ADHD Doomscrolling: Strategies to Stop the Scroll

Do you find yourself scrolling through your smartphone late into the night? Are you losing hours upon hours of your time aimlessly scrolling social media apps?

You’re not alone.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2022, Canadian adults spent, on average, 3.2 hours per day in front of screens.

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, the amount of information we have access to can feel overwhelming.

Every time you look at your social media feed, you may see another alarming headline. With easy access to so much information at your fingertips, it may feel impossible to put down your phone.

This leads many of us into the habit known as doomscrolling.

For those navigating ADHD, doomscrolling can be exacerbated by impulsivity, emotional sensitivity, and difficulties in self-regulation.

As your responsibilities—whether related to work, relationships, social, or personal goals—continue to pile up, the impulse to seek stimulation can overpower the need to commit to these important tasks.

If you identify with these challenges, a neurodiversity-affirming therapist or coach could support you.

In this blog, we’ll delve into doomscrolling, examine its connection to ADHD, and provide practical strategies to help you break free from this endless cycle.

What is Doomscrolling?

Doomscrolling involves the compulsive act of consuming negative news through online social media and news platforms over an extended period.

Continuously scrolling through feeds filled with distressing or alarming information can lead to heightened feelings of anxiety and despair.

Picture yourself late at night, scrolling through your phone. Each swipe causes you to see another unsettling headline. The clock continues to tick away. Instead of winding down for the night, you find yourself trapped in a cycle of consumption.

This behavior can also create a vicious cycle where you find yourself trapped in a loop of negativity. It makes it difficult to focus on anything positive in your personal life or the world.

Why Is Social Media So Addictive?

Understanding the addictive nature of your smartphone is a first step to understanding why doomscrolling may be so prevalent. Various factors contribute to this, including:

Endless Content: Social platforms typically have a scroll feature. As you scroll, you are constantly encouraged to engage with new content. This ensures that you continue to stay engaged without realizing how much time has passed.
Personalization: Have you ever looked something up and then realized that your social media feed is now pushing ads for this product or information? This is the social media algorithm. It curates content on your feed based on your preferences and search history. This increases the likelihood that you will stay engaged with the content that you are scrolling.
Social Validation: When we are validated or receive positive feedback, this can cause a release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is a feel-good chemical. Social media platforms take advantage of this need for validation. When someone likes, shares, or comments on your content, it creates instant feedback and can stimulate the brain’s reward pathways to further engage.
Ease of Access: This speaks for itself. Your phone or some other technological device is likely sitting beside you at the moment, which is enough said.
Emotional Triggers: Social media is filled with controversial topics, which provoke strong emotional reactions. This makes this content more shareable and likely to appear in feeds.
Notifications: Receiving a social media alert creates a sense of urgency that drives users to check their devices frequently.

The Connection Between ADHD and Doomscrolling

Doomscrolling may be exasperated in ADHDers due to a variety of reasons, including

Impulse control challenges: ADHDers can have a difficult time regulating their impulses. These impulse control challenges can make it difficult to resist the temptation to click on another article or search for something else. or
Hyperfocus: ADHDers often spend a lot of time focusing on things that they are passionate about. This aspect of ADHD can lead to lengthy periods spent scrolling. This can often be to the exclusion of other important tasks.
Self-Regulation: ADHDers may find themselves drawn to negative news as a way to cope with feelings of emotional dysregulation.
Time Agnosia: Many ADHDers may experience this phenomenon, which involves you having a difficulty with knowing how much time has passed when you are engaged in a task. You may also have a difficult time predicting how much time a task will take you. ADHDers may be more likely to doomscroll because they may have a difficult time knowing how much time they truly are spending on social media.

The combination of these ADHD challenges can make it difficult to manage digital consumption.

The ADHD Brain (Dopamine) and Doomscrolling

Dopamine is a feel-good chemical or neurotransmitter within the brain. It plays a role in pleasure and reward and the connection between ADHD and doomscrolling.

