Here’s how to stop ‘doomscrolling’ for good, according to an expert
If you frequently find yourself spending an endless amount of hours scrolling through horrible news stories and negative content, you’re not alone. This is what experts call “doomscrolling,” and in this episode of ITK: Behind the Screens, our host Niamh Adkins (@niamhadkins) speaks to one of these experts to learn how we can all help ourselves stop this negative cycle.
Niamh sits down over video with Brian McLaughlin, an associate professor at Texas Tech University and an expert in all things negative-use consumption, to learn more about what doomscrolling is, why we do it and how we can stop it.
What is doomscrolling? And why do you know so much about it?
Brian: “I know so much about doomscrolling because I’ve been studying it, but also because I’ve been having problems with it myself. Doomscrolling is scrolling through social media feeds for negative information and things that make us upset. My work focuses on political communication, but I’ve really been focused on problematic communication consumption recently, which is how people get drawn into the news and start compulsively consuming it, and it ends up interfering with other aspects of their lives.
Doomscrolling is certainly a portion of that type of problematic news consumption, specifically focused on scrolling through social media. [People are] getting really caught up in these negative news stories, and they get really drawn in, and they’re really experiencing these things and they can’t stop thinking about them. And then the patterns become compulsive. The types of things we see with doomscrolling are where you’re just constantly flipping through, constantly checking, maybe watching the news, to the point where you can’t stop.
Is there any tip or trick you would give to tell someone how to stop doomscrolling?
Brian: “If you check the news, there are plenty of bad things to be concerned about; there’s no doubt about that. But at the same time, we would argue that people lack the perspective and grounding that if they look around in their everyday life, things aren’t as bad as they think. We get so consumed with all these things that are really negative and potentially concerning, but they might not come to pass, or they might not directly affect us. And it comes at the cost of paying attention to things that are going on in our life, and maybe we don’t have to be so worried at this present moment. So really paying more attention to what’s going on around you, and appreciating those things and [asking yourself], ‘Is this something that I need to currently worry about?’”
Learn more about doomscrolling and what Brian McLaughlin has to say about it in the latest installment of ITK: Behind the Screens.
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