‘Doom Scrolling’ on Social Media is Real and It’s Messing People Up

Until today I had never heard of the term "doom scrolling", even though I'm very aware of it and I'm sure you are too.

Doom scrolling is basically when you go down that negative rabbit hole on social media and you just sit there scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. You get sucked into nothing but negativity for hours sometimes. It's brutal but most of us do it anyway.

According to WXYZ, psychologists refer to it as doom-scrolling and they say it can take a toll on your mental health – and even change your perspective on the real world.

I think most of the doom scrolling is found with people on Facebook and Twitter. There's a lot of anger in the world right now and that seems to be where most people are spewing their negativity.

I do everything in my power to put my phone down when I get home from work and try to not use it again aside from texting and talking. I might pick it up a few minutes before bed but if I find myself blindly scrolling, I put it down.

Here are a few suggestions from psychologists on what you can do to avoid doom scrolling:

• Set a timer on your social media use so you're not on too long.
• Stay aware.

• Remind yourself why you opened an app in the first place – and if you've already found what you were looking for.

• Lastly, be mindful of what you share. Try and post something positive.

Sometimes I too get fired up when people say negative things on Banana's Facebook. Sometimes it can be really insulting and hurtful but over the years, I've learned to brush it off. Every time I think about firing back at someone, I stop myself. I just don't want to be another person adding negative comments on an already negative platform.

The next time you start typing something negative, stop and ask yourself if it's really worth it. I can tell you this right now...it's not.