What it is
Everybody has experienced it at least once—finding something inexplicably negative but really interesting online, and diving into the deep hole of research, wanting to know more about it. Whether that may be a controversial crime case circulating the internet, or TikTok’s trend, “corecore,” people are prone to be drawn to negativity for many different reasons.
Otherwise known as doom scrolling, the epidemic of this trend has made its way across the globe through our screens—and it’s affecting us much more than we realize.
Doom scrolling is defined as spending an unhealthy, excessive amount of time scrolling through negative news online, or the excessive expenditure of scrolling through short-form videos, such as TikTok, for a long period of time, unaware of the world around you.
The ‘doom’ in doom scrolling
The origin of doom scrolling circulated the globe on X after the COVID-19 pandemic. The world was kept under lockdown, and the only solution to people’s mulling boredom was the internet. During the pandemic, the internet was an easy way to connect around the world—until people began using it too much, for all the wrong reasons.
What started as positive communication and sharing online, became disturbing videos, controversial and negative online debates, and dangerous, alarming trends. Seeing negative news online became a pique of people’s interests, and it only worsened over time. Doom scrolling gained its name from the endless self destructive and obsessive cycle of drowning oneself in negativity onslaught online.
Doom scrolling is a mindless activity that doesn’t have any benefits whatsoever, yet it has a never ending list of downsides. The physical effects of doom scrolling include insomnia, and sleep disturbance. Although that may not seem detrimental to a person’s health, the mental effects outweigh the physical ones.
Doom scrolling reinforces negative emotions, thoughts, and feelings within its victim. The emotional and mental effects of doom scrolling include frequent mood swings, increased paranoia and anxiety, and the exacerbation of any pre-existing mental illnesses such as depression, OCD, PTSD, and more. Drowning oneself in negativity enough to experience these impacts become accumulative and eventually manifests itself into their lives, affecting every aspect of it.
It can change
However, although there are multiple downsides, the only route to go once you’ve hit rock bottom, is up. An easy way to retaliate the effects of doom scrolling is to just stay informed, but don’t let yourself be consumed. While reviewing and researching more about the topic, always take a moment to stop, and be mindful about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and if it’s worth your time. Asking yourself these simple questions can help you determine when it’s time to stop.
As Megan E. Johnson, a clinical psychologist and researcher in brain-behavior states, “…rather than attempting to gather all the information, it is healthier to recognize that this is impossible, and instead embrace a new idea of what enough information means.”
