How to Stop Doomscrolling: Practical Ways to Put the Phone Down

You pick up your phone to check the weather. Then a headline catches your eye, then another, and suddenly it’s past midnight and you feel tense and tired. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone, and it isn’t simply a lack of willpower.

What doomscrolling is

Doomscrolling is the habit of scrolling through social media or news feeds looking at negative stories about crises, disasters and tragedies, often for a long time, and often feeling worse as you go. The word became widely used in 2020, during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2022, researchers at the University of Florida published one of the first scientific measures of doomscrolling. Their studies suggested it is a distinct habit, not just a trendy name, though less common than some headlines suggest. They found it was more common among men and younger people, and linked to a fear of missing out and to being constantly connected through a smartphone.

Why it’s so hard to stop

Several things work together:

• Feeds never end. There’s no last page, so there’s no natural point to stop. Infinite scrolling removes the moment where you’d normally put something down.
• Algorithms learn what holds you. Feeds show more of whatever keeps you looking, and alarming stories often do.
• Our brains are wired for threats. People tend to pay more attention to bad news than good, because noticing danger once helped us survive.
• Uncertainty pulls you in. When something worrying is happening, checking for updates feels like it might bring relief or control, even when it doesn’t.

The fix is rarely more willpower. It’s making the habit a little harder to start and a little easier to stop.

What the research says so far

Research on doomscrolling is still new. A recent review of 17 studies found consistent links between doomscrolling and anxiety, depression, stress and lower resilience. But most of the studies were snapshots in time, so they can’t show cause and effect.

It may be that doomscrolling makes people more anxious, that anxious people are drawn to doomscrolling, or both. Researchers think the two may feed each other. So it’s fair to say that if scrolling leaves you drained, cutting back is worth trying, but no one should promise it will fix how you feel on its own.

Practical ways to cut back

1. Notice when it happens

For a few days, notice when you start doomscrolling. Common moments are in bed, first thing in the morning, while waiting, or when you’re anxious or bored. Knowing your trigger tells you where to make a change.

2. Use the time limits built into your phone

Both major phone systems have free tools:

• iPhone: go to Settings > Screen Time. Use App Limits to set a daily allowance for social media or news apps, and Downtime to block most apps during set hours, such as late evening.
• Android: open Settings > Digital Wellbeing & parental controls. Set app timers for specific apps, and turn on Bedtime mode to quieten and grey out your screen at night. Menu names vary slightly between phone makers.

When the limit is reached, you can usually override it, but that pause is often enough to make you stop and decide.

3. Turn off news alerts

Every notification is an invitation to start scrolling. Switch off breaking-news alerts and most social media notifications. Important news will still reach you.

4. Keep your phone out of bed

Late-night scrolling eats into sleep, and tired brains find it even harder to stop. Charge your phone outside the bedroom, or at least out of arm’s reach, and use a cheap alarm clock instead. Our guide to how much sleep you really need explains why this matters.

5. Make the apps harder to reach

Move social media and news apps off your home screen and into a folder, or log out after each use. A few extra taps are enough friction to stop many mindless checks. This is the same idea behind how habits form: make the habit you want easy and the one you don’t want harder.

6. Choose a time and a source for news

Staying informed is good. Decide when and where you’ll get it: for example, a trusted news website or a daily summary once in the morning, instead of a feed that updates for ever. A set end point makes it easy to stop.

7. Have something else ready

The urge to scroll often fills an empty moment. Keep something else to hand: a book, a podcast, a short walk, or a message to a friend. Even a tiny swap, in the spirit of the two-minute rule, helps break the loop.