The ADHD brain often operates with lower baseline levels of dopamine. This deficiency drives the brain to seek out stimulating experiences, including:

Novelty: Seeing shocking headlines can cause a dopamine increase, which may cause ADHDers to keep scrolling to feel more pleasure and reward.
Instant Gratification: The feedback (likes, comments, shares) from consuming content can increase your feelings of pleasure. This can cause ADHDers to seek out this feedback more.
Compulsive Behavior: ADHDers may experience boredom at higher rates. The brain's desire for relief from boredom often leads ADHDers to engage in scrolling.

What Can Cause Doomscrolling?

Understanding the triggers that may lead you to doomscroll in the first place may help you to discover new strategies that could help you mitigate this behavior.

Here are some of the reasons that ADHDers may engage in doomscrolling:

Boredom: When boredom occurs, we often look for something to get rid of it. This can lead to a hyperfixation on digital content as the brain seeks stimulation.
Anxiety: Anxiety surrounding responsibilities may prompt you to seek distractions like doomscrolling.
Procrastination: If you have uncomfortable tasks or responsibilities, you may procrastinate and use social media as a way to escape or avoid these tasks. .
Lack of Structure: If you don’t have structure within your day, this could lead to an environment where you are prone to losing track of time and doomscrolling.

Consequences of Doomscrolling

The occasional scroll of social media may not create too much of an issue. But if doomscrolling becomes a constant theme within your life, it may have some consequences that can impact your daily life. These include:

Mental Health Impacts: Constant exposure to negative news can elevate stress levels and depressive symptoms.
Sleep Disturbance: The blue light emitted from your screen and the increased level of stress and anxiety from negative news can interfere with sleep patterns. This may cause you to experience increased levels of fatigue and concentration difficulties through the day.
Impaired Emotional Regulation: Doomscrolling can intensify feelings of sadness, irritability, or frustration. It can make it difficult to manage everyday challenges without becoming emotional.
Rejection-Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD): If you have a sensitivity to real or perceived rejection, known as RSD, consistently seeing things in the media that can make you feel inadequate can exasperate these challenges.

Can Doomscrolling Make ADHD Worse?

Absolutely. The consequences of doomscrolling for ADHDers extend beyond mere distraction. The constant doomscrolling can lead to:

Increased Irritability: Additional stress can trigger irritability and restlessness in ADHDers.
Productivity Challenges: Time lost to doomscrolling leads to missed deadlines.
Emotional Dysregulation: The emotions that can be experienced as you doom scroll can worsen the existing emotional challenges experienced by ADHDers.

ADHD Doomscrolling and Justice Sensitivity (Why Doomscrolling Makes You Feel So Fatigued)

Another layer of the relationship between ADHD and doomscrolling involves the concept of justice sensitivity.

ADHDers typically show signs of acute stress when witnessing injustice or unfairness.

If you have ADHD, you may find yourself overwhelmed by the consistent negative news that you hear. This can stimulate an emotional response. ADHDers heightened sensitivity to injustice can cause:

Compassion Fatigue: Being constantly exposed to pain, suffering, and injustice in the world can be mentally and physically draining. Use the spoon theory to regulate your energy levels in this case.
Rumination: ADHDers may ruminate on distressing topics, which can make it difficult to disengage from witnessing experiences of pain or injustice.

Strategies for ADHD Doomscrolling

If you are facing challenges with doomscrolling here are some strategies that you can implement to curb doomscrolling:

1. Set Clear Time Limits

One effective strategy is to set clear time limits on how much time you spend consuming news or social media content. By establishing boundaries, such as using timers or apps designed to monitor and restrict screen time, you can create designated periods for checking updates. Additionally, scheduling specific times throughout the day to engage with news allows for much-needed breaks in between to reduce feelings of overwhelm.

2. Turn Off Notifications

Minimize distractions by turning off unnecessary notifications that may lead to impulsive behavior. This simple adjustment can decrease the urge to check your device and help you maintain focus on more important and urgent tasks.

