Many people like watching funny cat videos on social media, while others tend to focus on sad news. News about war or local crime can be hard to ignore. When you read news online, you will find stories that may upset you. Some people feel the need to keep scrolling through negative news, which is called doomscrolling. This habit can harm your mental health. Keep reading to learn how to stop doomscrolling.
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• Doing this before bed can disrupt your sleep.
• Doomscrolling can lead to stress and anxiety, which can harm your physical health.
Doomscrolling is bad for your health; you should try to stop:
If doomscrolling becomes a serious addiction that harms your life, seek help from a mental health professional.
(Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.)
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Tavishi Dogra is a Deputy Chief Content Producer, Health & Wellness, at Hindustan Times. She has over 9 years of experience writing about fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, translating medical research and expert insights into practical advice readers can trust. Career journey and experience Tavishi began her health journalism journey in 2017, and has since reported for RSTV, Financial Express, Jagran, HT Media Labs and Zee. She joined Hindustan Times to simplify wellness subjects by cutting through jargon. From decoding health trends and interviewing doctors to testing fitness routines herself, Tavishi always approaches content with one filter: “Will this help someone make a better decision today?” Subject expertise With 9+ years tracking India’s health conversations, Tavishi knows the gap between clinical advice and daily life. She knows fads from fundamentals and curates science-backed, expert-recommended solutions. In fitness, she breaks down bodyweight training, recovery, and posture fixes for desk-bound readers. In nutrition, she translates guidelines into affordable, desi meal tweaks. In mental well-being, she focuses on stigma-free, actionable tools — all backed by research, expert input, and lived context. Education and professional background Tavishi holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and began her career reporting on public affairs for broadcast. Those early years in policy and TV shaped how she writes today: fast, factual, and human-first. Editorial Philosophy I write with one single goal: To simplify health in a world full of noise by finding what’s actually doable, safe, and evidence-based for my readers. I test claims against research and user experiences. When all else fails, I speak to the expert who sees 50 patients a day, not the one with the most followers.
A 2022 study in the Health Communication journal found that 16.5 per cent of participants had a serious problem with consuming negative news. The research showed that people who focused on bad news experienced worse mental and physical health compared to those who read less negative news. Stress, anxiety, and depression were examples of poor health mentioned in the study.
“Doomscrolling is the habit of continuously and compulsively scrolling through social media, news websites, or other online platforms. People do this to consume a constant stream of negative or distressing information. This information often includes topics like disasters, crises, pandemics, tragedies, and political turmoil. The term doomscrolling, which has been popular since 2018, comes from the feeling of impending doom that such constant exposure to bad news can create,” Dr Rahul Rai Kakkar, a visiting consultant in psychiatry and clinical psychology at Narayana Superspeciality Hospital in Gurugram, tells Health Shots.
Many factors can make people want to doomscroll:
Reading negative news all the time can harm your mental and physical health:
• Constantly hearing negative news can increase feelings of anxiety and stress.
• Spending a lot of time doomscrolling can make you feel hopeless and despairing.
