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Do you find yourself doom scrolling through social media? Do you reach for your phone automatically even if you don’t consciously want to? Do you feel like you are losing precious time to on-screen activities? You tell yourself you’re just going to check the news for five minutes. Next thing you know, an hour has passed, and you’re spiraling down a rabbit hole of distressing headlines, tragic events, and worst-case scenarios. Your heart races, your chest tightens, and somehow, you still can’t put your phone down. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Welcome to doomscrolling—the modern habit rooted in human behavior, where individuals endlessly consume negative news and content, even when it makes them feel worse.
Understanding Doomscrolling
What Is It and Why Do We Do It
Doomscrolling is a term that has recently entered the mental health lexicon, describing the act of spending excessive time consuming large amounts of negative news on the web and social media. Imagine this: you open your favorite social media app or news site, intending to catch up on the latest headlines. Before you know it, hours have passed, and you’re inundated with distressing stories and worst-case scenarios. This behavior isn’t just about staying informed; it’s a compulsive need to seek out negative information, often leaving you feeling anxious and overwhelmed. Particularly among younger generations, doomscrolling has become a widespread issue, contributing to what some experts call internet addiction disorder.
Cognitive Biases and Psychological Distress
Why do we find ourselves glued to negative news stories? The answer lies in cognitive biases, particularly negativity bias. This is our brain’s tendency to focus more on negative information than positive news. Evolutionarily, this made sense—being aware of dangers helped our ancestors survive. However, in today’s world, this bias can distort our view of reality, making everything seem more dire than it actually is. The constant barrage of bad news can trigger the brain’s stress response, releasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Over time, this can lead to increased anxiety, depression, and even physical health issues like headaches and muscle tension. The psychological distress caused by doomscrolling is real and can have far-reaching effects on both mental and physical health.
Why Do We Doomscroll Negative News?
Doomscrolling isn’t just about curiosity—it’s wired into our psychology. Our brains are naturally drawn to negative information because, evolutionarily speaking, being aware of dangers helped us survive. In today’s world, though, that instinct can work against us. The constant flood of breaking news, crisis updates, and alarming social media posts can make it feel like we need to stay plugged in to stay safe. But instead of helping, it often leaves us feeling anxious, hopeless, and overwhelmed.
Another reason we doomscroll is our tendency for seeking negative information and trying to understand it, which gives us the illusion of control. When the world feels chaotic, we think that staying informed will help us manage uncertainty. But the truth is, no amount of scrolling will change the outcome of a global crisis or fix societal problems overnight. Instead, it drains our mental energy and keeps us stuck in a cycle of stress.
Identifying Your Doomscrolling Triggers
Breaking free from the cycle of doomscrolling starts with identifying what triggers this behavior. One major culprit is the design of news apps and social media platforms. These platforms use sophisticated algorithms to keep you engaged for as long as possible, often by prioritizing sensational and negative content. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to stop scrolling once you start? That’s by design. Features like infinite scroll make it easy to lose track of time, keeping you hooked on a never-ending stream of content.
News Apps and Social Media Algorithms Reinforce the Mindless Habit
News apps and social media algorithms are engineered to capture your attention and keep you engaged. These algorithms analyze your user engagement, behavior, and preferences to serve up content that is most likely to keep you scrolling, often prioritizing more of what you like because they generate more engagement and activate your mind's response to keep scrolling. This creates a feedback loop where you’re constantly consuming distressing information, reinforcing negative emotions and making it harder to break the cycle of doomscrolling. Push notifications and alerts further exacerbate the problem by triggering the brain’s reward system, releasing dopamine and making the behavior even more addictive.
To combat this, it’s essential to set boundaries around your social media and news consumption. Consider using website blockers or app limitations to control your screen time. Seek out solutions-focused news stories that highlight positive change and progress. By being mindful of these triggers and taking proactive steps to manage them, you can break free from the cycle of doomscrolling and improve your overall mental and physical health.
The Toll on Mental and Physical Health
While staying informed is important, constant exposure to distressing content can take a serious toll on your well-being. Doomscrolling has been linked to:
Increased anxiety and stress – Your nervous system reacts to bad news as if you’re experiencing the threat firsthand.
Disrupted sleep – Scrolling late at night keeps your brain in a state of hyperarousal, making it harder to relax and fall asleep.
Lower mood and hopelessness – Constant exposure to negative news can make the world feel darker, more overwhelming, and increase feelings of existential dread.
