Doomscrolling, Anxiety and Mental Health – Hypnotherapy Vlog:

In this video I talk about doomscrolling, anxiety and your mental health. Doomscrolling describes a compulsion to consume negative news on social media. And whilst as a concept it goes back before the pandemic, in recent weeks and months the coronavirus has made it more prevalent and more something we all need to pay attention to, especially if anxiety is an issue for you.

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Doomscrolling Anxiety & Mental Health

Hello, it’s Dan here. I hope you’re good today. There’s something I’ve been checking out quite a lot over recent days is research around doomscrolling, anxiety, smart phone use, social media and so forth. And doomscrolling, if you haven’t come across the term before now, is used to describe a compulsion to check out negative news on social media – something that’s become much more prevalent during this current coronavirus pandemic even though it does predate that.

And we know from research that smart phone overuse, and social media overuse are linked to mental health issues by themselves in terms of anxiety and depression and sleep disturbance and so on. We know from research that just having your smart phone present, even if you’re not interacting with it, can have an impact on cognitive functioning, and your ability to remember stuff, and to focus, and to carry out tasks and so on. So we know that this kind of stuff that can be there if our relationship with social media, our smart phones isn’t correctly balanced or in a good place. If it’s overused it can lead to mental health issues.

But doomscrolling is, as I say, that compulsion to check out negative news. And with coronavirus, because there is an abundance of negative news, and fearful stuff, and worrying stuff, and particularly if you have anxiety around the pandemic or even generalised anxiety from before that that’s been exacerbated by it. It’s very easy with anxiety to find your mind compelling you to check out more and more news, like your mind fixes on that threat, wants to know everything about it. And you might find yourself thinking about it, just checking out stuff and, because there’s so much misinformation out there, conspiracy theories, opinions and so on on what is happening and what might happen, or around the virus itself, it’s very easy with anxiety stuff particularly to get drawn into all that and to almost get overwhelmed with it, and mental fatigue around it, because your brain is trying to find answers and certainty about what might happen and how things are going to pan out.

But, of course, we don’t have that. It’s very much an open-ended what if this happens, or how is this going to play out, which feeds our anxiety and, because all the news is negative and fearful and worrying, all the case numbers, what might happen, the deaths and suffering and so forth are kind of fearful of themselves, again that can fuel your anxiety and just exacerbate all that stuff.

So whether it’s doomscrolling, whether it’s overuse of that stuff, whether it’s anxiety, or fear or worry driving you towards it, it can really manifest in many ways and impact on your mental health and well-being. So it’s something to certainly be aware of about how you’re interacting with that stuff, how often you’re checking the news, how often you’re going on social media and looking up this stuff, where there is that sense of compulsion. Because if you deal with anxiety and worry-type issues, then obviously that can lessen that stuff, but also you want to manage how you’re interacting with social media, and particularly around negative stories. Limiting it time-wise, getting an app that blocks certain things, or at certain times of day and, like I say, taking steps to deal with your mental health and your anxiety and worry, and pro-active steps that can make you feel better, can mean you’re more resilient and more able to handle, deal and cope both with news that you’re intaking and focusing on but, also, in terms on how the pandemic progresses and your sense of resilience and belief that you can deal with this stuff.

So, certainly do check out the blog I’ve put on my website that covers all this research in a lot more depth. Do be aware that smart phone overuse, or social media overuse, can impact on your mental health and well-being. And please do aim to limit that kind of checking out negative news and interacting with it, use reliable sources, manage your time well, do it purposefully, focus on actual information and deal with any anxiety, worry, stress issues going on through taking control of your thoughts and feelings and doing all that good stuff that will mean that you feel better and more resilient, and that will mean that you don’t need that doomscrolling stuff, and that will mean that you feel better to handle, and deal, and cope and have that sense of resilience and courage and confidence through this pandemic, and will hopefully then mean that you find yourself feeling better in yourself.

So do be aware of that, do check out those blocking apps, do limit your intake of negative news, do manage your social media use, make it work for you rather than you being controlled by it, which applies to smart phones, and social media generally across the board as well, and screen time, and do look after your mental health, take care of yourself and I will speak to you very soon. You take care now.

Dan Regan

9 November 2020

Hypnotherapy in Ely & Newmarket

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