Latest Research on Doomscrolling & Mindless Scrolling: Ten Key Findings

Research on doomscrolling and mindless scrolling has accelerated in the past few years. Here are ten insights from recent studies:

  1. Doomscrolling activates the stress response. Harvard Health reports that doomscrolling triggers the limbic system, leading to physical symptoms like headaches and elevated blood pressure and is linked with lower life satisfactionhealth.harvard.edu.

  2. Doomscrolling increases existential anxiety. A 2024 study of 800 adults found that those who doomscrolled experienced greater existential anxietyhealth.harvard.edu.

  3. Negative news hijacks attention. The brain’s negativity bias means bad news grabs more of our attention. UC San Diego psychiatrists note that the amygdala drives us to scan for threats, reinforcing doomscrollingtoday.ucsd.edu.

  4. Constant exposure to negative news raises stress hormones. Prolonged doomscrolling can raise cortisol levels and heart rate, leading to anxiety and depressiontoday.ucsd.edu.

  5. Variable rewards fuel compulsive scrolling. Social media’s unpredictable mix of content (outrage, humor, heart‑warming stories) creates a reward loop similar to gamblingpmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

  6. FOMO drives frequent checking. Fear of missing out encourages people to check their phones repeatedly and is a major predictor of mindless scrollinghelpguide.org.

  7. Mindfulness reduces FoMO and fatigue. A 2025 study found that mindfulness significantly lowers fear of missing out and social media fatiguefrontiersin.orgfrontiersin.org.

  8. Limiting social media reduces depression and loneliness. A University of Pennsylvania experiment showed that limiting social media to 10 minutes per platform per day leads to significant improvements in mental healthpenntoday.upenn.edu.

  9. Labeling emotions breaks the doomscrolling loop. Naming emotions quiets the brain’s alarm system, helping users regain control over their behaviorpsychologytoday.com.

  10. Digital mindfulness improves well‑being. Participating in digital mindfulness programs reduces stress and anxiety and increases mindful awarenessfrontiersin.org.

Collectively, these findings underscore the importance of awareness and intentionality when using social media. Welligama combines breathing pauses, mood tracking and supportive community features to help users integrate these insights into their daily routines.

Sources

  1. Harvard Health on doomscrolling’s physical and psychological impactshealth.harvard.edu.

  2. Harvard Health follow‑up reporting increased existential anxiety from doomscrollinghealth.harvard.edu.

  3. UC San Diego article on negativity bias and stress hormonestoday.ucsd.edutoday.ucsd.edu.

  4. Modern Day High study on variable rewards and impulse controlpmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

  5. HelpGuide on FOMO driving constant checkinghelpguide.org.

  6. Frontiers study showing mindfulness reduces FoMO and fatiguefrontiersin.orgfrontiersin.org.

  7. Penn Today study demonstrating that limiting social media reduces depression and lonelinesspenntoday.upenn.edu.

  8. Psychology Today article explaining that labeling emotions helps regulate behaviorpsychologytoday.com.

  9. Digital mindfulness trial showing reduced stress and anxietyfrontiersin.org.