Reclaiming Our Minds: Mitigating the Negative Impacts of Excessive Doomscrolling

Abstract

Over recent years, the phenomena of "doomscrolling," the inclination to constantly scroll through unpleasant news on a mobile device, has exploded. While suggesting customized solutions, this study article investigates the causes of this harmful digital behavior and its negative effects. We define doomscrolling as obsessively consuming a stream of negative online content, fueled by algorithms that promote controversial posts. Average worldwide mobile usage already amounted to almost 7 hours daily in 2021 according to multiple studies, but the COVID-19 pandemic majorly shifted users’ scrolling habits. According to a 2022 American Psychological Association poll, 36% of adults said they constantly browse to read pandemic-related news items throughout the past months. This suggests rather strong doomscrolling patterns, most likely still present now. As so, several alarming effects on mental health have also surged. The constant influx of traumatic news visuals and fear-inducing information triggers psychological stress responses. Cortisol and adrenaline flood the system, causing anxiety, insomnia, irritability and emotional exhaustion in the short term. Long-term, perpetual triggering of the fight-flight mechanism leads to post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms like flashbacks. Blue light from mobile devices simultaneously lowers melatonin production, so compromising sleep quality. Using devices late at night especially keeps the brain active, thereby preventing its capacity to enter deeper restful phases. This shows up as sleep disturbances linked to a pandemic and next morning "stress hangovers" marked by increased worry. Beyond psychological effects, hunched posture also causes neck, shoulder, and thumb pain over time. Most alarmingly, repetitive exposure to others’ trauma can generate vicarious trauma wherein individuals internalize traumatic events without directly experiencing them. Intrusive thoughts, emotional numbing, and physiological arousal mirror PTSD. Therefore, mitigating measures must deal with psychological, physical, and pragmatic aspects. Although drastic actions like digital detoxification show promise, customized progressive moves initially more fit most users' demands. Reasonable app time limits, disable notifications during work and bedtimes, delete certain accounts and deliberately take hourly breaks to help to minimize unhealthy scrolling. Counseling addresses readjustment of chemical imbalances and vicarious trauma. Crucially, first steps still involve understanding of maladaptive doomscrolling through public health messages and better social media rules. This work explores the problems in-depth together with these layered solutions.