# Doom scrolling: why you can't stop and how to break it

By Roomie Cafe Editorial Team, 2026-10-24
Canonical: https://roomie.cafe/blog/doom-scrolling

Doom scrolling is the habit of scrolling through bad news and upsetting posts long after it stops telling you anything useful. It is hard to stop because feeds reward you at unpredictable moments, your brain weighs threats more than good news, and scrolling is an easy exit from a task you are avoiding. Replace the scroll with something specific.

You know the scene. You picked up the phone to check one thing. Forty minutes later you are reading the comments under a story you did not care about, your shoulders are up near your ears, and the thing you meant to do is still waiting.

Roomie Cafe is a free focus timer you share with friends. We make it, and starting a timer next to other people is one of the eight steps below, so we come back to it near the end. Nothing here is medical advice.

## What doom scrolling is

Researchers spell it as one word, *doomscrolling*, and define it as a media habit where people keep attending to negative information in their feeds about crises, disasters and tragedies [1]. Bhakti Sharma and colleagues built a 15 item questionnaire to measure it and tested it with survey panels across OECD countries. Two findings stand out. Doom scrolling was less common than the team expected, though it varied a lot between people. And it was closely related to online vigilance, problematic internet and social media use, and fear of missing out. It was also linked to passive social media use, habitual media use, anxiety and poor self control. Men, younger adults and people who are politically engaged were more likely to do it [1].

A second research group in Türkiye built its own doom scrolling scale and ran three studies. In the third, with 460 people, doom scrolling was related to lower life satisfaction, mental wellbeing and harmony in life, and that link ran through psychological distress [2]. These are survey studies, so they show what goes together, not what causes what. Still, the picture is consistent: heavy doom scrolling and feeling worse tend to travel together.

## Why your brain loves the scroll

### The feed pays out at unpredictable moments

Most of what you scroll past is filler. Every so often there is something that grabs you: a shocking headline, a reply to your post, a photo from a friend. You cannot predict which swipe brings it, so you keep swiping.

There is research behind the intuition. Björn Lindström and colleagues analysed more than one million posts from over 4,000 people on several platforms and found that people's posting behavior followed the principles of reward learning, the same math that describes how animals learn from rewards. A follow up online experiment with 176 people showed that social rewards, like likes, causally changed behavior [3]. A separate analysis of popular apps by Christian Montag and colleagues described six design mechanisms that can keep people using an app for longer, including ones that trigger social comparison, while noting that the effect of any single element is hard to measure from outside the company [4].

### Bad news grabs more attention than good news

Paul Rozin and Edward Royzman reviewed decades of research and described a general negativity bias: in animals and humans, negative events tend to carry more weight than equally strong positive ones, and a mix of good and bad is judged worse than the sum of its parts [5]. That bias helped our ancestors notice danger. In a feed full of crises it keeps you reading.

The amount matters too. After the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, Alison Holman, Dana Rose Garfin and Roxane Cohen Silver surveyed thousands of Americans. People who took in six or more hours a day of media about the bombings in the following week reported more acute stress than people who had been directly exposed to the bombings [6]. You do not have to be in a crisis for the coverage of it to get under your skin.

### The scroll is a quiet exit from a hard task

Look at what you were supposed to be doing when you picked up the phone. Very often there is one task sitting there, a report, an email, a form, and it feels bad to start.

Fuschia Sirois and Timothy Pychyl describe procrastination as short term mood repair: a task stirs up a bad feeling and putting it off brings quick relief, with the bill passed to your future self [7]. Doom scrolling fits that pattern well. It is always there, it asks nothing of you, and it feels like staying informed. Our guide to [why you procrastinate](/blog/why-do-you-procrastinate) explains the mood side of avoidance in more depth, and [how to stop procrastinating](/blog/how-to-stop-procrastinating) ranks 11 methods by how well the evidence backs them.

So a useful question when you catch yourself is "what am I leaving?" Often the phone is the exit, and what you are leaving is one task.

## Signs doom scrolling is hurting you

Scrolling now and then is ordinary. Check how many of these sound familiar:

* You open the same app again within minutes of closing it.
* You keep reading after you already know the main facts of a story.
* You feel more anxious, angry or flat after a session than before it.
* You reach for the phone the moment a task feels hard or boring.
* Your bedtime keeps slipping because you are still scrolling.
* You lose track of time and are surprised by how long it has been.
* You can name the task you were avoiding, every time.

If you ticked three or more, the steps below are worth a try. If low mood, worry or poor sleep have become constant, talk to a doctor or therapist. That is a bigger conversation than an article can hold.

## How to stop doom scrolling: 8 steps

The approach that works best in our experience is to replace the scroll with something specific, because resisting a habit with nothing in its place leaves a gap the phone fills again. Pick two or three steps, not all eight.

### 1. Name the task and the feeling

When you notice the scroll, say to yourself which task you are avoiding and how it feels: "I am avoiding the budget because I feel stupid about it." Putting feelings into words has a measurable effect. In a brain imaging study, labeling the emotion in an image reduced the response of the amygdala and other limbic regions compared with other ways of processing it [8]. If the scroll is mood repair, naming the mood takes away some of what you were escaping.

