Doomscrolling trap! Study reveals how negative content affects your brain, worsens mental health issues
Research from University College London (UCL) suggests that doomscrolling entraps individuals in a vicious cycle of deteriorating mental health.
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Spending hours doomscrolling on social media can leave you feeling low, but now scientists have unveiled the deeper psychological reasons behind this phenomenon. Research from University College London (UCL) suggests that doomscrolling entraps individuals in a vicious cycle of deteriorating mental health.
Defined as the compulsion to consume negative information online despite its emotional toll, doomscrolling not only triggers distress but worsens existing mental health issues. According to the study, people struggling with poor mental health are disproportionately drawn to bleak content online, which in turn deepens their depression.
The findings, published in Nature Human Behaviour, are based on a study involving over 1,000 participants who underwent psychological evaluations to assess their mental well-being. They were then asked to browse the internet for 30 minutes, followed by another mental health test and an analysis of their search history.
The results revealed that participants with the lowest mental health scores gravitated towards websites with negative themes, confirming a troubling pattern.
In a follow-up experiment, researchers sought to untangle whether this trend was purely behavioral or if exposure to such content exacerbated poor mental states. Participants were divided into two groups—one given positive content to browse and the other steered towards doomscrolling websites. Those exposed to negative material went on to seek even more distressing content, reinforcing the cycle of despair.
Although the study examined browser histories, social media data remained out of reach due to password protections. However, lead researcher Professor Tali Sharot emphasized the significance of the findings.
“Lots of people are saying that there is a correlation between poor mental health and internet use,” she told The Times. “We spend many hours online, and as humans, we only just started doing so in the last few years. Is it causing problems?”
A separate UK study earlier this year uncovered a disturbing link between problematic smartphone use and adolescent mental health struggles. Teens overly reliant on their devices were up to three times more likely to experience anxiety, depression, or insomnia, according to research from King’s College London.
Shockingly, nearly 50% of these teens reported symptoms of anxiety, while even more described signs of depression. With one in five adolescents exhibiting problematic smartphone habits, experts warn that many are silently seeking help to curb their reliance.
Also read: World's oldest ALPHABET discovered: 4,400-year-old text found on clay cylinders in Syria
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