Beacon psychiatrist offers suggestions to curb “doomscrolling”
Over the past six months in quarantine and isolation, a new term has gained popularity: doomscrolling.
Maybe you’ve doomscrolled while sitting on the couch or trying to fall asleep or even while in line at the grocery store. Switching from a Facebook feed full of arguments to a Twitter timeline full of tragedy to the latest national news on the latest COVID-19 statistics. And then you start over.
If you find yourself staring at the bad news on your phone, only to look up and see an hour has passed, you’re not alone. “This is a big theme of discussion with so many people these days,” says Dr. Suhayl Nasr, psychiatrist and medical director of Beacon Medical Group Behavioral Health.
Dr. Nasr says the habit can be especially damaging. The amygdala, Nasr says, is the part of the brain that deals with pleasure and pain. When you activate the cells in the amygdala through seeing a tragic or controversial story, your blood pressure and heart rate increase.
Activating the amygdala leads you to desire more of the same stimuli and can develop a “nerve circuit” in the brain.
To break the chain of doomscrolling, Dr. Nasr suggests a few tips and tricks:
- Set a timer
“We all need information and we all need to be aware,” Nasr says. “But we need to give it a time limit.”
Give yourself 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening to check the news and your social media platforms. “That should be plenty of time to be up to date.”
So what happens if news breaks during the day? “If there’s any major bad news in the middle of the day, someone will tell you,” Nasr says.
- Set the phone aside
“When you have the urge to check the news, delay it for 15 minutes,” he says. Doing so allows your brain to be distracted by something else.”
By delaying the response, you can develop a new nerve circuit in your brain. It isn’t a guaranteed fix, but it can help reduce the risk of falling back into the doomscrolling habit.
- Practice mindfulness
“Be aware of everything around you in the moment.” Nasr says mindfulness is a good way to keep engaged with your surroundings.
He compared the concept of mindfulness to shaving his face. “If I’m shaving and constantly aware of where the blade is going, I’m less likely to cut myself. If I focus on something else, I could get hurt.”
- Don’t scroll before bedtime
Smartphones are a major hurdle to a good night’s sleep. It’s important to turn off your phone or put it in a different room before you get ready for bed.
“If you’re flying a plane, you don’t want to land from 30,000 feet straight to the ground,” Nasr says. “If you have news that makes you angry or excites you before bedtime, it will be more difficult to sleep.”
Poor sleep can lead to impaired decision making, which could lead you to be more likely to doomscroll day after day.
- Consider the source
Most social media companies and news organizations rely on advertising dollars to survive. Politicians rely on attention to stay relevant. “We need to realize what purpose endless scrolling is serving,” says Nasr. “They’re deriving some benefit from it. We’re not getting any benefit.”
Nasr says we should take care of ourselves before we focus on taking care of the needs of others. Doomscrolling can also lead to feelings of helplessness, a “tremendous source of depression,” according to Dr. Nasr.
“Unless you’re actively involved in whatever you’re following, you end up feeling unable to move and that increases the chances of getting depressed.”
By realizing the intentions of the people making news or starting arguments, we can help break the habit of moving from app to app in an endless cycle of doom.
