DOOMSCROLLING CAN CAUSE HEALTH ISSUES, SAYS STUDY

Mon 02 January 2023:

Scrolling is the bane of the information age. We have all experienced this. We scroll and scroll for more even our eyes are numb and our mind can’t process the info. The scrolling does not stop even if its a bad news making us excessively sad. Such doomscrolling does not yield anything good but we do it nonetheless. Now a study has found that doomscrolling leads to poor physical and mental health.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, doomscrolling is the tendency to “continue to surf or scroll through bad news, even though that news is saddening, disheartening or depressing”.

Sometimes sadness has a pull and the internet is absolutely filled with sad stories.

The study in question has been published in journal Health Communication. The study found that 16.5 per cent of around 1100 people surveyed who doomscrolled showed signs of greater levels of anxiety, stress. Even their health was affected. 27.3 per cent of the respondents reported ‘moderately problematic’ levels. 27.5 per cent were not affected too much and 28.7 per cent faced no problems.

Bryan McLaughlin, Associate Professor at Texas Tech University, was the lead author of the syudy. He said that 24-hour-news cycle has a potential to bring about a ‘constant state of high alert’ in some people,

“For these individuals, a vicious cycle can develop in which, rather than tuning out, they become drawn further in, obsessing over the news and checking for updates around the clock to alleviate their emotional distress,” he said.

“But it doesn’t help, and the more they check the news, the more it begins to interfere with other aspects of their lives.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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