Preventing Doomscrolling for a Healthier Emotional State

Managing each person’s emotional health is a daily endeavor, and alumni who have graduated from a dedicated treatment program are still tasked with developing a daily routine and lifestyle that promotes a healthy emotional state while also navigating continued challenges like urges and cravings. However, this can be difficult as stress can come from many sources. From strained interpersonal relationships and professional stresses to the way a person uses their phone or other digital devices can all introduce emotional turmoil. Particularly, doomscrolling can be a common practice that can have negative effects on a person’s mental health. Strategies for preventing doomscrolling are essential to improve each person’s emotional state and create an emotionally healthy daily life. 

Unfortunately, the world, and particularly news sources, are filled with bad news. Doomscrolling is the compulsive and habitual clicking on, scrolling through, and exposure to negative news outlets. An individual who is doomscrolling often continues to read through these negative stories despite the harm it is causing to their emotional health. Not only can these news stories introduce feelings of stress, anxiety, or depression, but they can also fuel feelings of anger or pessimism in daily life. 

While avoiding exposure to negative news stories altogether may not be realistic, a person who is doomscrolling may actively seek out these articles themselves. Coupled with the fast-paced nature of the online world and the deluge of potential negative content, doomscrolling can create a seemingly never-ending stream of negativity, which can fundamentally shape a person’s attitudes, worldview, and overall mental health. 

Preventing doomscrolling is necessary to challenge pervasive negative feelings and perspectives. The stress caused by doomscrolling can be difficult to navigate, affecting not just a person’s emotional state but also their perspectives on their own daily life, relationships, and more. Likewise, the constant negativity can also compromise a person’s health in other ways, with increased feelings of stress, pessimism, and more, also affecting a person’s recovery journey, attitudes, and continued sobriety. 

Preventing doomscrolling can be difficult, especially if an individual already feels compelled to compulsively check these stories or frequent sites where negative news is prevalent. However, there are options for those committed to preventing doomscrolling, such as embracing a more positive outlook on daily life and including an equal dose of positivity. Hawaii Island Recovery can facilitate healthier habits for lasting healing. 

Doomscrolling can be enabled due to the ease of access to various news outlets or blog spots, with the accessibility of negative news stories being a major factor in how quickly and how often an individual engages with them. Taking social media or news apps off of a person’s phone, or at least the home page, can make it more difficult to compulsively check these sites and can passively encourage other options. 

Similarly, turning off push notifications can prevent an individual from seeing negative news headlines. Additionally, when an individual is checking the news, it can be helpful to do so on their terms, as this can better curate the kinds of stories they see without compulsively checking other sites. 

Doomscrolling can give an individual an unfair perspective, with an overly pessimistic worldview that may not truly reflect the reality of daily life. Balancing negative news stories by seeking positive outlets, self-affirming sources, and uplifting stories can help to create a more realistic worldview, balancing both positive and negative influences and challenging overly pessimistic attitudes. 

Mindfulness strategies and techniques are a core part of any recovery, empowering each individual to be more in tune with their bodies, minds, and feelings. Engaging in effective mindfulness practices ensures that alumni can identify when these stories are detrimental to a person’s emotional health and take action to engage in self-care practices. Journaling, breathing strategies, and much more can all help an individual identify the unnecessary challenges that doomscrolling presents and can be essential in preventing doomscrolling in the future. 

Doomscrolling can find a person sifting through many different news sources at all hours of the day. Instead, deciding on a single trusted news source and method of engaging with it, whether it be local news on television or a trusted news source online, can be essential in preventing doomscrolling. Having a time set to catch up on current events can limit how long a person may be engaged with these news sources before tending to other needs and responsibilities. 

Preventing doomscrolling is necessary, as the pervasive and seemingly infinite amount of negative news stories may not provide an individual with an accurate perspective or worldview. Finding positivity, peace, and calm is essential throughout recovery, even for alumni, and Hawaii Island Recovery’s dedicated Hawaii recovery center can help each person shape their daily life in recovery by introducing these positive elements and creating strategies for a sustainable and healthy daily life outside of the treatment facility.

Doomscrolling can introduce a myriad of emotional challenges that can impact a person’s daily mental health and even the use of drugs or alcohol. At Hawaii Island Recovery, we understand that overcoming addiction and creating a healthy emotional state is difficult. We are prepared to personalize your treatment plan to develop the skills necessary not just for preventing doomscrolling but establishing a healthy and positive outlook throughout daily life. Our unique Hawaii recovery center comes equipped with professionals ready to help you challenge unhealthy mindsets and addiction, all while introducing you to a supportive community of peers. To learn more about how we can personalize a treatment plan for you, call to speak to us today at (866) 390-5070.