Doomscrolling is an increasing mental health concern but not an entirely new issue. An entry in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “spending excessive time online scrolling through news or other content that makes one feel sad, anxious, angry, etc.” Let’s go back in time to find its roots.

Since radios were the only way to obtain news during World War II, it was up to the commentators to attempt to describe the doom of war as vividly as possible for listeners. Due to distance and security, news of specific battles took days to reach anxious families back home. Then there was that fateful day of September 11, 2001, when the world watched live as airplanes struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Two years later, we watched “shock and awe” live on television as the United States and coalition partners attacked Iraq, the 911 aggressor.

These incidents looked like a video game, but the devastation was real, and there was no reset button. Next came the daily doom update with the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Global Cases Dashboard. We watched in disbelief as COVID cases worldwide grew to extreme numbers. A fascination with disaster went from curiosity to a significant mental health issue. Was this an outgrowth of the infamous National Enquirer original slogan, “Enquiring minds want to know!” or a morose curiosity akin to staring at a traffic accident?

As a new media trauma, doomscrolling has been identified as impacting viewers’ emotional and psychological well-being, self-efficacy, and ability to respond to negative information (Sharm, Lee & Johnson, 2022). Karen Ho, a self-confessed former excessive Twitter user, claims credit for identifying this habit, which “… robs future you of the energy you need to really focus on important things” (Scientific American, 2021).

What leads viewers to doomscroll? Some are news fans, some get an emotional rush from intense situations, while others claim FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). There is a fine line between being informed and hypervigilance, which can become an addiction to the adrenaline rush. Dr. Courtney Batt (July 2024), an adolescent medicine specialist, found that teens, young adults, and any age that follows political news are at the highest risk for depression and anxiety due to doomscrolling. Quitting can be difficult, as Dr. Batt observed, “Endless scrolling also offers the positive feelings associated with dopamine.” As with negative information input, it is like the old adage, “Garbage in, garbage out.” As seen in some clients, “Fear input = less faith output.”

Doomscrolling is a hard habit to break, considering the easy availability of access online from a computer, tablet, or cell phone.

The Doomscrolling Scale (Satici et al., 2023) is a relevant tool for counselors to use in connecting compulsive online usage with personality traits, levels of psychological distress, and life satisfaction. Doomscrolling is a recently identified behavioral condition explicitly related to online information consumption. This instrument is a 15-item questionnaire on both behavior and feelings about online scrolling that leans toward seeking negative information. The questions gave me ideas about engaging in end conversations related to doomscrolling symptoms.

There is also a concern that doomscrolling exacerbates other identified obsessive behaviors similar to the “shattered assumptions” theory (Janoff-Bulman, 1992). This earlier theory relates to how victims accept self-blame as a way to understand and cope with psychological trauma. Have you heard clients say, “I have to find out what happened even if I lose sleep,” or “It’s not a problem to be informed and ready to respond?” For some people, the instant availability of news online becomes like a drug—a little is never enough (Buchanan et al., 2021).

The addictive aspect of doomscrolling is similar to other online excesses, such as gaming and gambling. While not yet part of the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), it may be considered for a future version, possibly as a type of addiction or compulsive behavior. Doomscrolling is a hard habit to break, considering the easy availability of access online from a computer, tablet, or cell phone. The saying, “Just stop it,” or restricting access to the Internet, is not the easy answer, considering how many people of all age groups are online daily for work or school.

Some researchers point to the COVID-19 pandemic as a driver for doomscrolling. There was a desperate daily search online for information about surviving this mysterious and unprecedented threat. Thus, the urge to find the facts among the conspiracy theories and fake, but expensive, claims for a cure further drove the compulsion to search online since there were few places to go in person to gain information. News sources are often blamed for spreading only gloom and doom. However, from my prior career as a radio/TV news anchor, the motto, “If it bleeds, it leads,” is sadly true. That is driven by viewers’ demand to know and see the biggest disasters and the most dramatic stories, preferably live as they happen. With the proliferation of online access from computers and cell phones, viewers can choose what they see and hear 24/7 with a simple mouse click that shows the next disaster in vivid color on our wide-screen monitors.

Rather than accept what news outlets present, take control and seek a balance with positive input. Are we destined to be overwhelmed by online negativity? God’s Word says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper…” (Isaiah 54:17, NKJV), so recognize that the weapon may be a cell phone or computer. While these devices are only as harmful as users allow, setting boundaries that support a balance of the news can help change viewing habits.

Let’s find balance with the online movement called joyscrolling. As Chicken Soup for the Soul became popular for uplifting personal stories, choose a faith-focused site with encouraging Scripture-based content and positive humor. Search on social media sites for faith-based online groups that can be valuable connections for people isolated by location or time or who serve as full-time caregivers. God’s Word does not sugarcoat today’s problems of isolation and alienation, yet there is encouragement and peace in times of trouble: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NIV). ?

References

Batt, C. (2024, July 9). Doomscrolling: Breaking the habit. The Science of Health – University Hospitals. https://www.uhhospitals.org/blog/articles/2024/07/doomscrolling-breaking-the-habit.

Buchanan, K., Aknin, L.B., Lotun, S., & Sandstrom, G.M. (2021, October 13). Brief exposure to social media during the COVID-19 pandemic: Doom-scrolling has negative emotional consequences, but kindness-scrolling does not. PLOS ONE. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0257728.

Bushwick, S. (2021, February 12). How to stop doomscrolling news and social media. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-stop-doomscrolling-news-and-social-media/.

Satici, S.A., Gocet Tekin, E., Deniz, M.E., & Satici, B. (2023). Doomscrolling scale: Its association with personality traits, psychological distress, social media use, and wellbeing. Applied Research Quality Life, 18, 833-847. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-022-10110-7.

Sharma, B., Lee, S.S., & Johnson, B.K. (2022, January 10). The dark at the end of the tunnel: Doomscrolling on social media newsfeeds. Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb0000059.

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