Epoch HealthHow Doomscrolling Plunders Your Health

Recent research demonstrates significant correlations between excessive consumption of negative news through social media (“doomscrolling”) and measurable health outcomes. Studies indicate that prolonged exposure to crisis-related news content directly impacts stress levels, sleep patterns, and mental health, with data showing that high media exposure can increase acute stress symptoms by up to nine times compared to minimal exposure.

Key Points:

• Clinical studies reveal that individuals who consumed more than six hours of media coverage daily during crisis events were nine times more likely to develop acute stress symptoms compared to those with minimal exposure, indicating a dose-dependent relationship between media consumption and stress manifestation.
• Neuropsychological research identifies how social media platforms exploit the brain’s inherent negativity bias, with data showing each additional negative word in headlines increasing click-through rates by 2.3%, leading to compulsive viewing behaviors that may require clinical intervention.
• Sleep disruption emerges as a primary physiological impact, with blue light exposure affecting melatonin production and “bedtime procrastination” behaviors leading to cognitive impairments comparable to alcohol intoxication.
• Cross-cultural studies in Iran and the United States link doomscrolling to existential anxiety and clinical depression, with documented impacts on interpersonal relationships and attention span degradation.
• Controlled experiments demonstrate that exposure to negative news content increases catastrophizing behaviors in patients, particularly regarding personal concerns such as relationships, finances, and academic performance.

“If the perception and prediction of problems are higher than the actual risk, then that’s when we label it as anxiety.”
– Dr. Marlynn Wei, Holistic Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist

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