‘Doomscrolling’ Could Be Causing You Poor Physical And Mental Health

Doom can lead to gloom.

Have you ever found yourself scrolling through your phone, late at night, thinking ‘could things get any worse?’

You could be causing yourself pain.

That’s something called doomscrolling. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s basically scrolling through all the sad and dreadful news out there, and it’s something that started massively during the pandemic.

Well, new research from Texas Tech University shows it could be really damaging.

Researchers analysed data from 1100 people and found that 16.5 per cent of them showed signs of “severely problematic” news consumption.

Of that percentage, 74 per cent reported mental health issues, and 61 per cent reported physical health problems.

Meanwhile, only eight per cent of other respondents reported mental health issues, and only six per cent reported physical issues.

Associate Professor Bryan McLaughlin said constant consumption of news can be really bad for your personal health.

“For these individuals, a vicious cycle can develop in which, rather than tuning out, they become drawn further in, obsessing over the news and checking for updates around the clock to alleviate their emotional distress.”

He said the amount of people surveyed showing signs of problematic consumption was unexpected.

“We were surprised to find that 17 per cent of study participants suffer from the most severe level.”

According to previous research, intense news consumption is related to anxiety, stress, and depression, as well as physical distress including pain, concentration issues, and gastrointestinal issues.

The pandemic has been a major contributor to doomscrolling, with increased amounts of sad news stories, plus an increase in free time.

So what should you do?

The best thing is to set limits for yourself – if you think you might be a doomscroller, try limiting yourself to an hour of news consumption a day, and try to look out for the positive stories.

The researchers also said there should be more ‘media literacy’ campaigns to educate people on the dangers of things like doomscrolling.

We know that too much internet and social media can be bad for you – so be careful next time you log on to any news app or website.