Reporter, Bethany Gavaghan(Image: Bethany Gavaghan/WalesOnline)

I quit doom scrolling for a week and I wasn't expecting what happened

In an attempt to distance myself from my phone which had started to become more ingrained in day-to-day life, I was hit with some hard truths I hadn't expected to face

22 Sep 2024, 00:30 by Bethany Gavaghan · Wales Online

I’ve been seeing more and more jokes and warnings about the term “doom scrolling”, so much so that I could no longer ignore a problem that I knew had been developing for longer than I am comfortable with saying. Every new year’s resolution of mine involves something to do with limiting my screen time, or using my smartphone less, but like with everything, it’s very easy to talk about doing something or acknowledging the issue without actually doing anything.

My phone goes with me everywhere. It’s in my pocket, on my desk, on the kitchen counter, you name it in case I need it to search something, or in case I need to message someone. At least that’s what we all tell ourselves.

If we’re being brutally honest, the reason a lot of us keep our phones handy is because we are afraid to be without them. In a public place like a coffee shop or out buying food, nine times out of ten, if you are in a queue of people, at least one person is on their phone. Or out in a restaurant, if someone is left at the table alone - they reach for their phone without question.

It’s more than a piece of technology at this point. It is a security blanket. So recently, I made the decision to actively cut back on my reliance with this piece of metal for good. The first step? Dealing with my doom scrolling addiction.

An older family friend asked me not long ago, who I really admire for his dedication to keeping with what is going on in the world without being glued to a smart phone; “Would you say you are addicted to your phone?” I paused and because he can read people just as well as books, replied: “Yes, definitely. Just because of the sheer amount of time I spend with it.”

On a mission to break up with my unwanted obsession, I decided to avoid watching reels, the short form video feature that have exploded on social platforms because my phone’s screen time (a grim fours hours a day on average) showed me that TikTok and Instagram were my two most used apps alongside WhatsApp. And what am I doing on there, exactly?

Watching short clips of short, snappy videos of everything from silky video montages of travel destinations, viewpoints on topical issues like the US presidential election, to cute puppies swimming in the sea. I scroll through these easy-to-watch snippets which sometimes in their dozens, and while I usually like to follow creators who align with my own interests and values, the act of scrolling through quick videos means you can be exposed to a whole range of videos and creative output.

There’s been loads of research coming out about the effects of so-called “doom scrolling” like the report entitled; 'Doomscrolling Scale: its Association with Personality Traits, Psychological Distress, Social Media Use, and Wellbeing' which conceptualised the act of doom scrolling as a “habitual, immersive scanning for timely negative information on social media newsfeeds” by Sharma et al (2022).

This isn’t great. Especially as Reza Shabahang, a researcher at Flinders University’s college of education, psychology and social found that constantly being exposed to negative news had become a “source of vicarious trauma.”

So in an effort to distance myself from such findings, after a couple of days, I did actually find myself reaching for my phone less in moments of down time, like I had previously. Anyone who’s watched the Social Dilemma on Netflix (it’s an absolute must for anyone who owns a smartphone and wants to understand their own behaviour better), will know that social media platforms are designed to be highly addictive.

There were also a few moments where I forgot about the challenge I set myself and picked up my phone with the intention of aimlessly scrolling before I remembered a few seconds later what I was supposed to be doing. This definitely proved to me that it was a habit that had become really ingrained in me.

The impact of doom scrolling, as I found was much deeper than I thought(Image: Bethany Gavaghan/WalesOnline)

By the third day though, my need to switch off by watching reels had diminished. And surprise, surprise - life is much better when you’re not scrolling through snapshots of other people’s lives and focusing on your own.

But what I wasn't expecting was just how fundamental some of the changes were. One of the biggest was more that I was more keen to meet up with my own friends, not that I don’t love seeing them anyway, but when it’s easy to find connection through your phone it does make the act of meeting up in person on cold day and spending money in the outside world seem less appealing.

Around day four or five I started to notice some other core differences. I felt more organised and refreshed as I finished a book I’d forgotten I had been reading, and when I was using screens like a laptop, TV or my phone in the evening I felt less guilty because it was intentional.

Of course, all of these things were outcomes I was really hoping to achieve, so probably had this in the back of my mind. So whether I was using scrolling as an excuse and knew I should be doing this during the period I cut back on my phone usage or if I genuinely had more energy and was more mindful, I’m not sure, but either way being on my phone less definitely helped.

