Is Doom-scrolling Affecting Your Health?
Prior to 2020, I don’t think I gave news consumption all that much of my time - perhaps ten minutes of each day. But 2020 brought an “infodemic” of 24/7 disconcerting news - like a pandemic, political unrest, and protests - all widely reposted on social media platforms and messaging apps. My news consumption changed into "doomscrolling." It was insidious, triggered initially by a building of emotional discomfort and then the contagion of wanting to know updates and any other shocking things that were going on - and what other people were thinking, feeling and saying about these things. There seems to never have been a time of so many different public opinions to absorb (the irony is not lost on me that I am now sharing my own 🙄).
I’d find myself down a news rabbit hole - going from one news site to another on my phone looking for the hit of breaking awful news about matters anywhere in the world that I had no capacity to help or change. With the clickbait headings and flashing banners of some news sites plugging right into the dopamine-opiate reward pathways of the brain - reinforcing continued clicks.
I was completely aware of what was happening to me and yet I was mildly pulled in for a time there, not willing to change it - this is because heightened fear, emotion and the pull to reward or outrage overrides logic and can become eroded and instinctual. News checking can become a source of feeling in control and self-soothing, albeit temporarily and requires that you constantly re-feed the urge. I was able to unhook myself and now I barely look at stories without being mindful and discerning - similar to my pre-2020 pattern. But it’s made me wonder how everyone else has been feeling about their news use of late - and if they have also been able to extract themselves from a maladaptive relationship with news or whether this has become automatic and entrenched.
One interesting study (an online survey of 1100 American participants conducted in August 2021) explored the impact of problematic news consumption (PNC) on participants' physical and mental well-being.
The authors identified three main components that occurred with PNC for this sample:
A cycle of absorption with news content
A compulsion to check the news
Interference in daily life
Can you relate to this?
Four news consumption groups were identified in this study ranging from non-problematic, minimally problematic, moderately problematic, and severely problematic. Only 28.7% were found to be in the non-problematic category with moderate and severe problematic use affecting almost half of the sample.
The authors wrote:
“..witnessing these events unfold in the news might bring about a constant state of high alert, kicking their surveillance motives into overdrive as the world becomes a dark and dangerous place.”
“A vicious cycle can develop in which, rather than tuning out, they become drawn further in, obsessing about the news and checking for updates around the clock to alleviate their emotional distress.”
What was interesting about the study findings was that the minimally problematic group reported absorption in the content too but this was only problematic when the person also experienced feeling trapped without an outlet for escape. PNC created a feeling of being "transported" into the story as if it was personally experienced. Feeling "unable to escape" relates to the inability to regulate emotions and control the urge or compulsion to check - which can also be reduced by tiredness, being overwhelmed and feeling emotionally distressed.
Like most habits in life, the key to non-problematic use is not necessarily in consuming the news itself but in the relationship that you form with it - it's not necessarily how much time you spend engaging with content or even the type you consume but what you are doing within yourself before, during, and after use - and how this impacts on you and the rest of your life.
So it’s not necessarily about not reading the news - news has always been around and will probably always be part of our society. But it is about asking yourself a question now, about how you feel about your relationship with your own news consumption and whether doomscrolling is affecting your health and vitality?
What type of news are you absorbing?
Is this life-enhancing and does it add value to your life in some way?
Do you read with discernment - reflecting on what you are taking in and staying present?
Is it something you can deeply engage with to stimulate productive discussion and reflection - rather than repeated shock, upset and outrage that people may think and feel differently to you?
Or does it get in the way of your life - impacting your physical or mental health through perpetuating a constant state of stress that you continue to be impacted by long afterwards?
Is it hard to unhook from all the content you have taken in that day creating a negative view of people, our world and future security? Do you feel vulnerable, immobilised or helpless?
According to the study findings, PNC can also impact widely on your gut health, your sleep quality, and your physiological functioning, and can also drive chronic inflammation in the body. It may also drain your energy and focus away from other areas of your life such as family and friend relationships, focused work or study - or simply pursuing things that bring you joy and lift you up - which we really all need to indulge in a lot of to compensate for life stressors.
How to change your relationship with the news (if that's what you want 😉):
Becoming self-aware is step one. Decide if it is problematic use/doomscrolling or if it’s working ok in your life and not causing distress and impairment for you or others. Be honest with yourself about this.
Give yourself a period of abstinence from screen-based news to reset the habit - a device-free weekend can be a good start.
Make a plan for consuming the news in the future - how much and how often, when (not before bed), and where - make it specific such as "I will check for X minutes a day on a laptop or with a newspaper while sitting down with my morning hot drink. On the weekend I will catch up on the intriguing stories I have saved for up to X minutes" (note - you can do this online easily for free on sites such as Feedly where you can save to “read later”). Note any inflammatory, highly negative, or sensationalized and clickbaity sources of news you may want to unfollow.
Aim to read news in a print form where possible to give your brain a break from online reading - we tend to skim more and become distracted with other online content (especially when reading on a small phone screen) but are more discerning with written material - so it's good for our brain health to read hard copies.
Avoid reading the news first thing when you wake up and in the evening before winding down for bed - start and finish the day with your nervous system off on the right for a calm focused day or deep restorative sleep.
If you find yourself with the urge to check the news check in with yourself instead - how are you feeling? What do you really need? Take a deep breath and develop strategies or seek support to help regulate any feelings of stress, unwanted emotions, or listless boredom.
If you find yourself back down a rabbit hole of compulsive checking understand that's part of behavioural change - be gentle on yourself and discover how you got there, and take the learning forward for next time to get better and better at creating a life-enhancing news relationship.
