DO YOU DOOMSCROLL?

 

Doomscrolling is a habit that involves slipping into a damaging cycle of reading negative news stories and social media posts. Most people are vulnerable to this activity now more than ever, with the ongoing pandemic and huge divides over political issues. Doomscrolling has a negative impact on mental health, triggering and worsening anxiety, stress, depression, and panic. It’s possible to curb the habit and minimize the harm caused by consuming so much negative media.

Doomscrolling is not really new, but the term is. It’s the habit of scrolling through social media regularly and for long periods of time, reading bad news and negative posts. The pandemic has brought doomscrolling to the forefront and has sucked more people into this destructive activity.

While some people have been engaging in this self-destructive behavior for some time, more people picked up the habit thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic increased doomscrolling and gave the activity its name. Dictionary.com lists the term as one of the new words people now use thanks to the pandemic, and Merriam-Webster recently listed it as a word to watch.

What Doomscrolling Does to Your Mental Health

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