How to Not Let Doomscrolling Affect Your Mental Health
Do you feel like the world is about to end? Or that there is no good news coming from anywhere? Doomscrooling or doomsurfing is one of the many side-effects of living through a pandemic that can be making you sick.
Nov 3, 2020
Reading bad news and negative social media comments are playing havoc with the minds of people, especially those who have an anxious personality and have no other source of authentic information or ways to verify the credibility of the information. Accessibility to smartphones has led people to have access to more information than they can handle.
"The pandemic has aptly shown what happens when people are exposed to negative media. They end up being panicky and take impulsive decisions that may have an adverse impact in the long run. Reading about the migrant crisis, attempted suicides during the pandemic and more, people who were doom scrolling were almost living the trauma they were seeing on social media further adding to their own stress."
"Constantly exposing yourself to negative news and happenings can trigger panic disorder, anxiety disorder, phobias about going out, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. You may also have a heightened fear about contracting the illness or any fatal illness, or fear about being murdered, fear of death."
"Yes, it can be when we can't identify if we are suffering from a disorder. At times such as these, it can be difficult especially when people expect you to recover from will power, and think positive when you actually need intervention in terms of therapy and medication."
"Avoid watching trauma videos and stop forwarding them too. Avoid being over cautious on the basis of these negative media and stick to a regular routine. Having a fixed time to sleep, eat, exercise, fixed screen time and connect socially can really help a lot."
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