse than when they started. 

Reasons for Doomscrolling
Even though it may seems that doomscrolling is a result of a lack of self-discipline, this activity is caused by many reasons. People don’t seek out bad news just for entertainment, and actually doomscrolling is a behaviour that reveals more serious psychological problems. 

Anxiety. When people feel nervous and anxious, they look for ways to ease their emotional stress, and doomscrolling helps with that. When an anxious person consumes news reports about bad occurrences, it gives them the illusion of control. Unfortunately, this feeling doesn’t last long and after some time, the person needs to read bad news again in order to feel themselves better. 

The fear of missing out (FOMO syndrome) The fear of missing out is a modern issue that has become ubiquitous with the development of social platforms. People with FOMO are afraid of missing out on what’s happening in the world, regardless of whether we’re talking about positive or negative events.  

The lack of self-control. Some people can’t stop scrolling through their newsfeeds no matter how bad they are feeling after that. Over time, the act of doomscrolling often develops into a full-fledged addiction, so it’s understandable why for many people, it’s becoming quite difficult to get rid of this harmful habit. 

Why Doomscrolling is Harmful 
In a sense, doomscrolling is a ritual behaviour people use to alleviate their anxieties and get rid of negative thoughts. At first glance, it may seem that there is nothing wrong with doomscrolling since it theoretically helps people feel better. In fact, doomscrolling not only doesn't help us feel better, it worsens our mood and aggravates our worries and doubts.

One study found that doomscrolling is linked to poor physical and mental health, increasing stress and anxiety levels. According to the report, repeated acts of scrolling through newsfeeds increase the amount of negative thoughts, make people feel helpless and desperate, and considerably increase the risk and existing symptoms of depression. In addition to that, if you're reading bad news right before sleep, there is a huge risk of having nightmares. As a result, you might wake up the next morning in an unhappy mood. 

How to Prevent Doomscrolling
Reduce the use of social media. Even though it's considered to be natural to blame doomscrollers for their harmful behaviour, in fact, social media platforms are also have their share of responsibility. Social media is designed to force people to scroll news, and one of their main goals is user retention. To put it simply, Instagram and other platforms are interested in your scrolling their feeds, so it would be sensible on your part to deliberately reduce the amount of time you are spending online. 

Fill your time with other activities. Doomscrolling is an activity that consumes time, and the less busy someone is, the higher the chances they'll open a newsfeed and start reading news. Having hobbies helps to prevent a tendency to numbly scroll newsfeeds; it prevents a person from diving deeper into the black hole of crimes, catastrophes, and crises. It's better to choose activities connected to nature, such as exercising, meditating, or walking. 

Seek out positive news. There's nothing strange about the fact that newspapers and magazines don’t pay attention to happy occurrences. From a long time ago, catastrophes and crises usually attract much more attention than news about the good things in life. Despite global tendencies, the report finds that deliberately seeking positive news helps to change people's perception of things and makes them more optimistic about themselves and the world. 

Key Takeaways
Doomscrolling, or doomsurfing, is a harmful activity focused on seeking out and reading bad news. Doomscrolling is harmful for people's mind and body; it causes harm to cognitive abilities and increases levels of anxiety, worsens sleep and provokes nightmares. In order to prevent doomscrolling, try to reduce your usage of social media and fill your time with other activities, such as sport or meditation. Intentionally seeking positive news and avoiding negative ones would also be helpful.