Reduce Doom Scrolling

Doom scrolling, something so many of us are doing even though we both know it’s bad for us and want to stop.  Maybe you’re already wondering, what the heck is doom scrolling exactly?  It’s spending a lot of time online consuming short form videos or social media content that is often negative or stressful in tone.  It became a popular term during the pandemic but then continued when social and political events continued to unfold and cause anxiety and distress throughout our culture.  

Doom scrolling is a growing trend probably because when you have constant access to news and information coupled with distressing events occurring over which you feel powerless, it's natural to want to stay informed.  The addictive nature of social media apps also contributes to this issue and can leave users stuck in a dissociative state of consuming content while wanting to put their phone down and do something else.  

The connection between doom scrolling and anxiety is a natural one.  Doom scrolling can prompt anxiety or exacerbate existing anxiety symptoms.  It makes sense that hearing about dangerous, distressing, or tragic events while feeling powerless to do anything meaningful about it, can be a recipe for chronic anxiety.  

In our therapy practice, we’ve been having a lot of discussions about how to balance the desire to be informed with protecting our peace and mental health during such socially stressful times.  The instinct for most people is going to be to swing from one extreme to the other of not going on these apps at all, which is one solution, but can also cut you off from the positives of social media like humor and connection.  

If you’re someone who’d like to stay on social media but learn how to balance things better and do a better job of supporting your mental health, we have some pretty simple and practical tips for you.  

Cultivate your social media timeline to be a place of joy and not of stress.

We have a lot of control over our timeline based on how social media algorithms work.  The more you view, like, comment, share, or favorite content, the more you will see that kind of content.  Each app’s algorithm is slightly different but using your interactions with posts strategically can help you to cultivate the timeline that you want and need to see.  There are also options on most apps to choose to “see less” of that kind of content which can help you weed out political, fear-based, or triggering content.

For this strategy to work best, you’ll want to identify the things that bring you peace, joy, happiness, or relaxation and use the tools at your disposal to bring more of that into your timeline.  Likewise, you can also identify the things that increase your worry, sadness, or stress and use the tools you have to bring less of that to your timeline.  It’s a great way to ensure the apps you use are benefiting and not draining you.

Find alternative news sources that are not on social media.  It should be accessible to you when you want but not intrusive. 

If you’re someone who is concerned about staying informed, you’ll want to experiment with the amount, type, and frequency of the news you digest so you can develop a plan for balancing staying informed with staying sane.  It can also be helpful to experiment with when, where, and how long you read or watch the news.  For some people, it will give them more anxiety to read the news in the morning but other people are the opposite.  We’re all different so don’t be afraid to change things up so you can find what suits you best.  The goal is to be intentional with these choices and get out of the cycle of mindlessly ingesting negative information all throughout your day.

Social media is not normally an effective place to have serious discourse.  

If you’re someone who not only wants to stay informed but also likes to engage in discourse about political or social events, social media probably isn’t the best place for that.  It lends itself more to mean comments, fear mongering, and anger than anything else.  Some apps are better than others, for example Reddit seems to be a place where more nuanced conversations are able to happen.  However, it’s probably more effective to get involved with online or local organizations who are doing the work so that you can meet other people with similar interests and passions to yours.  You’re far more likely to get productive dialogues there than in any social media app.  

If all else fails, there are tons of strategies and products on the market to help limit your social media use.  

There are a bunch of good strategies and products that can help with limiting your social media use.  I recently purchased a Brick, which is a new device released by two college students who needed help with their phone use.  It’s a device that you can put anywhere (mine is on the refrigerator) and you can block yourself out of apps by tapping the brick with your phone.  In order to unbrick your phone, you have to go back to the brick and tap it again.  It’s been great for limiting my nightly doom scrolling sessions.  There are also lots of apps that have a similar function but I found that it was too easy to let myself back into the apps which defeated the purpose.  Plus they had a monthly subscription fee often and the Brick is a one-time cost.

There are also so many strategies born from cognitive behavioral therapy and habit changing.  There’s more than what we can articulate in this article but here’s a google search to get you started.  

Doom scrolling, while super easy to get stuck in, is also something that we can fight against with some simple strategies and a little intention.  Things like cultivating a timeline that is good for your mental health, finding alternative sources of news, engaging in political discourse outside of social media, implementing habit changing strategies, or purchasing a product from the market can help you to bring more intentionality to your social media use.  It doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing and you don’t have to stay stuck dissociatively scrolling.  You can get a handle on your social media use and turn it into a positive addition to your life.

If you’re tired of your anxiety and interested in working with us for counseling, then fill our our new client inquiry form and we’ll follow up with you ASAP (but always within 24 hours.)

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