Last Reviewed: May 2026 | Next Review Scheduled: November 2026
By Boris Bauer, Founder, Stimm Jewelry
This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. The information here is general and may not apply to your specific situation. If you are experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression, or any other mental health concern, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
It’s 11:30 at night. You pick up your phone to check the weather before bed. Twenty minutes later, you’re deep in a crisis you didn’t know existed an hour ago, your chest is a little tighter, and you’re not sure how you got there. You know you should put the phone down. You also know that’s probably not going to happen yet.
That’s doomscrolling. And if it feels compulsive, that’s because, in a very real way, it is.
This article explains what’s happening in your brain when you doomscroll, why willpower alone doesn’t stop it, and what practical strategies can actually help you redirect the habit. Understanding the mechanism is the first step toward changing it.
Doomscrolling at a Glance
| What it is | Compulsive scrolling through negative news or distressing content on social media platforms, even when it makes you feel worse |
|---|---|
| Why it happens | Negativity bias, dopamine reward cycles, and the anxiety-driven need to stay informed create a self-reinforcing loop |
| How it affects you | Elevated anxiety, disrupted sleep, mood changes, and increased stress response |
| Who’s affected | Anxiety disorders affect about 19.1% of U.S. adults in any given year [1] |
| What helps | Intentional information limits, sensory redirects, structured wind-down routines, and cognitive reframing |
On this page:
- What Is Doomscrolling?
- Why Your Brain Won’t Let You Stop
- What Doomscrolling Does to Your Mental Health
- How to Break the Loop
- When to Seek Help
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Sources & References
What Is Doomscrolling?
Doomscrolling (also called doomsurfing) is the habit of continuously scrolling through negative news, distressing content, or alarming social media posts, even when that content is making you feel worse. It happens on any platform where content is infinite and algorithmically sorted: social media feeds, news apps, video platforms, and group chats alike.
The term became widely recognized during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people turned to their phones to stay informed about a rapidly changing situation. Research published in peer-reviewed literature found a significant negative association between daily social media consumption during the pandemic and mental health outcomes, including increased anxiety and depressive symptoms [2].
Doomscrolling is not a failure of self-control. It is the product of specific, well-documented psychological mechanisms working in combination. Understanding them changes how you approach the problem.
About Stimm
Stimm Jewelry designs sensory tools, worn as everyday jewelry, for anxious, overwhelmed, and neurodivergent people. Our pieces use 316L surgical-grade stainless steel and are built for daily use across four sensory modalities: Sound, Touch, Movement, and Scent. We are not a medical provider. We make tools that may support sensory regulation as part of a broader self-care approach.
Explore our sensory collections →
Why Your Brain Won’t Let You Stop
The pull of doomscrolling is not a personality flaw. Three overlapping psychological mechanisms create and sustain it.
Negativity Bias: Why Bad News Gets More Attention
Humans are wired to pay closer attention to threatening information than to neutral or positive information. This is called negativity bias, and it is a well-documented feature of human cognition, not a defect. Evolutionary psychologists understand it as a survival adaptation: your ancestors who noticed potential threats survived. Those who focused on good news in dangerous situations often didn’t.
In a digital environment, that ancient instinct gets systematically exploited. Social media algorithms are optimized for engagement, and threatening or outrage-inducing content reliably generates more of it. The result is a feed that surfaces distressing information disproportionately, and a brain that attends to it disproportionately.
The APA’s Stress in America research has tracked the human cost of this dynamic for years. In 2025, 69% of U.S. adults cited the spread of inaccurate or misleading information as a significant source of stress, up from 62% the year before [3].
The Dopamine Loop That Keeps You Scrolling
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter closely associated with motivation, reward-seeking, and habit formation. According to Harvard Health Publishing, social media platforms exploit this system by providing unpredictable rewards: a compelling headline, a surprising update, a moment of social validation [4]. This unpredictability is the same mechanism that makes slot machines compelling. You keep engaging because sometimes something interesting appears.
When your brain anticipates a potential reward, dopamine is released. This release reinforces the behavior, regardless of whether the reward turns out to be good news or bad. The compulsive quality of doomscrolling is, in part, a dopamine loop running on negative content [5].
The important thing to understand: the goal of this loop is not to make you feel better. The goal is to keep you engaged. Those are very different objectives.
Uncertainty and the Information-Seeking Instinct
During periods of heightened uncertainty, people naturally seek more information. This is an adaptive response: knowing more about a threat helps you prepare for it. But in a 24-hour news environment, more information rarely resolves the uncertainty. It often deepens it.
This creates a paradox. You scroll to feel less anxious about what’s happening in the world. The scrolling makes you more anxious. The anxiety increases the urge to scroll again. Research on doomscrolling found that high levels of it predict distraction from the present moment and fixation on negative news, a state associated with increased secondary traumatic stress and reduced mental well-being [6].
