Trapped in doomscroll

Here’s why your brain resists doomscrolling, yet instincts and algorithms keep you endlessly scrolling online

- Soumya Prabhu

You open social media to check one notification and, before you know it, you're scrolling through stories about crises, scandals, and disasters.

You feel stressed and mentally drained, yet you keep going. This habit, known as doomscrolling, refers to consuming large amounts of negative or distressing content online, often long after it stops being enjoyable. While it can leave us feeling anxious and exhausted, our brains are surprisingly wired to keep scrolling.

Here are four reasons why your brain hates doomscrolling but still struggles to stop.

Brain treats negative news like survival information:

Thousands of years ago, paying attention to threats helped humans survive, so the brain evolved to prioritise negative information. That instinct still exists today. Stories about disasters, crime, conflict, and uncertainty grab our attention because the brain views them as important signals. The challenge is that social media delivers an endless stream of such content, making us feel like we constantly need to stay informed.