The term “doomscrolling,” which first appeared in 2018 , gained currency during the Covid pandemic. In the scientific literature, it refers to a digital habit: compulsively checking news feeds, often on smartphones, with a focus on worrying, depressing, or negative content .

How can this phenomenon be explained? First, through negativity , which focuses our human attention on harmful content and therefore prompts us to scroll through anxiety-inducing information without noticing the passage of time. Second, on a cognitive level, through uncertainty , which activates an emotional mechanism of searching for reassuring information among negative content. But this quest, far from reducing anxiety, tends to reinforce it by maintaining vigilance and doubt.

This scrolling practice is reinforced, on the one hand, by technology that offers an unlimited flow of news and, on the other hand, by the recommendations of algorithms that increase our exposure to salient, often negative, information.

A transformation of the relationship to information

Using a scale for measuring anxiety-inducing scrolling , it was observed that this digital habit is associated with psychological distress, lower life satisfaction and problematic use of networks – without being able to conclude on a causal link.

The links between anxiety-inducing scrolling and negative emotions could be partly explained by intolerance for uncertainty. According to one study , this predicts an increase in anxiety-inducing scrolling and a decrease in well-being. Furthermore, intolerance for uncertainty would explain the link between state anxiety (a stable tendency to feel anxiety more frequently or intensely than average) and anxiety-inducing scrolling. This practice would therefore be a way of coping, of regulating one’s emotions without being an effective strategy since it would not provide calming.

However, anxiety-inducing scrolling isn’t just an individual practice. It also reflects a relationship with the world, how digital technologies and attention-grabbing design can transform our relationship with information, with real-time access to negative events. Alongside this passive anxiety-inducing scrolling, doomsurfing (active exploration of a topic) and doomchecking (returning to reliable sources to verify) can have knowledge and information value , if they don’t exceed our emotional limits.

This distinction reminds us that our goal is not just to “feel better,” but also to be well-informed. Yet, from a knowledge perspective, anxiety-inducing scrolling is the least desirable, as it exposes us to misinformation.

Understanding the term anxiety-inducing scrolling and the associated individual and algorithmic mechanisms is already a way to begin to thwart it, by transforming passive scrolling into a more conscious, more chosen information practice that is less harmful to well-being.

Author Bio: Marie Danet is a Lecturer in Psychology – HDR at the University of Lille