- One study suggested that excessive consumption of bad news, or doomscrolling, can worsen mental and physical health.
- Surveying 1,100 American adults, the study suggested that 16.5% had “severely problematic” news consumption.
- In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the practice of doomscrolling took off and has become a popular term.
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Disconnecting from bad news isn’t always easy when it seems to be everywhere; however, a new study suggested that consuming too many can worsen mental health and physical.
The study of 1,100 American adults said 16.5% of those surveyed had a “severely problematic” habit of consuming bad news.
The results, published in the journal Health Communication de agosto, further suggested that people who consumed more bad news had “greater mental and physical discomfort” compared to people who did not consume as much. Examples of “discomfort” in the study are anxiety, stress and depression; all of which were self-reported in the survey.
The practice of binge-watching bad news, or doomscrolling, skyrocketed during the pandemic
At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, it became more common to endlessly read bad news. The practice eventually became known as «doomscrolling» or “doomsurfing”, due to the avalanche of negative and distressing news.
“We argue that for some Americans, witnessing these events unfold in the news might trigger a constant state of high alert. This would increase into overdrive as the world becomes a dark and dangerous place,” the study authors said. The survey, conducted in August 2021, was conducted by Bryan McLaughlin, Melissa Gotlieb, and Devin Mills of Texas Tech University.
Furthermore, for some people “a vicious cycle can develop where, instead of disconnecting, they go even deeper; obsessing over the news and searching for updates 24 hours a day to ease their emotional distress,” the authors said.
The highest percentages of people surveyed did not have “severely problematic” news consumption, with 27.3% being “moderately problematic”, 27.5% “minimally problematic” and 28.7% “not problematic”.
The study did not specify how much time spent reading or watching news that defined how “problematic” a participant’s behavior is; however, the measures on which the people surveyed were rated were: being absorbed by the news, thinking regarding it frequently, reading and watching it to reduce anxiety, difficulty not reading or watching it, and not being able to concentrate on the school or work by being focused on them.
Study authors say their results have ‘important implications’ for people’s well-being
For people with “moderately problematic news consumption,” the study suggested they have “greater mental discomfort than those with minimal or no problem news consumption and greater physical discomfort than those with minimally problematic consumption.”
Among people who have “minimally problematic” and “non-problematic” news consumption habits, the study suggested there was no significant difference between physical and mental discomfort.
“This suggests that being somewhat engrossed in a dangerous world is not problematic for mental and physical health unless it is also accompanied by being trapped in that dead-end world,” the study authors said.
The study authors said the study results show there are “important implications” for the well-being of individuals, society and democracy.
“These findings indicate the need for media literacy campaigns focused on raising awareness of the potential for news consumption to become problem behavior, as well as the need to develop intervention strategies,” the authors said.
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