Time to Quit "Doomscrolling"?

"by Skip Cohen

I consider today's post a "Public Service Message" and hope everyone will read it and pass it on...

Yesterday I was simply in an awful mood. I was sad, quiet, depressed, even a little jumpy and anxious. When I was a kid, my grandmother would refer to it as "getting up on the wrong side of the bed." Those of you who know me well know that I'm rarely anything but pretty upbeat. Even if I'm procrastinating on getting a project completed, I'm still a knucklehead, and the laugh level in our house is, for the most part, never-ending.

I couldn't put my finger on why I was feeling so down until John Paul Caponigro posted a link to a National Geographic article, "The surprising way doomscrolling rewires our brain." On Facebook, he wrote: 

"We knew doomscrolling rewires our brains. But who knew it was this much? 6 hours of media offers more PTSD than the actual events! But wait, it gets worse...Take breaks. Feed your mind and heart with inspiration."

I felt like a cartoon character with a lightbulb shining brightly over my head. It all made sense, and I went on a more in-depth search through cyberspace!

Doomscrolling refers to the act of continuously consuming negative or distressing news and information online, often to the point of feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or depressed. Courtesy of Google

The world is screwed up right now, especially our country. I repeatedly found myself scrolling through Facebook notifications from one opinionated jackass after another. Sadly, many of those who post the most are people I've respected most of my career. And it doesn't matter what "side" they're on, they've become obsessed with sharing content to prove their point...often based on fake news! 

So, I shut down my computer and went off to talk with my wife, Sheila. We put on some great music and sat outside. For over an hour, we talked about what's been happening and how I was on overload with social media. By the time we were done, I had a full stock of positivity. Without question, I had contracted doomscrolling, and the "vaccine" is a reduction in social media! 

Here's my point - don't underestimate the power of negativity in the news today. It's important to stay up to date, but most of us have become obsessed with current events. Social media has become a plague of potentially PTSD inducing stories. The result is our brains are being rewired...and in my case, it's been taking its toll.

It's Hump Day, and it's the perfect time for many of us to cut the cord on social media and the nonstop flow of negative information. Stay informed, but do it in moderation. Don't believe everything you read or watch, and as John Paul Caponigro wrote...

Feed your mind and heart with inspiration!

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