Doomscrolling linked to poor physical and mental health, study finds

Doomscrolling linked to poor physical and mental health, study finds

The tendency to be glued to bad news can spark a ‘vicious cycle’ that interferes with our lives, researcher says

There’s no shortage of bad news in the media to “doomscroll”, from a global pandemic to the war in Ukraine and an impending climate crisis, but new research suggests the compulsive urge to surf the web can lead to poor mental and physical health outcomes.

Doomscrolling is the tendency to “continue to surf or scroll through bad news, even though that news is saddening, disheartening or depressing”, a practice researchers found has boomed since the onset of the pandemic.

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