Doom Scrolling and Dopamine

Doom Scrolling and Dopamine: Why We Cannot Stop, and What It is Doing to Us

It is late. You told yourself you would put the phone down five minutes ago. Instead, you are still there, thumb moving almost on its own. It is sliding from one grim headline or anxious post to the next. Nothing you are reading is making you feel better – if anything, your chest feels tighter and your thoughts are racing. Yet somehow you cannot quite close the app.

If this sounds familiar, you are not lacking willpower. You are responding exactly the way your brain is designed to respond. Understanding why doom scrolling has such a grip on us is often the first step to loosening it.

What is Doom Scrolling?

Doom scrolling is the habit of compulsively consuming negative or distressing content online – news, social media, or both – well past the point of it being useful or informative. It became a widely recognised term during the pandemic, when many of us were glued to our screens for updates. However, the pattern has only become more entrenched since. It is helped along by apps that are quite literally engineered to keep us scrolling.

How Dopamine actually works

Dopamine gets a lot of press as the “pleasure chemical”, but that is a slight misunderstanding of what it does. Dopamine is not mainly about the enjoyment of getting something – it is about the anticipation of it. It is the neurochemical behind wanting, seeking, and checking, more than the neurochemical of satisfaction itself.

That distinction matters enormously for how apps are built. Every time you open a social media feed or a news app, your brain releases a small hit of dopamine tied to the possibility of something interesting, upsetting, validating, or new. Crucially, you never know in advance what you will find. That unpredictability is the key ingredient. Psychologists call it a “variable reward schedule” – the same mechanism that makes slot machines so compelling. A reward you can predict loses its pull fairly quickly. On the other hand, a reward that might come on this scroll, or the next one, or the one after that, keeps your brain checking indefinitely.

Doom Scrolling and the Amygdala

Doom scrolling adds a second layer on top of this. Distressing or threatening content activates the amygdala, the brain’s alarm system, triggering a stress response – a release of cortisol and adrenaline, the same fight-or-flight chemicals that would once have helped you escape real physical danger. Normally, once a threat passes, your body’s calming system switches back on. But an endless feed of bad news never really “passes.” As a result, one alarming story leads straight into the next, so the stress response never gets the chance to switch off. Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex – the part of your brain responsible for impulse control and weighing up whether this is actually a good use of your time – becomes less influential the longer this cycle runs.

The result is a strange loop: you scroll partly to soothe anxiety or find reassurance. Yet the scrolling itself keeps generating the very anxiety you are trying to escape.

Why this matters for how we feel

None of this is just an inconvenience. Research increasingly links heavy doom scrolling with worse overall mental health and lower life satisfaction. People who do it frequently report more irritability, disrupted sleep, and mental fatigue. They also experience a heightened risk of anxiety and depressive symptoms. There are physical knock-on effects too – headaches, muscle tension, and elevated stress in the body – plus the more indirect costs: less time moving, less time outdoors, less time genuinely connecting with the people around you.

Perhaps most frustrating is that doom scrolling rarely delivers what we are actually looking for. We tend to scroll hoping to feel more informed, more in control, or less alone with a worry. However, it usually leaves us feeling more anxious, not less.

Working with your Brain, not against it

Because this pattern is built into how dopamine and stress systems work, “just stop” is rarely realistic advice. A few gentler, more effective places to start:

- Add friction. Move news and social apps off your home screen, turn off non-essential notifications, or set a daily time limit. Small barriers matter more than they seem to.
- Give anxiety a container. Instead of checking sporadically all day, pick one or two set times to catch up on news, and let yourself close the app once you have.
- Notice the urge without acting on it immediately. Even a 30-second pause before opening an app can be enough to interrupt the automatic loop.
- Curate deliberately. Unfollow or mute accounts that consistently leave you feeling worse, and notice which sources leave you feeling informed rather than depleted.
- Replace, do not just remove. Have something to reach for instead – a short walk, read a book, a few minutes of stretching, a text to a friend – so the urge to scroll has somewhere else to go.

If it feels bigger than a habit

For some people, doom scrolling is tangled up with something deeper – ongoing anxiety, low mood, difficulty tolerating uncertainty, or a nervous system that is been on high alert for a long time. If that sounds like you, it is not a sign of weakness. Additionally, you do not have to untangle it alone. In counselling, we can look at what the scrolling is really doing for you – what it is soothing, avoiding, or trying to control. Together, we can build a more sustainable way of relating to anxiety, news, and rest.

