Doomscrolling is when you constantly cycle through bad news on social media or the internet.

There鈥檚 a lot of negativity that you can absorb in just a few minutes of looking at your phone or laptop 鈥� especially with the economic, social and political turbulence in this country and abroad.

Research suggests that .

And the mental health impact of it is something of which our members are acutely aware.

Lou Baker, a therapist who manages a college mental health and wellbeing team, says doomscrolling is increasingly being brought into the therapy room.

She says it has a 鈥渟ignificant impact鈥� on young people. She believes that some of the increase in low mood, anxiety and depression that she鈥檚 seen through her service can be attributed to doomscrolling.

鈥淲e've seen young people get quickly consumed and traumatised by the information they see and hear. When a person is experiencing challenges to their mental health and wellbeing it can take considerable willpower to avoid doomscrolling, this in turn exacerbates their mental ill health. It's a vicious circle.鈥�

She adds the type of language used by the media and on the internet focuses on doom and catastrophising.

鈥淭his is exacerbating the experiences and impact for the young people absorbed in doom scrolling, 鈥� she says.

It鈥檚 not just young people affected by this.

Andrew Kidd, a Glasgow-based therapist, says that usually doomscrolling comes up in the therapy room when people feel out of control 鈥� sometimes around life events, such as a relationship breakdown, and sometimes around global events, such as the cost of living crisis, the war in Ukraine.

He adds: 鈥淭he feeling of powerlessness and perception of threat feed off each other.鈥�

Amanda Macdonald, a London-based therapist, agrees, and describes it as a solitary activity where people are trying to find some sort of control.

鈥淭he feeling that by continuing to scroll we will gain some aspect of control over what can feel so out of our control can lead people to feel the need to constantly consume whatever news or media they can.鈥�

Tips to ease the impact of doom scrolling on your mental health

All the therapists we spoke to acknowledge that just spending less time on the internet and social media for many people is much easier said than done.

But they have some practical steps that might help mitigate the impact of doomscrolling.

Set a time limit

They all agree that setting a time limit and establishing boundaries about the time you spend online can help.

鈥淎llow yourself some time to read online, so it isn鈥檛 forbidden. Always have a timer set,鈥� says Amanda. 鈥淲hat is great is that our phones have timers built in to them. We can either have a reminder pop up every evening to stop scrolling, or set a timer for five or 10 minutes.鈥�

Positive habit breaking apps

Lou agrees with having a time limit and recommends another tool which helps a lot of young people she sees.

鈥淲e've found the use of positive habit breaking apps are very helpful and popular.聽

鈥淭hese apps allow the user to set timers based on doing a positive action such as growing an online tree or the user having to do a positive activity before the timer ends.鈥� 聽

Ask yourself why you鈥檙e doomscrolling

Reflect on what is motivating you to keep scrolling, recommends Andrew.

He says to ask yourself 鈥渨hen doomscrolling - what am I looking for?鈥�

This isn鈥檛 about why you鈥檙e looking 鈥� but instead about what you hope to find from doomscrolling.

鈥淭his will reveal an unmet need that is much more helpful to focus on,鈥� he says.

Focus on what you can control

Focus on things you can control and change in your life. Even if they seem small, they鈥檙e not insignificant, says Andrew.

And thinking about control can be helpful if you鈥檙e spending time online too.

He adds: 鈥淎fter five minutes of doomscrolling put the phone away and ask yourself 鈥楥an I control it?鈥� and 鈥榗an I change it?鈥�

鈥淚f the answer is 鈥榶es鈥� then come up with a plan of how to control and change what is causing you distress. This will help your anxiety.

鈥淏ut if the answer is 鈥榥o鈥� then realise that five minutes or five hours of scrolling will never turn that no into a yes.鈥�

Use grounding techniques

鈥淭he idea of grounding is to get out of the 鈥榟ead鈥� which we occupy when doomscrolling, and into the physical body and your environment,鈥� says Amanda.

She recommends trying different grounding techniques and seeing which work for you.

鈥淥ne technique is 鈥�5,4,3,2,1鈥� which is about connecting with our senses and our immediate surroundings. Forming this connection with where we physically are can help to reconnect us with the here and now, and take us away from the draw of the doomscroll,鈥� she adds.

Face to face discussions

Human contact and conversation can help as well, stresses Lou.

鈥淔or young people that time spent away from news and social media etc and physically talking to others or socialising face to face, can support their mental health and wellbeing,鈥� she adds.

鈥淭his can give them a completely different perspective to any issues or information that may have become exacerbated by doomscrolling.聽We use the discussion of allowing time away to see another perspective.鈥�

If you鈥檙e struggling with your mental health and wellbeing, find a counsellor or psychotherapist who can help you by searching our therapist directory.