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What to do instead of doomscrolling

· 5 min read

You open your phone to check one thing. Twenty minutes later you're still scrolling, and you feel worse than when you started. Here's why that happens, what the research says about cutting back, and a swap that takes about a minute.

What doomscrolling is

Doomscrolling is scrolling on through bad news or an endless feed even though it's making you feel worse. It isn't a lack of discipline. It usually starts when you're already tired, anxious or overstimulated, which is exactly when stopping is hardest.

An endless feed always has one more post. The scrolling goes on even as it makes you feel worse.

It isn't harmless either. In a 30-day daily study during the COVID-19 pandemic, days with more pandemic news on social media went along with more symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress, especially for people who were already vulnerable. Traditional news didn't show the same link[1].

Cutting back helps, and fast

You don't need a dramatic detox to feel a difference. When students limited Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to ten minutes per app per day for three weeks, they became less lonely and less depressed than a group that used social media as usual[2]. In another randomised trial, adults who took a one-week break from social media reported better well-being and lower depression and anxiety scores than those who carried on[3].

The hard part isn't knowing this. It's the moment your thumb is already on the screen.

Why “just put it down” doesn't work

The scroll does a job. It gives restless hands a repetitive movement, it gives your eyes something to follow, and every flick gets an instant response. When you're overwhelmed, that's soothing in the moment, even if the content isn't.

So instead of fighting the gesture, keep it and change what it's connected to. Design research describes fidget objects as tools people use to regulate themselves through their bodies[4]. And having a small action that reliably answers you matters: people who believed they controlled identical pain stimuli reported less anxiety and showed lower activity in the brain's alarm centre[5]. A feed answers you too, just with more noise.

Keep the gesture and change what it's connected to. Same hand, same screen, no feed.

The 60-second swap

  1. Notice the reach. The moment you unlock your phone without a reason is the moment to catch. You don't have to stop it, just notice it.
  2. Give your thumb something that answers. A fidget toy, a textured object in your pocket, or a fidget on the phone itself. Same hand, same screen, no feed.
  3. Breathe out longer than you breathe in, three times. Two short breaths in through the nose, one long breath out through the mouth. Five minutes a day of this exhale-focused breathing improved mood over a month in a randomised trial[6].
  4. Then decide on purpose. After a minute, if you still want the feed, open it. Most of the time the urge has passed.
Catch the reach, give your thumb something else, breathe, then choose. It takes about a minute.

Make the swap the easy option

  • Move the feed apps off your home screen and into a folder on the last page.
  • Set a daily limit for them in Screen Time. Ten minutes per app was enough to make a difference in the study above.
  • Put the swap where your thumb already goes: your home screen dock or the Action Button.
  • Charge your phone outside the bedroom, so the last scroll of the day isn't the default.

We built SoundFidget for exactly this moment. Put your thumb on the screen and sound, haptics and light answer your hand, softening as you slow down. “Ground Me Now” opens it straight from the Action Button, Siri or Spotlight, so it's one press away when the feed is calling. For a quick set of body-first techniques without any app, read how to calm down fast.

If the scroll mostly happens after the kids are asleep, why you stay up too late once the kids are asleep is about that hour, and how to get it back.

References

  1. Price M, et al. (2022). Doomscrolling during COVID-19: The negative association between daily social and traditional media consumption and mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 14(8), 1338–1346. doi:10.1037/tra000120230-day daily diary study
  2. Hunt MG, et al. (2018). No More FOMO: Limiting Social Media Decreases Loneliness and Depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 37(10), 751–768. doi:10.1521/jscp.2018.37.10.751Randomised experiment, n=143
  3. Lambert J, et al. (2022). Taking a One-Week Break from Social Media Improves Well-Being, Depression, and Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 25(5), 287–293. doi:10.1089/cyber.2021.0324Randomised controlled trial, n=154
  4. Karlesky M, Isbister K (2016). Understanding Fidget Widgets: Exploring the Design Space of Embodied Self-Regulation. Proceedings of the 9th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (NordiCHI '16). doi:10.1145/2971485.2971557Design research
  5. Salomons TV, et al. (2015). Neural emotion regulation circuitry underlying anxiolytic effects of perceived control over pain. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 27(2), 222–233. doi:10.1162/jocn_a_00702fMRI experiment, n=52
  6. Balban MY, et al. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine, 4(1), 100895. doi:10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100895Randomised trial, n=108

This guide is for everyday stress and isn't medical advice. If stress or panic is with you most days, or you feel unsafe, please talk to a doctor or a mental health professional.