### 2. Use a 2 minute exit routine

Most people try to stop scrolling with willpower alone. Give yourself a routine instead, the same every time, so you do not have to decide anything while you are tired. Ours looks like this:

1. Close the app you are in. Do not check one more thing.
2. Put the phone face down and stand up.
3. Take one slow breath and say the task out loud.
4. Write the very first physical step on paper: "open the document", not "do the report".
5. Start a timer and do that step.

This routine is our own and has not been tested as a package, but each piece borrows from the steps below.

### 3. Park the phone across the room

Distance changes the cost of the habit. In two experiments, Adrian Ward and colleagues found that having your own smartphone nearby, even switched off and face down, reduced available working memory, and the cost was highest in people who depended on their phones most [9]. Follow up work has been mixed. One study found no effect on short term or prospective memory [10], and a 2023 meta analysis of 56 studies found a small effect on working memory and no effect on other cognitive functions, with weak methods across the field [11]. The memory effect is uncertain. The practical point stands anyway: a phone across the room takes effort to pick up, and that small effort gives you a moment to choose.

### 4. Turn your screen gray

Color makes feeds more appealing. In a study of 161 college students, the 73 who switched their phones to grayscale for eight to ten days cut their total screen time by an average of 37.90 minutes a day, mostly from social media and browsing. Video time did not change, and grayscale did not improve anxiety or depression more than in the comparison group [12]. You can turn it on in the accessibility settings of most phones and set a shortcut to switch it on and off.

### 5. Set a limit rather than quitting

You do not have to delete everything. In an experiment with 143 undergraduates, those asked to limit Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to 10 minutes per platform per day for three weeks reported less loneliness and depression than those who used social media as usual [13]. In a larger experiment, people who deactivated Facebook for four weeks reported higher subjective wellbeing. They also knew a little less about the news, which is a fair trade to know about [14]. Most phones have built in app limits; set them for the apps where your scroll happens.

### 6. Give the news a fixed time slot

Staying informed is reasonable. The trouble is checking all day. Pick one or two set times, say after lunch and before dinner, read from a source you trust, and close it when you know what happened. This step is our suggestion, based on the finding above that hours of crisis coverage went with more stress [6], rather than a tested intervention.

### 7. Write an if then plan for your trigger

Most doom scrolling starts at the same few moments: in bed, on the sofa after work, or the second a task gets hard. Write a plan for that moment. "If I pick up my phone in bed, then I put it on the charger across the room and open my book." Plans in this form are called implementation intentions. In one experiment with 152 university students, those who wrote a plan like this were nearly eight times more likely to show up for an appointment than those who did not [15].

The night version of doom scrolling has a name of its own. Researchers call failing to go to bed at the time you intended, with nothing stopping you, *bedtime procrastination*, and in one survey of 177 adults it went with getting insufficient sleep [16]. Another survey of 844 adults linked phone use after lights out with worse sleep quality and more fatigue [17]. If nights are your weak spot, the charger across the room is the plan.

### 8. Start a timer next to someone who is working

The fastest way to leave the feed is to have somewhere better to go. Start a short timer on the task you were avoiding, and if you can, do it next to someone else who is working: a friend at the same table, a library, or an app where other people are focusing. In two vignette studies with students, imagining group work where people depended on each other went with less procrastination than imagining solo work, especially for habitual procrastinators [18]. That is a hint, not proof, but it matches how many people feel in a library.

That move, deciding to give one task your full attention for a set time, is what people mean by [locking in](/blog/what-does-locking-in-mean).

## What to do instead in the next 10 minutes

Here is a concrete plan for the moment you notice you have been scrolling. It replaces the feed with a short, finished piece of work.

| Minute | What you do | Why it helps |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 0 to 1 | Close the app, put the phone face down, stand up | Breaks the loop with a physical action |
| 1 to 2 | Say the task you are avoiding and how it feels | Naming the feeling takes some heat out of it [8] |
| 2 to 3 | Write the first physical step on paper | A small, clear start is easier to begin |
| 3 | Put the phone in another room or across the room | Makes the next pick up cost effort [9] |
| 3 to 10 | Start a 7 minute timer and do only that step | A short end makes starting cheaper |
| 10 | Write one line about where you got | Turns the session into visible progress |

If seven minutes went well, start another block. A [25 minute timer](/timer/25-minutes) is a good next size. If it did not, you still left the feed, and that was the goal.

If you have ADHD and the stuck feeling is bigger than the phone, our guide to [ADHD paralysis](/blog/adhd-paralysis) covers what tends to help.

## Where Roomie Cafe fits

[Roomie Cafe](/) is one way to do step 8 without asking anyone for a favor. You press start, pick what you are working on, and see who else is focusing right now and what they are working on. There is no webcam, no microphone and nothing to book. When the timer ends you write a line about what you got done, and friends can cheer you on.