Reduced productivity – The endless scroll eats up time and mental space that could be used for more fulfilling activities.
Digital burnout – Excessive screen time and constant exposure to distressing content can lead to emotional exhaustion, making it harder to focus, engage, or feel motivated.
Doomscrolling can exacerbate existing mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, making it crucial to consult a mental health professional if you find it difficult to manage.
Let’s face it, over the last 20 years our lives have become increasingly intertwined with technology in ways that we couldn’t have predicted. Mental health experts are seeing a surge in “digital burnout” – a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive or poorly managed contact with devices. Although the relationship between humans and technology is not a new topic, the adverse effects of unmanaged use of devices has been gaining interest in the last few years. It seems like we’re only beginning to understand this concern, while the digital landscape continues to change. Although catching up with the speed of technological changes might be challenging, there are useful things we can do while we gain a better understanding.
Understanding Digital Burnout
Burnout is a term that was originally coined to describe a pattern of exhaustion, severe stress, mental distancing and increased negative emotions within the workplace. However, in a society where the demand for success and productivity can extend to all of the domains in life, burnout has come to be used in various other contexts.
For some individuals, doomscrolling may be linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder, where the compulsive need to check for updates can lead to repetitive behaviors and increased anxiety.
What distinguishes digital burnout as a separate experience? Research suggests that continuous digital engagement might trigger our stress response system in unique ways. The constant flow of notifications, emails, and digital tasks can often lead to states of overwhelm and anxiety. Human beings seem to be having difficulty coping with the never ending demand of attention and quick responses stemming from modern technology.
The following can be some potential signs of digital burnout caused by doomscrolling:
difficulty concentrating and/or reduced attention span
increased anxiety or irritability while using devices
decreased energy, sleep problems, headaches, muscle tension and eye strain
feelings of overwhelmed by digital communications
social withdrawal
loss of motivation and interest in other activities
It’s important to note that digital burnout is not an official diagnosis and that these signs should not be used for diagnostic purposes. However, if you find yourself struggling with any of these features, you might want to consider consulting a licensed healthcare professional.
What Can You Do To Manage Doomscrolling and Digital Burnout?
So now that you understand how constant exposure to the digital world might be negatively affecting you, what can you do about it? Here are five tips that might help you navigate this increasingly stressful relationship with technology.
Consider setting boundaries with social media apps and being mindful of how social media feeds are designed to keep you engaged with endless streams of content.
1. Use Time-Blocking As A Digital Boundary
Time-Blocking requires scheduling specific blocks of time to perform a specific activity. It can generally be a useful tool to make sure you complete tasks. In the context of digital burnout, you could set specific time blocks for checking emails, let’s say, only at three times a day. This could help reduce the continuous stream of input and response to digital communications. In turn, you might find it aids in decreasing stress levels and cognitive load during the day. Treating these boundaries as non-negotiable appointments with yourself could also improve this strategy's efficiency.
2. Create Physical and Mental Distance From Your Device and Social Media Platforms
Keeping your phone or laptop in a different room or out of physical reach could help reduce the amount of time you access them. Research suggests keeping devices at least 10 feet away could be the key. Physical distance helps break the psychological tie to our devices and allows our brains to fully engage in the present moment, whether it’s for focused work periods or making time for enjoyment/relaxation. Another strategy could be to turn off your work phone and/or eliminate your work emails app from your phone. By keeping your work emails in a separate device or on a device that shuts down at a specific time, you prevent the constant onslaught of notifications that promotes a sense of urgency at all times.
3. Self-Aware Pauses to Stop Endless Scrolling
Another practice could be pausing and not responding immediately to emails/notifications. Although this can be incredibly difficult for many people, creating space between the receipt of a notification and your response to it could improve your self awareness about how you automatically react to digital communications. Taking a moment to pause, breathe and maybe even check in with your feelings, thoughts and physical sensations could foster more mindful engagement with technology. Eventually, it might buffer the sense of urgency and increase your ability to consciously choose how you relate to technology. Additionally, you could also incorporate some form of mindful movement during your breaks. An alternative could be to stand up and stretch, go for a short walk, dance around to your favorite song, practice body scan meditation or mindful breathing exercises.
These brief pauses that incorporate your sensory system and physical movement can help increase awareness of your body, your feelings, relieve tension, retrain your ability to choose what you pay attention to and reduce stress. Finally, they can help you ground yourself in the physical space you’re in, which can cultivate presence and connection to the world.