3. Schedule Screen-Free Times

Designate specific times of the day to be entirely screen-free. Use this time for meaningful activities, such as spending time with loved ones, engaging in hobbies, or enjoying nature. These screen-free intervals serve as opportunities for connection and reflection and can reduce your urge to doom scroll.

4. Curate Your Feed

Curate your social media feed to promote a positive experience. Consciously choosing to follow accounts that share uplifting, inspirational, or educational content can change your online interactions. Unfollowing or muting sources that contribute to feelings of anxiety can help in cultivating a more supportive environment. Additionally, actively seeking out diverse content can create a more balanced digital experience.

5. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a dialectical behavior therapy skill that offers a practical approach to break free from doomscrolling. Mindfulness techniques, such as deep breathing exercises, meditation, or yoga, can enhance emotional awareness and create a state of present-moment focus. Regularly checking in with your emotional state while browsing can help you recognize rising anxiety or stress, enabling you to take proactive steps to manage your digital consumption mindfully.

6. Exercise

Physical activity can serve as a powerful distraction. Even a short walk can redirect your focus and reduce the craving for digital stimulation. Engaging in regular exercise can also boost your mood and improve your overall well-being. This makes it easier to resist the urge to scroll through distressing content.

7. Replace Doomscrolling with Hobbies

Replace doomscrolling with hobbies to redirect your focus. Identify activities that you enjoy, such as reading, painting, or participating in sports, and dedicate time to these pursuits. Creating a list of alternative activities can serve as a quick reference guide when the urge to scroll arises. This makes it easier to move your attention away from screens. You can foster a healthier balance and a more fulfilling life outside of digital consumption.

8. Seek Support

Consider reaching out for the help of an ADHD coach or therapist. Professional guidance can provide personalized strategies tailored to your unique experiences and needs. Collaborating with someone familiar with ADHD can equip you with the tools to break the cycle of doomscrolling and develop healthier digital habits.

9. Be Kind to Yourself

Recognize that breaking free from the doomscrolling habit won't happen overnight. Approach yourself with compassion and celebrate small victories. Acknowledge that progress can take time. If you slip back into old habits, don’t be too harsh on yourself. Instead, reflect on what triggered the behavior and use it as an opportunity for growth.

10. Switch to Grayscale

Consider switching your device's display to grayscale mode. Studies suggest that users get less satisfaction from visuals that lack color. Therefore, this change can lessen the temptation to endlessly scroll.

11. Identify the Goal & Plan Ahead

Before picking up your phone or opening a social media app, take a moment to decide on your goal for engaging with that content. Ask yourself what you are looking for and how you will know when you’ve found it. Planning ahead clarifies your intentions and helps establish a sense of purpose. This can minimize your need to scroll endlessly.

12. Learn

Prior to going online, define what you want to learn or achieve from the experience. Ask yourself, what specific information am I seeking? Articulating your goal or question can serve as a visual reminder. This can allow you to remain focused as you scroll the internet and avoid passive scrolling for extended periods.

13. Think "Later"

When you feel tempted to dive into unrelated content while online, remind yourself to think "later." If something diverts your attention, assess its importance—does it need to be addressed now, or can it wait? Bookmark interesting links or save social media posts to revisit when you're ready. This will allow you to maintain focus on your immediate goals.

14. Lump Your Screen Time

Try to focus your screen time into one designated block during your day. This could mean treating screen time as a reward after completing essential tasks. Avoid placing screen time first or last in your day to prevent blue light interference with your sleep and wake schedule and patterns.

15. Leave It

Take regular breaks from the digital world by unplugging from screens and social media for at least one day each month. This intentional disconnection can help you rediscover offline activities that are fulfilling. Use this time to reconnect with yourself, explore new interests, and engage in real-life connections with others.

Book a Free Consultation with Blue Sky Learning

Are you or someone you know facing challenges with doomscrolling and looking for personalized guidance?

As a team of therapists and coaches, the team at Blue Sky Learning is here to help.

Schedule a free consultation today with a neurodiversity-affirming therapist or coach by emailing hello@blueskylearning.ca or following the link below.

Book a Free Consultation