Doomscrolling: 7 Steps to Break The Habit
Do you find yourself starting your day scrolling through an influx of smartphone notifications? You’re not alone.
From social media to international news, it’s easier than ever to keep connected, but does our ability to immerse ourselves in worldwide news come at the expense of our health? It’s impossible not to be affected by world events, and it might not take much to find yourself doomscrolling (scrolling from one negative news story to the next) without even realising.
It comes as no surprise that Google Trends has shown a recent uplift in searches around anxiety, and when news themes are particularly heavy, it’s more important than ever to know the ways your body may react to reading about sad events and know how to deal with it.
Belle About Town spoke to Naomi Humber, head of mental wellbeing at Bupa UK, to explore the potential health impact of being constantly connected, along with steps to take if you’re feeling overwhelmed.
What happens to your body when you doomscroll?
Reading negative news over a long period of time can harm your mental and physical health, particularly if you already have a mental health condition. Whether or not the news affects you directly, your body will still go into ‘flight or fight’ mode; flooding itself with cortisol to help you deal with it.
When your body is filled with cortisol, it can impact your mood. The stress hormone can make you more prone to mood swings, more irritable and more prone to depression. Regularly experiencing heightened cortisol levels can harm your physical health, over time. Issues like tension headaches, inflammation and reduced immune system function are all common.
7 steps to help you break the habit of doomscrolling
If you’ve built up a habit of doomscrolling, it’s unlikely to be something you can change overnight. However, with consistency and time, you can shake up your routine for the better with a few simple changes:
- Consider where you get your news from
How you digest the news and where you get it from can impact its effect on you. If you have a go-to news outlet, make sure it’s an authoritative source. If you have push notifications on your smartphone, consider switching them off and scheduling time during the day to look up the news.
Additionally, if you follow news outlets on social media, think about how reading their content is making you feel and whether it’s worth muting their accounts or taking a break from them.
- Use your phone’s technology to limit usage
If you still find yourself scrolling longer than you’d intended to, check if your phone has inbuilt technology to help limit your screentime. From reducing the amount of time spent on apps of your choosing, to putting a limit on your scrolling time completely, there are ways to help reduce temptation if you find it difficult to stop.
- Use an alarm clock
Many of us use our phones as alarm clocks, meaning that it’s likely the first thing we see as soon as we wake up. If you use an alarm clock to wake you up instead, it can help to break your reliance on your phone and reduce the temptation to start your day scrolling. This could even enable you to switch your phone off at night, or keep it out of your bedroom completely.
- Start with small goals
If you expect too much of yourself over too small a time period, you’re likely to set yourself up for failure. Instead, think about making small changes to your behaviour. You could set yourself a small goal to not use your phone for a set time throughout the day – why not try it during your commute, or spend the first half hour of your morning phone free?
- Go analogue
Choosing to spend your tech timeouts to make some old-fashioned time for yourself can encourage you to keep occupied without having to rely on your phone – and the temptation to check those news outlets.
You could take this opportunity to spend the time to place your focus elsewhere, whether it’s reading a book, or heading out for a walk to distract yourself and embrace your surroundings.
- Take a moment to notice your mood
As you change your habits, it’s useful to check in with yourself to see if your new routine is making any difference to your mood. Are you any less anxious than you were before you stopped doomscrolling? If you’re still more irritable, anxious or down than usual, it might be a hint that your feelings run a little deeper. Make an appointment to see a health professional to discuss possible options to help.
- Team up with a friend
Opening up to others about how the news is making you feel helps to make your intention to reduce your consumption more public. Public commitments are more likely to see positive results.
Talk about your intentions with your friends – they may want to join your digital detox, too. When you have another person rallying you on, it may help you to stick to your intentions and reduce your time doomscrolling.