4. Intentionally Cultivate Face-to-Face Interactions
Human beings are social creatures. Our neurobiology, survival mechanisms and emotional wellbeing has evolved in relationship to other humans. When we replace too much of our social contact with digital communication, we give our system some but not all of the cues of in person social interactions. Therefore, we miss out on some of those relational benefits. Make time for in-person activities that provide the emotional nourishment and social learning that digital communication often fails to deliver. These connections could be helpful protective factors against the isolation of excessive digital immersion and its repercussions on your mental health.
5. Create a Digital Sunset Routine
A digital sunset routine looks like incorporating a gradual reduction of exposure to screens before bedtime. Implementing a 90-minute tech-free period before sleep could improve sleep quality and reduce next day fatigue. Although this can be challenging, you could initially start by switching your devices to night mode and engaging in technology-free activities before sleep. By reducing the exposure to the blue-light of screens, you might aid your body in detecting the environmental cues that signal that it’s night time and you should be moving into sleep mode. Moreso, slowing down your mental activity through non-technological activities like reading, drawing, painting, meditating, etc. could be helpful in calming your mind and relaxing your body. Remember that good sleep is crucial to your overall health and wellbeing.
Preventing Doomscrolling
While these management strategies are crucial, preventing digital burnout is equally important. Creating sustainable digital habits might increasingly become a topic of conversation in many domains of life as people find themselves increasingly distressed and overwhelmed by the digital world. Hopefully we’ll soon have access to more research and guidelines to improve people’s relationship to technology. For now, it seems like individuals will have to take matters into their own hands. If you’re willing, you can start engaging in useful discussions with the people around you about communication expectations, reasonable response times, participating in technology-free activities and establishing digital boundaries, whether it’s at work or in your social circles.
If you find it challenging to manage your digital habits, consulting a mental health professional can provide personalized strategies and support.
Looking Forward
As we continue to navigate an increasingly digital world, understanding and managing digital burnout becomes essential for maintaining mental and emotional wellbeing. The key lies not in rejecting technology but in managing our relationship to it. Remember, digital wellness isn’t about perfect adherence to rules or habits. It’s about self awareness, flexibility and developing sustainable habits that are functional for your lifestyle. Trying to change your whole relationship to technology and manage all of your behaviors at once could result in overwhelm. Maybe try one habit at a time and use trial and error to test out what works best for you.
When To Reach Out for Support
Furthermore, if you find yourself having too much trouble managing your digital habits, it might be useful to talk to a therapist or health professional. Some of your struggles might be tied to issues like workplace anxiety, social media based fear of missing out (FOMO), social comparison, feelings of guilt about your productivity, etc. Moreso, trying to change your digital habits might uncover underlying issues with self worth, lack of purpose in life, loneliness, using digital activities to distract, self soothe or emotionally regulate. All of those might be accompanied by complex thoughts and feelings that could be worth exploring in a safe space.
Evidence based cognitive, mindfulness and behavioral strategies could aid in understanding the thought patterns and beliefs that might underlie unhelpful digital habits. Therapy could also be a place to explore personalized coping strategies and clarify how your digital habits might be interacting with aspects of your mental health, such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, social anxiety, among others. Remember, seeking professional help is a sign of strength and self-awareness.
How Therapy Can Help - Reach Out to Improve Your Mental Well-being
If doomscrolling is taking a toll on your mental health, therapy can provide the support you need to break free from the cycle. Working with a therapist can help you manage stress and anxiety, improve self-esteem, and develop healthier coping mechanisms. Therapy also offers a space to clarify your values, so you can take intentional, values-driven actions rather than reacting out of fear or overwhelm. If you're ready to regain control over your mental well-being, consider reaching out for therapy—it’s a step toward greater balance, resilience, and peace of mind.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Paola Hernandez, MS is a licensed psychologist in Puerto Rico. She specializes in anxiety and holistic therapy. She works with adults and couples.
***The ideas, concepts, and opinions expressed in all Living Openhearted posts are intended to be used for educational purposes only. The author and publisher are not rendering medical or mental health advice of any kind, nor are intended to replace medical advice, nor to diagnose, prescribe, or treat any disease, condition, illness, or injury. Authors and publisher claim no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or damage as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the material.
***If you are experiencing a mental health emergency you can call the National Suicide and Crisis Line at 988 or go to the nearest emergency room.