We’ve all been there: It’s time to sleep, and even though your body is pleading with you to get those 8 hours, you’d rather scroll the time away until you can no longer keep your eyes open.
The term “mindless scrolling” emerged around 2015, referring to the habitual, often unconscious action of continuously scrolling through content on social media. “Doom scrolling” is more specific in its meaning—the Cambridge dictionary defines it as “the activity of spending a lot of time looking at your phone or computer and reading bad or negative news stories.”
Whether it’s doom scrolling or simply mindlessly scrolling, why do we do it? And what are the side effects?
Social media platforms are designed to entrap people into entering a scrolling black hole. Easy, bite-size content is provided through a highly developed algorithm to serve similar content that will keep you hooked for hours. Scrolling on social media triggers the brain's reward center by releasing dopamine, a "feel-good" chemical linked to pleasure and reward.
This is tied to the slot machine theory, which suggests people obtain dopamine from unexpected rewards. In a slot machine, something new comes out each time the lever is pulled; many become hooked whether what comes out is good or bad. As we scroll through our phones, each swipe or tap offers the chance to discover something new, keeping us scrolling endlessly.
There are a few long-term health effects related to doom scrolling that may or may not be noticeable to us. The first is how doom scrolling can be linked to depression and anxiety. The constant consumption of negative news can leave people with higher levels of depression. Overindulging in pessimistic news can leave us with a sense of hopelessness and feelings of distress.
This is especially true for people who suffer from mental health conditions: Engaging in doom scrolling can worsen symptoms. Also, doom scrolling has been linked to negative sleep habits, such as staying awake later than usual or decreasing sleep quality. This is because doom scrolling releases stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. If you are going to sleep right after consuming this alarming news, it may make it more difficult for your brain to relax and fall asleep throughout the whole night.
Furthermore, mindlessly scrolling can affect a person’s attention span, the amount of time a person can stay concentrated before getting distracted. The average amount of time for millennials is 12 seconds. For those who are part of Generation Z, however, attention spans can last a grand total of 8 seconds. 8 seconds. Goldfish have longer attention spans than the average Gen Z person.
Mindlessly scrolling has a huge effect on this national average. When we scroll mindlessly, our brain operates on autopilot, taking in content without thinking much about it. This makes it easier for the brain to get used to the constant stream of social media, which makes it harder to focus on work or stay present in real-life situations.
If these side effects hit you very hard and are negatively impacting your life, there are ways to combat this mindless scrolling addiction!
1) Stimulus control: Involves changing the stimuli that tend to trigger a behavior. For example, if you suffer from eating chocolate all the time, maybe throw out all of the chocolate in your refrigerator. If you don’t have access to something, you will not be able to engage with it. How can we apply this to TikTok, Instagram, or any other platform that encourages scrolling? Delete the app. It's easier said than done, but psychologically, you will see better results once this act is performed.
2) Swap habits: Find something else to do to fill up your time. Whenever you catch yourself reaching for your phone to begin the endless scrolling yet again, remember the time that will be wasted and overall negative side effects. Do something else that you enjoy and is beneficial. If you start nourishing your mind with other activities, your urge to scroll will decrease over time.
3) Get an alarm clock: Swap out your phone for an alarm clock so you won’t be tempted to pick up your phone and scroll before bed at night. Keep your phone charging far away and wait to fall asleep.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.