Happy Spring Break UMD! Hopefully you have found yourself enjoying a casual coffee, spending some time by the beach, or maybe you’re on a ski trip--whatever you have chosen to do with your free time, try not to let it be doomscrolling. This is probably a familiar concept, particularly if you are a social media user. Regardless of your familiarity with doom scrolling, we are going to dive into what it is, how it impacts you, and how to avoid it.
Doomscrolling is the term used to describe excessive negative social media consumption, particularly being on an app and scrolling through negative content for extended periods of time. This phenomenon became popularly recognized in 2020 during COVID. For some people, COVID was distressing and in search of answers or an understanding of what was going on, doomscrolling became the go-to. Doomscrolling has been linked to passive social media use, habitual social media use anxiety, poor self-control, and specific personality traits. That same research found that men, and individuals with political participation were more affected by doomscrolling than others, while other research has linked doomscrolling to women or people with a history of trauma. Anyone can be affected by doomscrolling.
If you have fallen victim to doomscrolling, did you recognize how you felt when you were doomscrolling, or how you felt after? Did you find yourself wanting more information, and repeating the process of doomscrolling again? If you haven’t paid attention to these things before, consider checking in with yourself if you end up in the doomscrolling pattern again--this may be an eye opening experience. The impacts doomscrolling has on you vary: some people may feel anxious after doomscrolling, emotionally depleted, or sad. Doomscrolling can even lead to you developing an exaggerated view of how unsafe or dangerous the world is, making you more fearful of the world. If you engage in doomscrolling before bed, it can lead to difficulty sleeping, can increase your sleeplessness, or even follow you into the next day and leave you in an anxious state. Doomscrolling can also take a physical toll on you; you may feel nauseous, experience headaches, neck and shoulder tension. After all, doomscrolling is excessive and that means you are likely sedentary while engaging in it.
If you have been affected by doomscrolling, it is important that you know that you can break this habit. We have established that doomscrolling is the excessive consumption of negative content: the important word to highlight here is excessive. To begin to tackle your struggle with doomscrolling, it is beneficial to decrease overall social media use.
- If you have an iPhone, you can set time limits on your apps for daily usage. If you don’t have interest in setting time limits on the apps, then maybe set your own personal alarms and dedicate a specific time in your day to social media use--for example, you allow yourself to go on social media for 15 minutes at 3 p.m. each day. Once your 15 minutes are over, you log off and do not go back on until your next designated session. By implementing a “hard-stop” you are cutting off the potential to doomscroll.
- If this option doesn’t work for you, then attempt to recognize when you are viewing negative content and make a conscious effort to seek out and engage with content that you find relaxing or joyful--maybe this is ASMR videos, or maybe you like watching cute cat compilations, whatever brings you a sense of calm is what you should engage with.
- If neither of these options work, consider a social media cleanse. If your doomscrolling is habitual, then removing the source and developing new habits can help you rid yourself of this pesky one.
- If NONE of these work, consider talking to a professional. Never hesitate to ask for help, especially if you feel like you cannot grasp this issue by yourself. It is important to remind yourself that it is ok to not be ok, and it is ok to ask for help.
Doomscrolling is so much more than just spending too much time on social media, it seeps into your day-to-day life and can impact you deeply on a physical and emotional level. With the prominence of social media use, with the easy access to polarizing headlines/news articles, and even with the general state of our world, it is easy to become a victim to doomscrolling. Take a break from the scroll, and enjoy your Spring Break peacefully!