Doomscrolling: Know its health effects and ways to keep it in check
"The doomscrolling habit has had a negative impact on mental health, triggering and worsening anxiety, stress, depression, panic, and rapidly impacting one’s mental and neurological health that is triggered by being glued to the screen," said Dr Fabian Almeida, Consultant Psychiatrist, Fortis Hospital, Kalyan.
Beyond mental health, our physical being also gets affected in a major manner by doomscrolling. (Photo: Pexels)
If you, too, find yourself scrolling endlessly on social media, procrastinating on tasks, giving up sleep, and social and personal interactions, you may have fallen prey to what is termed ‘doomscrolling’ — a habit, experts say, might have implications beyond just your time and sleep cycle.
“The habit has had a negative impact on mental health, triggering and worsening anxiety, stress, depression, panic, and rapidly affecting one’s neurological health, too,” said Dr Fabian Almeida, Consultant Psychiatrist, Fortis Hospital, Kalyan.
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Beyond mental health, doomscrolling also affects physical being in a major manner, noted Dr Almeida. “This is because, with a constant neck flexion position, the cases of Cervical Spondylosis have increased. Also, constant sitting has given rise to posture-related issues and joint arthritis. Diseases like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, obesity, and vision issues have increased substantially in the last two years as statistics have revealed; increased exposure to radiofrequency waves have increased the incidence of brain tumor as well,” he pointed out.
If you’re finding yourself getting sucked into the never-ending black hole of reels, stories, YouTube videos, news, celebrity videos, and whatnot, it’s time to get more judicious with your online habits, as it can have a monumental mental and neurological impact in the long run. Dr Almeida suggests the following:
Allocate time for checking your phone – To help you break out of this habit, try allocating specific times of the day for checking your phone; this could be on your post-exercise cool off, mid-work breaks, after putting the kids to bed, or another time that suits you. Try to avoid reaching out to your phone outside of this set time.
Don’t scroll on your phone the moment you wake up – Use your mornings to meditate mindfully and check in with yourself before checking in with the rest of the world. Grabbing your phone off the nightstand at the crack of dawn is a habit you’ll have to work towards breaking for good.
Spend time outdoors – The outdoor has a lot of sunshine and greenery that provides a person with a host of health benefits, both for the body and mind. So, consider disconnecting from your phone and connecting with nature in order to refresh and rejuvenate your body and mind.
Find another activity to replace doomscrolling – Try to replace the time you spend on your phone with something more positive and creative like reading a book, meeting an old friend, doodling, journaling, doing yoga, going for a walk, etc.
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