And by the end of the week, I can honestly say I genuinely felt refreshed, happy, and more organised. My flat has never looked cleaner. It would be too soon to note anything about improved sleep or ongoing energy levels, but I will tentatively say I’d fallen asleep easily that week, so quitting scrolling during the evenings definitely didn’t have an adverse effect.

Reflecting on all this, I have three issues with reels specifically. The first issue being how easy it is for time to slip away as you are searching for dopamine hit after hit. I will admit I have probably sat in bed at 9pm before (I like to unwind early and try to sleep no later than 11ish) and have scrolled through reels for over two hours, and barely felt that time pass.

That time can be so much better spent, and in the same breath I think not feeling time pass means that we are losing control of our behaviour, which is kind of part of the social media business model. The goal is to capture people’s attention by showing them as much of the content they want so that they continue to scroll for as long as possible which makes me uneasy.

My second issue leads on from this. And that is the repetitiveness of content that comes from algorithms. Whether we like it or not, we are all probably in an echo chamber of some sort.

This feels odd, because what makes the real world unique is because everyone sees it through a different lens. It feels unnatural that we can enter a digital world where a lot of the content feels designed to reinforce our personal ideals most of the time, and we rarely are able to take stock by scrolling and truly give your brain a moment to consider an alternative perspective.

Thirdly, and most importantly is the studies, some of which I mentioned earlier, on how scrolling and being exposed to short form content like reels can impact mental health. As someone who usually has quite a lot of energy and generally feels optimistic about the world, I was starting to find after spending even an hour scrolling on my phone that my mood was a bit lower than usual.

I think that was because when you see a collection of viewpoints, voices or issues being discussed it’s hard not to internalise at least some of it. I spoke to neuroscientist, Dr Dean Burnett, from Pontycymer, who just written his first children's book; 'Why Your Parents Are Driving You Up the Wall and What To Do About It', which addresses some of the myths around phone and technology.

Although his message is about how to use phones to the best of our abilities, the addictive nature of social media platforms is of course a different issue. He acknowledged that social media scrolling will affect a range of people differently, and there are many factors which can lead to someone using a phone more.

But one thing he did actually point out was how second hand trauma can impact someone, which is one thing maybe a lot of us do not consider. He explained: “There is a big study which suggests that observing a disaster or traumatic incident online can do more long-term harm to mental health than actually being caught up in it.”

The research he is referring to here is from the report ‘Media's role in broadcasting acute stress following the Boston Marathon bombings.’

The report states: “Repeatedly engaging with trauma-related media content for several hours daily shortly after collective trauma may prolong acute stress experiences and promote substantial stress-related symptomatology. Mass media may become a conduit that spreads negative consequences of community trauma beyond directly affected communities.”

When I sat back and considered it, and the unrest that is all around the world, we have probably all been exposed to more second hand stress and trauma than we realise. I’m a firm believer that we can’t close ourselves off from the big problems, but equally absorbing it all at once doesn’t solve anything and from my own experience, actually makes you feel more helpless rather than informed.

Going forwards, after completing a week of no social media reels, I was more determined than ever to try and remove myself even more from social media and avoid it eating into time which can be so much better spent doing other things, and left me with a stronger belief that we all need to be stricter with ourselves and our relationship with technology.

For the meantime, I have set a 20 minute limit on my iPhone settings for TikTok and Instagram which gives me an alert now, if I exceed the amount of time spent on those apps. But ever since I set myself the challenge, I've really gone off them, and continued to try not to go down the doom-scrolling rabbit hole at all.

But speaking to Dr Burnett, he suggested taking it a step further. He noted: "Phones are not bad things, and really it is about understanding how to use them effectively. If you're worried about apps taking up your time and can't stop scrolling, there are ways to control this.

"You need to have a particular task in mind that you need to do after letting yourself scroll, or somewhere you have to be. If you arrange to meet up with someone or have something to do, you are less likely to lose track of time and will be able to put your phone down more easily."

While phones are very much here, and here to stay. They should not be running our lives, and we need to try and see them more as tools instead of necessities, and that's a belief I will certainly be carrying forward in an attempt to find other ways to become less dependent on my own personal distraction device.