What Doomscrolling Does to Your Mental Health
Anxiety disorders already affect an estimated 19.1% of U.S. adults in any given year, and about 31.1% will experience one at some point in their lives [1]. For many people, habitual doomscrolling compounds that baseline in three specific ways.
Anxiety and Elevated Stress
Chronic exposure to distressing content keeps your stress response activated. Your body cannot fully distinguish between reading about a crisis and being in one. Stress hormones, including cortisol, rise in response to perceived threat, whether that threat is physical or informational.
Research from the APA found that all types of news media consumption increased emotional distress, with social media and television showing the strongest associations [7]. The effect was more pronounced among younger adults and women, though it was present across demographics. This is not a matter of being “too sensitive.” It is a measurable, documented physiological response to sustained exposure.
Sleep Disruption
Late-night scrolling interferes with sleep through two mechanisms. First, blue light emitted from screens suppresses melatonin production, signaling to the brain that it is daytime and making it harder to fall asleep. Second, emotionally activating content keeps your nervous system in a state of heightened arousal that is incompatible with the physical relaxation sleep requires.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, evening screen exposure is associated with disrupted sleep patterns and an increased risk of anxiety [8]. Doomscrolling in bed is, in a sense, the worst possible combination: activating content delivered via a device that simultaneously suppresses your sleep hormone.
Mood, Depression, and Disconnection
Over time, habitual doomscrolling can flatten mood and contribute to a sense of disconnection. Research published in the Journal of Community Psychology found that the relationship between doomscrolling and reduced mental well-being is mediated by secondary traumatic stress: a state of indirect trauma caused by sustained exposure to others’ suffering through news and media content [6].
This is different from simply feeling sad about current events. Secondary traumatic stress can include intrusive thoughts, emotional numbing, difficulty concentrating, and a generalized sense of hopelessness about the world. These symptoms overlap significantly with depressive symptoms, and they develop gradually in ways that can be easy to attribute to other causes.
How to Break the Doomscrolling Loop
You cannot stop doomscrolling through willpower alone, because willpower does not operate on the same level as the mechanisms driving the habit. What works is structuring your environment and your behavior so the loop has fewer entry points.
Set Intentional Limits on News Consumption
The goal is not to be uninformed. It is to be informed on your terms, not the algorithm’s terms.
Choose one or two specific news sources you trust. Check them at a defined time, once or twice a day, for a fixed period. Fifteen minutes is often sufficient for staying reasonably current on major stories. Outside of those windows, treat news consumption as closed, the way you might treat email after a certain hour.
Built-in screen time tools on most smartphones allow you to set app limits. These are not foolproof, but the friction of overriding a limit is often enough to interrupt the automatic, mindless scroll that doomscrolling tends to become.
Replace the Scroll with a Sensory Redirect
The urge to doomscroll often starts in the hands before it starts in the mind. You reach for your phone when you are idle, anxious, or between tasks. One practical approach is to give your hands something else to do first.
Some people find that having a tactile tool within reach, such as a Stimm Fidget Ring, helps redirect the reflex before it turns into a twenty-minute news spiral. The ring’s spinning motion provides repetitive sensory input that may help interrupt the cycle of anxious energy that typically precedes the scroll. This is one tool among several; the goal is to redirect the physical impulse, not to replace the underlying need to manage anxiety.
Other options include keeping a small stress ball at your desk, practicing a brief breathing exercise (four counts in, hold for four, six counts out), or doing a quick body scan to locate and release physical tension.
Build a Wind-Down Routine That Excludes Screens
The hour before bed is when doomscrolling tends to do the most damage. Building a consistent wind-down routine that does not include screens creates both a physical break from devices and a behavioral cue to your nervous system that rest is approaching.
The specifics matter less than the consistency. Reading a physical book, light stretching, a warm shower, journaling, or listening to non-activating audio all serve the purpose. The goal is an alternative pathway for that pre-sleep hour, so reaching for the phone is not the automatic default.
Practice Reality-Testing About the Urge
When you notice the scroll reflex starting, a simple cognitive question can interrupt the pattern: “Is there something actionable here, or am I seeking information that will not change what I can do?”
Most doomscrolling involves the latter. This is not about dismissing real events as unimportant. It is about recognizing when additional information no longer serves a practical function and is instead feeding the anxiety loop. Naming that distinction, even briefly, can create enough pause to choose a different response.
The sensory tools and techniques discussed in this article are not a substitute for professional mental health treatment. They may be helpful as part of a broader approach to managing anxiety. If your anxiety significantly interferes with your daily life, please reach out to a qualified mental health provider.
When to Seek Help
The strategies in this article can be a useful part of managing doomscrolling and its effects on your mental health. They are not a substitute for professional support.