On iPhone, Focus Shield blocks the apps you choose for the length of a session, which covers step 3 if your phone has to stay nearby. On the web, the timer can pop out into a small picture in picture window, so it stays in view while you work. Roomie Cafe is free with no session limit, on the web and as an [iPhone, iPad and Mac app](/app). Any timer works; what matters is that the scroll turns into a session.

## FAQ

### Why can't I stop doom scrolling?

Feeds reward you at unpredictable moments, your brain gives negative news extra weight, and scrolling offers quick relief from tasks or feelings you would rather avoid [3][5][7]. Willpower alone rarely beats all three at once, which is why replacing the habit works better than resisting it.

### Is doom scrolling an addiction?

Doom scrolling is not a medical diagnosis. Research links it to problematic internet and social media use, fear of missing out and poor self control [1], and to psychological distress [2]. If you feel unable to cut down despite real harm to your sleep, work or mood, talk to a professional.

### How do I stop doom scrolling at night?

Charge your phone across the room, make an if then plan for the moment you get into bed, and keep a book or something else to do within reach. Phone use after lights out is linked to worse sleep quality and more fatigue [17].

### Is doom scrolling bad for your mental health?

Studies find that heavy doom scrolling goes together with more distress and lower wellbeing [2], and that hours of crisis coverage go with more acute stress [6]. These studies show links rather than proof of cause, but cutting back is low risk to try.

### What can I do instead of doom scrolling?

Pick one task you have been avoiding, write its first physical step, put the phone away and start a short timer. Doing it next to someone else who is working makes it easier to stay with it.

## References

1. Sharma, B., Lee, S. S., & Johnson, B. K. (2022). [The dark at the end of the tunnel: Doomscrolling on social media newsfeeds](https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb0000059). *Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 3*(1).
2. Satici, S. A., Gocet Tekin, E., Deniz, M. E., & Satici, B. (2023). [Doomscrolling Scale: its Association with Personality Traits, Psychological Distress, Social Media Use, and Wellbeing](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-022-10110-7). *Applied Research in Quality of Life, 18*(2), 833 to 847.
3. Lindström, B., Bellander, M., Schultner, D. T., Chang, A., Tobler, P. N., & Amodio, D. M. (2021). [A computational reward learning account of social media engagement](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19607-x). *Nature Communications, 12*, 1311.
4. Montag, C., Lachmann, B., Herrlich, M., & Zweig, K. (2019). [Addictive features of social media/messenger platforms and freemium games against the background of psychological and economic theories](https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142612). *International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16*(14).
5. Rozin, P., & Royzman, E. B. (2001). [Negativity bias, negativity dominance, and contagion](https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0504_2). *Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5*(4).
6. Holman, E. A., Garfin, D. R., & Silver, R. C. (2014). [Media's role in broadcasting acute stress following the Boston Marathon bombings](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1316265110). *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111*(1).
7. Sirois, F., & Pychyl, T. (2013). [Procrastination and the priority of short-term mood regulation: Consequences for future self](https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12011). *Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7*(2).
8. Lieberman, M. D., Eisenberger, N. I., Crockett, M. J., Tom, S. M., Pfeifer, J. H., & Way, B. M. (2007). [Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01916.x). *Psychological Science, 18*(5).
9. Ward, A. F., Duke, K., Gneezy, A., & Bos, M. W. (2017). [Brain drain: The mere presence of one's own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity](https://doi.org/10.1086/691462). *Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2*(2).
10. Hartmann, M., Martarelli, C. S., Reber, T. P., & Rothen, N. (2020). [Does a smartphone on the desk drain our brain? No evidence of cognitive costs due to smartphone presence in a short-term and prospective memory task](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2020.103033). *Consciousness and Cognition, 86*.
11. Parry, D. A. (2024). [Does the mere presence of a smartphone impact cognitive performance? A meta-analysis of the "brain drain effect"](https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2023.2286647). *Media Psychology, 27*(5), 737 to 762.
12. Holte, A. J., & Ferraro, F. R. (2020). [True colors: Grayscale setting reduces screen time in college students](https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2020.1737461). *The Social Science Journal, 60*(2).
13. Hunt, M. G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J. (2018). [No more FOMO: Limiting social media decreases loneliness and depression](https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2018.37.10.751). *Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 37*(10).
14. Allcott, H., Braghieri, L., Eichmeyer, S., & Gentzkow, M. (2020). [The welfare effects of social media](https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20190658). *American Economic Review, 110*(3).
15. Owens, S. G., Bowman, C. G., & Dill, C. A. (2008). [Overcoming procrastination: The effect of implementation intentions](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2007.00309.x). *Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38*(2).
16. Kroese, F. M., De Ridder, D. T. D., Evers, C., & Adriaanse, M. A. (2014). [Bedtime procrastination: introducing a new area of procrastination](https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00611). *Frontiers in Psychology, 5*.
17. Exelmans, L., & Van den Bulck, J. (2016). [Bedtime mobile phone use and sleep in adults](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.11.037). *Social Science & Medicine, 148*, 93 to 101.
18. Koppenborg, M., & Klingsieck, K. B. (2022). [Social factors of procrastination: Group work can reduce procrastination among students](https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-021-09682-3). *Social Psychology of Education, 25*(1).