Modern society provides us with a lot of reasons to worry; first we had to endure the pandemic, then suddenly the war between Russia and The Ukraine unfolded abruptly, and those alone were considerable stress factors to humans, not to mention other not so global issues. All these events caused people’s anxiety to skyrocket, making many of them exhausted and nervous, constantly scrolling through 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 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 way— after doomscrolling, users feel worse than when they started.
Reasons for Doomscrolling
Even though it may seem 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 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 an 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 better.
The fear of missing out (FOMO syndrome). FOMO 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 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 might help 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 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 through 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 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, 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.
Hi Rumble Bumble, your question that asked about the difference between “blame” and “in charge of” disappeared on me, so I’ll answer it here. They mean different things. “In charge of” connotes future or present things. It’s that person’s responsibility to execute something correctly because someone else depends on their job well done for something else to function. “Blame” connotes the past. People blame others for things that already happened.
I’ll try to illustrate the concepts with a slang phrase: “You had one job!” This means that Person A depended on Person B to do one task correctly. That was what Person B was in charge of. But the fact that Person A accusatorially implies that the person completely messed up the task is a sign of placing blame on Person B.
Hey, thank you so much for your explanation, now I see the difference clear.