Doom Scrolling

“Doom-scrolling”.  A phrase used frequently enough by Gen Z to at least let some of us feel as though we’re not being chastised by an older generation. For most of us, doom-scrolling is known as the sensation of scrolling endlessly on various social media platforms. In fact, as I write this, I’ve succumbed to the distraction myself, stuck in the same cycles of procrastination, resulting in instant gratification without any true rewards.  

More and more people find these methods of escape as a way to numb any negative emotions they feel without actually addressing the problem at hand. For instance, I let doom-scrolling feed into my procrastination. Instead of addressing my problems and completing my assignments, I try to bury the feelings with mind-numbing rewards to feel as though everything is still “okay”.  

These unhealthy coping mechanisms become learned behaviors over time, since they teach the brain to respond to stressors with the same instant gratification activities to prevent negative feelings from causing physiological reactions in our bodies. Over time, the behavior of scrolling to produce any sort of positive feelings of arousal becomes a form of respondent behavior. This causes some to rely heavily on these sources as an automatic response to negative stimuli, like a bad grade on an exam, or even stressful assignments with impending due dates. Those positive feelings are felt less each time, however they seem to reinforce doom-scrolling behavior and eventually encourage a deficit in cognitive activity, making things like focus, problem-solving, and creativity much more difficult to maintain in regular application.  

These repetitive behaviors encourage a lack of enrichment as well, diminishing the priority or desire to start or maintain hobbies that would encourage synapse growth and further neuroplasticity. The time spent only using limited sensory perception while focused in on a limited screen of flat visuals and paired with audio only as good as each post permits, causes us to be cheated out of our natural senses and plunged into sensory deprivation that threatens to drain us of who we have the potential to develop into. 

With these desperate spirals, doom-scrolling tends to seem like a hopeless plague infiltrating more minds with each passing day. This, of course, only pushes people deeper into an endless cycle similar to a drug response. “How can I ever fix the problem if I’m so stuck staying a part of it? It would be so much easier to keep it up and rot away rather than fight a losing battle,”. Just like a drug response, it’s hard to go cold turkey, even more in an era where technology is more commonplace than a simple vape or bottle of alcohol. The temptation to “scroll till you get bored” is more encouraged than ever. Even those who try to discourage phone usage in classrooms still cannot get rid of the scrolling that younger children will be doing on their own school-given devices. 

Where is the silver lining? The way out like we’ve always wanted before? The instant gratification to tell ourselves that everything is going to be alright? Well there isn’t. There is no clear cut answer that is going to be the end all be all for something as harrowing as “brain rot”. It takes a lot of needed pain to learn to embrace life again. This is not to say that we should constantly be stressed out, but it is important to learn healthier coping mechanisms to deal with the overwhelming existentialism of our futures. Constant environmental stressors broke my body when I tried to suppress them. These learned behaviors of continuing suppression have not made themselves useful to me still. The key, like most paths to beating addiction, is to reach out. It doesn’t matter if it's family, friends, or licensed professionals, but it is important to let people know that you need help. Even if you convince yourself that your problems will only make things worse for them, it is better to share a little bit of the load with many than concentrating all of the weight onto one person, even if that one person is yourself.  

A big encouragement I have is to break away from the technological temptation altogether. Of course we live in an age where it would be a social and intellectual exile not to use technology or stay up to date in what’s happening in the world, but you need to get off of that screen, get out of that room, stop participating in the same day-in-day-out repetitive behaviors. You need to get out and explore the world around you, explore nature, take up new hobbies and encourage more neuronal growth. Encourage stability not in the very thing that spreads your fears, but instead in what grounds you in your place in the world and what grounds you in who and what you are. Ask friends to hang out, ask parents to keep an eye on your phone usage at home, ask professionals about techniques you can use to keep yourself stable and calm when things feel like they’re too much. Doom-scrolling is a crutch that keeps you crippled. It's okay to ask for others to lend a shoulder when you need it most.