How easy is it to lose yourself in negative news and endless sessions of doom scrolling in these turbulent times? It just doesn't make you any happier. Break through the negativity by consciously cleaning up your digital stimuli into something more cheerful. Start with 'scrolling'.
It happens almost automatically:your alarm goes off, you check the news 'just' and before you know it you are half an hour and six world problems further. Doom scrolling is endless and mindless scrolling through (mainly) negative news, despite feeling stress or anxiety. You feel like you can't stop doing it.
The science behind doom scrolling
Although "doomscrolling" (or the Dutch "doomscrolling") is a fairly new word, research has been going on for years on the influence of bad news on your mental health. It is clear that reading too much news about a major global event, such as a terrorist attack or a pandemic, can lead to poorer mental health. For example, American researchers asked a group of people about their physical and mental health, and the amount of TV news they watched around the 9/11 attacks. They concluded that those who watched a lot of news at the time had more symptoms of post-traumatic stress three years later.
Change
In addition, news has become more visual, intense and emotional as anyone can now create and share digital content, writes British professor Graham C.L. Davey in Psychology Today. The news is always accessible and close by, for example because you receive push messages on your smartphone from news apps. The misery is more or less in your pocket, so. As a result, people actively search for it and respond to it. On top of that, social media is designed to be addictive for financial gain. Not a nice combination.
Intolerance of uncertainty
In a period like the one we are in now, in which the crises follow each other, we are mentally extra vulnerable to doom scrolling. This is partly due to what psychologists call the 'intolerance of uncertainty'. In times when there is a lot of uncertainty, people look for something to hold on to and this can manifest itself in the continuous desire to know all the news, despite the fact that this causes stress and anxiety.
Your brain was programmed in prehistoric times to scan for danger, so it feels 'good' to keep scrolling. You instinctively prepare for a possible real threat. But our brain is not able to handle huge amounts of information in a short time, let alone if it is also negative. An overload of information creates waves of stress, which in turn can lead to insomnia, fears, panic and depression.
There is hope
It is therefore very logical that you occasionally (or perhaps too often) lose yourself in bad news. Fortunately, there is a counterpart to doom scrolling that you can choose immediately:gleefreshing. Also known as joyscrolling or hopescrolling. Instead of getting lost in the drama of the day, consciously seek out content that gives your mental health a positive boost.
Text:Emma Verweij
