Time to bloomscroll

Transform your digital feed into a source of calm, clarity, and inspiration

- Gita Hari

There is a dictum 'You are what you eat'. Similarly, your thought process, mental makeup and approach to life are the outcome of what you feed your mind which directs your brain's actions. Almost everyone is glued to their handsets for endless hours, hooked to posts and content on social media. With so much addictive user-generated, interactive contents and live-streams appearing on digital platforms, it is time to cleanse your feed and overhaul your inner wellbeing.

Impact of digital content

The type of digital content we devour has an immediate impact on our opinions, feelings, and behaviour often more than we envisage. When we are constantly exposed to negative, sensational, or emotionally charged posts (called "doomscrolling"), it can increase anxiety, sadness, and even a sense of hopelessness. Research shows that people who spend more time doomscrolling tend to report higher levels of distress and even trauma-like symptoms. "Over time, this can start showing up in how we concentrate, how we relate to others, and how productive we feel. What makes it tricky is that algorithms are designed to show us more of what keeps us engaged and unfortunately, that's usually content that stirs strong emotions. We can get caught in a loop of consuming stressful or fear-inducing material," says Mehezabin Dordi, Clinical Psychologist at Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, Mumbai. Simply put, what we feed our mind online shapes our mental landscape offline too.

What it means