Negative news pulls many people into a maelstrom. What’s behind “doomscrolling” and what healthy media consumption can look like in crises.
Corona crisis, Ukraine war, Middle East conflict: the news is full of war and crises. Many people find it difficult to put their smartphone down. They’re always looking for the next horror story or the next horrific video. The behavior is called “doomscrolling” – a portmanteau of “doom” and “scrolling” – and describes a seemingly endless reading of negative news.
The phenomenon has, among other things, evolutionary reasons, explains Prof. Dr. Claudia Paganini, Professor of Media Ethics at the Munich University of Philosophy, in an interview with the news agency spot on news. However, the behavior can have serious, long-term consequences for our psyche.
Why are we so “addicted” to bad news?
Prof. Dr. Claudia Paganini: On the one hand, this can be explained in evolutionary terms. In order to survive, humans originally had to be focused on dangers, assess them and be able to react quickly. That’s why our brains are programmed to respond more strongly to negative messages. On the other hand, content that is emotional is processed better. This doesn’t actually have to be negative content, but it is much more difficult to generate positive content and present it to people in the same way as negative content.
What does the constant stream of negative news or very graphic photos or videos do to our psyche?
Prof. Paganini: That largely depends on your own basic psychological structure and biographical background. Some may go straight back to business as usual, others may experience re-traumatization. A person with a stable basic psychological structure and without blatant trauma can usually classify such content and distance themselves from it by extracting the information content and realizing that they are not directly affected or cannot do much about it to change it.
For people who already have certain issues, react sensitively to violence or have a corresponding dramatic experience in their history, it can have massive negative consequences. You can be retraumatized because images or reports have a trigger function.
What long-term effects can excessive consumption of bad news have on our behavior?
Prof. Paganini: There are studies that establish a long-term connection with depression or, in some cases, suicidality. People slip into a kind of negative bubble and have the impression that the whole world consists only of terrible events.
Being able to escape it all by turning off your phone is a great privilege. How can you stay up to date and take care of your mental health at the same time?
Prof. Paganini: I think it is very important to create context yourself. This is often not the case in the media, on social media and in tabloids. If possible, you should move away from attention-seeking images and videos and try to find factual information.
Reading background information and texts usually reduces the stress significantly. Listening to high-quality discussions, TV conversations or analyzes is also an option. When I understand and recognize connections, I am more in the rational part of my brain and less in the emotional part. This helps to distance yourself.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should isolate yourself and be indifferent to the suffering of other people in the world. But you shouldn’t lose a certain grasp of reality.
Instagram, TikTok and Co. are an important source of news, especially for young people. How can parents ensure that their children do not become too burdened by media consumption?
Prof. Paganini: Parents should talk to their children. But don’t patronize them and say “Don’t look at that” or “Put your cell phone away now”, just ask how they are doing with the situation and start a conversation. This can also bring young people out of a certain isolation. The dangerous thing about the flood of negative news is that young people are more likely to consume it in lonely situations, such as late in the evening in bed. Then of course it has an even more negative effect because you can’t talk to anyone about it.
There is now even a term for the excessive consumption of negative news: “doomscrolling.” What exactly does that mean?
Prof. Paganini: “Doomscrolling” means that the consumption of negative news no longer occurs in the form of consuming it together with positive news, but rather that one actively looks for the negative. There is a certain kind of compulsion behind it.
Has the phenomenon only developed in recent years, in connection with social media?
Prof. Paganini: Social media has made the whole thing more visible. But the focus on negative news has been around for a long time. As early as the 1980s, when television was just beginning to become widespread, media scientists described the ritual-like consumption of negative television news on a continuous loop. People jumped from one channel to the next until they saw the fourth or fifth version of a negative message or a terrible movie clip.
Photos of destroyed houses, videos of people kidnapped or killed: we often cannot let go of such frightening images. What is the best way to deal with this?
Prof. Paganini: Such content has a strong dynamic of its own and appeals to very deep emotional regions in the brain. Our own reason can’t do much about it. What helps is to try to be cautious when consuming such images: look at a few images less and read a text instead.
But if it has already happened, then you have to try to change your thoughts and consciously notice positive things. However, the whole thing should not be forced, as this can cause further problems. When I try to force myself not to think about something, the thought is often much more present. If you can’t get a stressful image out of your head, you should let the thought come and allow the negative emotions to occur, while at the same time trusting that it will go away.
What do you think healthy media consumption looks like – especially in times of crisis?
Prof. Paganini: It is important to maintain as much autonomy as possible and not turn your entire life upside down, as often happened during the Corona period. This means, for example, waiting one to two hours before reading the latest updates instead of always chasing the latest information.
In addition, you should consult high-quality media and information and deal with the background rather than watching blatant horror reports that actually have no informational value.
I also recommend exchanging ideas with other people. If a topic doesn’t let you go and is very troubling, it can help to talk about it with other people.