Consider reaching out to a qualified mental health provider if:
- Anxiety about news or world events significantly interferes with your work, sleep, or relationships
- You feel unable to stop consuming distressing content even when you want to
- You are experiencing persistent low mood, loss of interest in activities you used to enjoy, or difficulty functioning day to day
- You are having thoughts of self-harm
In the United States, you can contact:
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988
- NAMI HelpLine — 1-800-950-NAMI (6264)
- Psychology Today therapist finder — psychologytoday.com/us/therapists
- ADAA therapist finder — adaa.org/finding-help
Frequently Asked Questions
What is doomscrolling?
Doomscrolling is the compulsive habit of continuously scrolling through negative or distressing news content on social media or news platforms, even when that content makes you feel worse. The behavior is driven by negativity bias (the brain’s tendency to prioritize threatening information), dopamine reward cycles that reinforce engagement regardless of content quality, and the anxiety-driven need to stay informed. It gained widespread recognition during the COVID-19 pandemic but is rooted in psychological mechanisms that predate it.
Is doomscrolling actually bad for your mental health?
Research consistently associates habitual doomscrolling with higher levels of anxiety, stress, and symptoms of secondary traumatic stress, as well as disrupted sleep and reduced sense of well-being. A 2024 study published in the Journal of Community Psychology found that doomscrolling predicts reduced mental well-being through its effects on mindfulness and secondary traumatic stress. The effects accumulate gradually, which is part of why they can be easy to overlook until they become significant.
Why can’t I stop doomscrolling if I know it’s harmful?
Knowing something is harmful and being able to stop doing it are different things. Doomscrolling is sustained by three mechanisms operating below the level of conscious decision-making: negativity bias, dopamine reward loops, and uncertainty-driven information-seeking. These do not respond to willpower the way most people expect. Effective strategies target the environment and the behavior, not just the intention.
Does doomscrolling cause anxiety, or does anxiety cause doomscrolling?
Both directions are likely. Anxiety increases the drive to seek information about potential threats, which leads to more scrolling. More scrolling delivers more anxiety-producing content, which increases anxiety further. This bidirectional relationship is why the habit can feel self-sustaining. Addressing the underlying anxiety and addressing the scrolling behavior both contribute to breaking the cycle; managing only one tends to be less effective.
How do I stop doomscrolling at night?
The most effective strategies combine environmental design with behavioral replacement. Set your phone to do-not-disturb mode at a consistent time each evening. Consider charging your phone outside your bedroom. Remove social media and news apps from your home screen so they require deliberate navigation rather than a single tap. Build a screen-free wind-down routine that begins 30 to 60 minutes before bed: a physical book, light stretching, a relaxation audio track, or anything that occupies your attention without activating your stress response.
What is the dopamine connection to doomscrolling?
Social media platforms deliver content in unpredictable patterns, which reliably triggers dopamine release in the brain’s reward circuitry. This is the same mechanism that makes gambling compelling: you keep engaging because sometimes something rewarding appears. The dopamine response does not distinguish between good news and bad; it responds to novelty, surprise, and anticipation. This means emotionally activating content, including distressing news, can sustain the dopamine loop even when you feel worse as a result of it.
Can sensory tools help with doomscrolling?
Sensory tools address one specific part of the doomscrolling pattern: the automatic hand movement that initiates it. Many people find that redirecting the physical impulse to reach for a phone, by giving their hands something else to do, helps interrupt the habit before it starts. These tools work best as one component of a broader approach that also includes intentional limits on news consumption and awareness of emotional triggers.
How much news is too much?
There is no universal threshold, but the APA’s Stress in America research consistently finds that news consumption is among the top reported sources of stress for U.S. adults, and that the spread of misinformation is the single most commonly cited stressor. A practical benchmark: if news consumption reliably leaves you more anxious, more overwhelmed, or less able to function than before you started, that is a useful signal. A structured “information diet” with specific sources, defined times, and a fixed duration tends to be more sustainable than attempting to eliminate news consumption entirely.
Sources & References
- National Institute of Mental Health. Any Anxiety Disorder. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder
- Cunningham, S., et al. (2022). Doomscrolling during COVID-19. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35157484/
- American Psychological Association. (2025). Stress in America 2025. https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/stress-in-america/2025
- Harvard Health Publishing. (2021). A conversation about reducing the harms of social media. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/a-conversation-about-reducing-the-harms-of-social-media-202111052632
- Harvard Health Publishing. Dopamine: The pathway to pleasure. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/dopamine-the-pathway-to-pleasure
- Taskin, S., et al. (2024). Doomscrolling and mental well-being in social media users. Journal of Community Psychology, 52(3), 512–524. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38429976/
- American Psychological Association. (2022). Media overload is hurting our mental health. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/11/strain-media-overload
- Cleveland Clinic. What is blue light and is it bad for your eyes? https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-is-blue-light
Stimm Jewelry designs sensory tools to support mindfulness and sensory regulation. We are not a medical provider, and our products are not medical devices. Content reviewed for accuracy: May 2026.