It's 1.14am. You picked up your phone to set an alarm, and 40 minutes later you're deep in a thread about a flood you can do nothing about, a layoff rumour and a stranger's argument. If you want to know how to stop doomscrolling, the short answer is this: willpower is the wrong tool. Change the environment so scrolling takes more effort, give your brain a clear stopping point, and replace the habit with something that meets the same need.
Key takeaways
- Doomscrolling exploits two things: our built-in bias towards threats, and feeds designed around unpredictable rewards.
- Dopamine is more about wanting and anticipation than pleasure, which is why you keep scrolling even when you're not enjoying it.
- Heavy consumption of distressing news is linked to higher stress; one study found six-plus hours of bombing coverage tied to more acute stress than being at the scene.
- Cutting social media to about 30 minutes a day for three weeks reduced loneliness and depressive symptoms in a University of Pennsylvania trial.
- Friction, stopping cues and "if-then" plans work better than resolutions.
What is doomscrolling, and why is it so hard to stop?
Doomscrolling is continuing to scroll through bad news or upsetting content even when it makes you feel worse. The word took off in 2020, when a pandemic gave everyone a reason and a lot of time to do it, but the behaviour is older than the word.
Two forces are at work. The first is negativity bias: humans evolved to pay more attention to threats than to good news, because missing a threat was costlier than missing a nice surprise. Headlines about danger grab us for the same reason a rustle in the bushes once did.
The second is design. Infinite feeds have no natural end, and what appears next is unpredictable: usually dull, occasionally gripping. Psychologists have known since B.F. Skinner's experiments that unpredictable rewards (a "variable ratio schedule") produce the most persistent behaviour. It's the same principle that keeps people at slot machines.
What does dopamine actually have to do with it?
Dopamine gets blamed for everything online, often inaccurately. The more precise picture from neuroscience is that dopamine is heavily involved in wanting and anticipation: it responds to the possibility of something rewarding or important, especially when the outcome is uncertain. That's different from pleasure itself.
This explains the weirdest part of doomscrolling: you can keep going while feeling miserable. Your brain isn't chasing enjoyment. It's chasing the next possibly-important thing. And "dopamine detox" is a misleading name: you can't and shouldn't drain your brain of a chemical it needs to function. What you can do is reduce the constant cues that trigger the seeking loop.
What does doomscrolling do to your brain and body?
It raises stress
A study published in PNAS in 2014, led by Alison Holman, surveyed Americans after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. People who consumed six or more hours a day of bombing-related media reported higher acute stress than some people who had been directly exposed to the event. Repeated exposure to distressing coverage keeps your threat system switched on.
It fragments attention
Psychologist Gloria Mark, who has studied attention at work for two decades, reports that the average time people spend on one screen before switching has fallen from about two and a half minutes in the mid-2000s to under a minute in recent studies. Constant switching leaves "attention residue", making deep work harder.
It steals sleep
Late-night scrolling delays bedtime and keeps your mind alert. The screen's light is only a small part of the problem; the content and the lost time matter more, as we explained in our piece on blue light and screens.
It can affect mood
In a 2018 experiment at the University of Pennsylvania (Hunt and colleagues), students who limited Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to 10 minutes each per day for three weeks reported significant reductions in loneliness and depressive symptoms compared with a control group. It was a small study of young adults, but it's one of the few that tested cause and effect rather than just correlation.
How to stop doomscrolling: a practical plan
Start with the easiest changes. Pick three from this list, run them for two weeks, then add more.
- Add friction. Move social and news apps off your home screen into a folder. Log out after each use so getting back in takes effort.
- Kill the triggers. Turn off all non-human notifications: news alerts, "you might like", trending. Keep messages from actual people.
- Use built-in limits. Screen Time (iPhone) and Digital Wellbeing (Android) let you set daily app limits. Set them lower than feels comfortable.
- Create stopping cues. Feeds have no end, so make one: a timer, a set number of articles, or reading only until your MRT stop.
- Schedule the news. Choose one or two news windows a day, ideally from a source that summarises rather than a live feed. You'll miss nothing important.
- Charge your phone outside the bedroom. Buy a RM20 alarm clock. This single change removes the 1am and 7am scroll in one go.
- Try grayscale. Colourless screens are noticeably less compelling. Set it as an accessibility shortcut you can toggle.
- Curate ruthlessly. Mute or unfollow accounts that leave you anxious or angry, and follow a few that genuinely teach or delight you.
Replace the habit, don't just remove it
Scrolling usually meets a need: boredom, loneliness, stress relief, a break from work, or wanting to stay informed. Remove it without a replacement and you'll drift back. Psychologists call the fix an implementation intention, a simple "if-then" plan, and it has strong research support for changing habits.
| If I reach for my phone because… | Then I will… |
|---|---|
| I'm bored in a queue or on the LRT | Listen to a podcast episode or read a saved article |
| I'm stressed at my desk | Stand up, refill my water, and take five slow breaths |
| I'm lonely at night | Message one actual person instead of watching strangers |
| I'm worried about the news | Wait for my evening news window, then check one trusted source |
| I can't sleep | Read a physical book in dim light until I feel sleepy |
Mornings are the other high-risk zone. If the first thing you do is open a feed, your day starts reactive. Our guide to realistic morning routines has ideas that don't require waking at 5am.
When scrolling is a sign of something bigger
Sometimes compulsive scrolling is a symptom, not the problem. If you're using your phone to avoid thoughts, can't switch off from work, or feel persistently anxious, flat or hopeless, it may be worth looking deeper. Chronic overwork shows up this way too; our article on burnout warning signs can help you check in with yourself.
If you're struggling, please talk to a GP, a counsellor or someone you trust. In Malaysia, Befrienders Kuala Lumpur offers free, confidential emotional support around the clock on 03-7627 2929.
This article is general information, not medical or psychological advice. If you're experiencing ongoing anxiety, low mood or sleep problems, please speak to a doctor or mental health professional.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't I stop doomscrolling even when it makes me feel bad?
Your brain is wired to pay extra attention to threats, and endless feeds deliver unpredictable rewards, a pattern that drives persistent behaviour. Dopamine drives the anticipation of the next item rather than enjoyment, so you can keep scrolling while feeling worse.
Does a "dopamine detox" work?
The name is misleading, because you can't remove dopamine from your brain and wouldn't want to. What the idea gets right is that reducing constant stimulation and cues can make it easier to focus and break compulsive habits.
How much social media time is healthy?
There's no universal number, but one University of Pennsylvania trial found that limiting social media to about 30 minutes a day for three weeks reduced loneliness and depressive symptoms. Notice how you feel after using each app and cut back on the ones that leave you worse.
Is it better to delete social media apps completely?
Not necessarily. Many people do well with lighter changes like removing apps from the home screen, logging out after use, or using them only on a laptop. If a specific app repeatedly leaves you anxious and limits don't work, deleting it for a trial month is a reasonable experiment.
Does scrolling before bed affect sleep?
Yes. It tends to delay bedtime and keep your mind alert, and emotionally charged content makes it harder to wind down. Charging your phone outside the bedroom is one of the simplest ways to protect your sleep.
Sources
- Holman, Garfin and Silver (2014). Media’s role in broadcasting acute stress following the Boston Marathon bombings. PNAS
- Hunt et al. (2018). No more FOMO: Limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology
- US Surgeon General: Advisory on social media and youth mental health
- Sleep Foundation: How electronics affect sleep
- World Health Organization: Mental health fact sheet
- Befrienders Kuala Lumpur
