Doomscrolling: the sneaky epidemic that’s rotting our minds

YOU grab your phone, thinking it'll just be for a minute.

- VUYILE MADWANTSI

FOR many of us, scrolling through a phone is now second nature; a simple click, swipe, and scroll can easily turn into an hour of mindless content consumption. Pexels

But that minute quickly turns into an hour of scrolling through headlines, TikToks, and Instagram reels.Before you know it, you feel drained, anxious, and strangely disconnected.

Does this sound familiar?

This is the age of doomscrolling and brain rot, a modern problem that’s quietly become widespread.

While these terms might sound like internet slang, their real-life implications are anything but trivial. Experts warn that our unchecked screen habits are rewiring our brains, sabotaging our mental and physical health, and reshaping our ability to connect with the world.

The question is: what happens when we trade meaningful engagement for endless scrolling?

The anatomy of doomscrolling: Why can’t we look away

Coined during the pandemic, “doomscrolling” describes our compulsive habit of consuming negative, distressing news.

But it’s not just a buzzword; it’s a phenomenon rooted in our brain’s biology.

Dr Aditi Nerurkar, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, explains that doomscrolling is driven by our brain's limbic system, specifically the amygdala, which is responsible for detecting threats.

“When you scroll through alarming headlines or upsetting posts, your brain triggers its fight-or-flight response, releasing cortisol, the stress hormone,” Nerurkar says.