If you would like some support with this or other things, please get in touch to arrange an initial counselling session – carolineellisoncounselling@gmail.com

Caroline Ellison Accredited BACP Counsellor & Psychotherapist www.carolineellisoncounselling.co.uk Fleet, Hampshire | 07818 798597

This blog was collated from internet sources for information by a counsellor in Fleet, Hampshire – Caroline at Caroline Ellison Counselling – this is my experience and these are my opinions. Carpe Diem.

Sources:

This article has been created with the help of AI and is grounded in the science in current sources (Harvard Health, American Brain Foundation, Psychology Today, and a 2025 academic review on “dopamine-scrolling”)

Panic Attacks and what happens to our Brain

What is Panic?

Panic is a form of extreme anxiety and is characterised by intense and sudden feelings of fear and distress. When we experience panic, our brain undergoes several complex physiological and psychological changes in response to a perceived threat or danger.

What happens to our brain when we panic ?

Amygdala Activation: The amygdala is a small, almond-shaped cluster of nuclei in the brain responsible for processing emotions, especially fear and threat detection. When we perceive a potential threat or danger, the amygdala becomes highly activated. This triggers a rapid emotional response, including the release of stress hormones like adrenaline.

Hypothalamus Activation: The hypothalamus, another brain structure, is responsible for regulating the body’s stress response. When the amygdala signals danger, it communicates with the hypothalamus, which in turn stimulates the release of stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones prepare the body for a “fight or flight” response.

Increased Heart Rate: As adrenaline is released into the bloodstream, it causes the heart rate to increase. This helps pump more oxygenated blood to the muscles and vital organs, preparing the body for quick action.

Rapid Breathing: Panic often leads to shallow and rapid breathing, a response designed to increase oxygen intake for the body’s heightened state of alertness and physical readiness.

Muscle Tension: Muscles may become tense and primed for action during a panic episode, which can lead to physical symptoms such as trembling or jitteriness.

Tunnel Vision and Heightened Focus: During panic, people often experience a narrowing of their focus, known as tunnel vision. This hyperfocus is meant to concentrate attention on the perceived threat but can lead to difficulty processing peripheral information.

Impaired Rational Thinking: Panic can impair cognitive functioning, making it difficult to think clearly or logically. This can result in irrational thoughts and actions.

Decreased Activity in the Pre-Frontal Cortex: The prefrontal cortex, responsible for decision-making and rational thought, may become less active during panic. This can lead to impulsive behaviour and poor decision-making.

Activation of the Autonomic Nervous System: The autonomic nervous system controls involuntary bodily functions. Panic triggers the sympathetic branch of this system, responsible for the “fight or flight” response, leading to the release of stress hormones and physiological changes mentioned above.

Heightened Emotional State: Panic often leads to intense feelings of fear, dread, and a sense of impending doom. These emotions can be overwhelming and difficult to control.

How to support Panic

It is important to acknowledge that it can be disruptive and distressing having a panic attack or chronic panic disorder. If you experience recurrent panic attacks you are likely to benefit from professional help, such as counselling or medication. Understanding the physiological and psychological processes involved in panic can be a first step in learning how to cope with and manage your panic.Understanding your triggers and working through them may be supportive in reducing the frequency of your panic attacks and this can be done in Counselling.

For individual counselling I am here for you. Contact me to book an initial session and I will support you.

If you are in crisis and want immediate support please call the Samaritans who offer a free 24 hour helpline – Phone: 116 123 – Website: www.samaritans.org

Written by your local counsellor in Fleet, Caroline at Caroline Ellison Counselling – this is my experience and these are my opinions. Carpe Diem.

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety feels like fear! It can cause palpitations of the heart, sweaty hands, knots in the stomach, a feeling of being uneasy, an inability to function properly. It can come into our lives and take us over to the point of not being able to cope at all. Anxiety is Continue reading “What is Anxiety?”

What is Overwhelm?

Overwhelm is the emotional feeling of being overwhelmed. It is an emotional feeling which can take over with an intensity that feels difficult to manage. It can affect your ability to think and act rationally and evoke anxiety and stress. Continue reading “What is Overwhelm?”

Monthly Goal Achievement Journal

I saw a post about writing a monthly goal achievement journal on one of the social media channels and my response was curious and prompted this blog!

“End of Month – Review and Reflect ….. Do you review the end of the month before planning the next? I think it’s very important or you may find yourself setting the same goals every single month and not hitting them.” Continue reading “Monthly Goal Achievement Journal”

Post Pandemic Anxiety – PPA

Post Pandemic Anxiety

When the pandemic first hit and we went into lockdown it felt surreal and I had a sense of ‘is this really happening’. During the lockdown we have had our own unique experiences and emotions evoked in lockdown are magnified. Being enclosed in our homes has given space for reflection on life and this may have released feelings suppressed through the distraction of life. Continue reading “Post Pandemic Anxiety – PPA”