📱😰Doomscrolling

When you’re sitting on your couch or lying in bed, what are you usually doing? If you find yourself endlessly scrolling through social media or news outlets and consuming negative, anxiety-inducing content, you may be… doomscrolling 💀

This term has become so common that it’s practically a household word. So, why do so many people find themselves doomscrolling and struggling to stop?

The answer can be understood through neuroscience and behavioral patterns. Doomscrolling often functions as a cognitive-behavioral coping response to anxiety. People consume distressing information in an attempt to gain certainty, control, or relief—but instead become stuck in a loop.

Here’s a simple way to visualize what’s happening:

 

Trigger (consuming negative news) →
Anxiety (heart racing, shakiness, restlessness) →
Anxious thoughts (“what if…” thinking) →
Compulsion to ease anxiety (scrolling for more info) →
Temporary relief (or none at all) → REPLAY ⟳        

 

The reason this loop is so hard to break is because the compulsion (scrolling for more information) does not truly resolve the anxiety—at least not in the long term. This cycle closely mirrors what individuals with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) experience. Consider this example:

A woman feels anxious every time she leaves her house because she worries she may have left the oven on.

Trigger: Leaving the house →
Anxiety: Heart racing, sweating →
Anxious thoughts: “What if I left the oven on? My house could burn down. I need to make sure.” →
Compulsion to ease anxiety: Going back inside to check the oven → Replay ⟳

‼️Just like doomscrolling, the checking provides brief relief, but it reinforces the cycle—making the anxiety more likely to return. Here are some practical ways to help yourself stop the cycle:

 

 💡In the Moment: Tips & Tricks 🛠️

⟡ Increase awareness → e.g. “I am doomscrolling right now”

⟡ Curious check-in → e.g. “In what ways am I feeling uncomfortable right now?”

⟡ Identify the current sensations → e.g. “I am zoning out and feeling tired” 

⟡ Manage the sensations (tip: consider physical comfort & basic needs) → e.g. turn lights down, drink water, long exhales, change clothes, take a warm shower

⟡ Talk to yourself  → e.g. “It’s okay to feel upset about this, but I am going to focus on what is in my control right now”

 

 

 💀 Doomscroll Prevention 101 🧰

⟡ Notice when and where you tend to doomscroll 

→ e.g. couch, bed, during meals

⟡ Plan ahead  

→ e.g. set phone on counter prior to sitting on couch, place a book on pillow before laying in bed

⟡ Preemptively calm the anxiety 

→ e.g. take a shower right after work, call a friend or journal to express current worries, go for a walk after meals, take deep breaths each time you pick up your phone

⟡ Sit with the uncomfortable feelings

→ e.g. let yourself feel the urge to scroll by counting to 10 seconds prior to scrolling; extend the time to 20 seconds, 30 seconds, and so forth

 

🔄🧠✨ In summary..

Doomscrolling works because it briefly reduces anxiety, but it also trains the brain to repeat the pattern. Over time, this increases distress rather than resolving it. That’s why both prevention (planning ahead, reducing triggers) and interruption (pausing the urge, responding differently) matter. The goal isn’t more information—it’s changing the pattern.