The Doom Scrolling Flood: How America's Digital Obsession Is Drowning Them.

In an era when news updates arrive by the minute and algorithms refresh endlessly; Americans find themselves locked into a habit now widely known as doomscrolling. Coined amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the phenomenon has since become a defining feature of how people engage with information. 
The term “doomscrolling” itself was named one of the Oxford English Dictionary’s words of the year in 2020. But more than four years later, ongoing political volatility, economic uncertainty, and a steady stream of global crises have turned doomscrolling from a momentary coping mechanism into a persistent behavior with measurable consequences. 

TollFreeForwarding found that the average American scrolls the equivalent of 85 miles per year on their phone screen, roughly the distance between New York City and Philadelphia. It also estimated Americans spend about 2,400 hours' worth of screen-time. 
Those findings align with Talker Research’s Report, which surveyed 2,000 people about their daily media habits. Younger users reported even heavier usage, with Gen Z the most likely to spend 15 or more hours a day on screens. On average, respondents said they believe they lose about three days each month to scrolling online. 
Geography also plays a role as per All About Cookies analysis that used Google Trends data across 21 search terms tied to negative news, mental health, and social media. Washington, DC ranked as the biggest doomscrolling hotspot in the country, followed by Washington state, Massachusetts, Utah, and Hawaii. West Virginia ranked lowest. And across all states, “bad news” emerged as the most commonly doom searched term over the past year.

It has been proven neurologically that negativity tends to command attention. A 2025 Psychology Today article noted that doomscrolling fuels stress by keeping users locked onto threatening information. During the 2024 US election cycle, many users reported hours spent scrolling through divisive political content. Similarly in 2025, climate-related disasters produced similar engagement as feeds filled with increasingly catastrophic imagery. 
Harvard researchers have also linked frequent doomscrolling to poorer mental well-being and lower life satisfaction, with studies suggesting it heightens existential anxiety, a form of distress tied to fears about meaning, mortality, and uncertainty. 
The effects can extend beyond mere feelings, as Dr. Aditi Nerurkar of Harvard Medical School has described doomscrolling as a contributor to what she calls “popcorn brain,” a state of cognitive overstimulation that makes slower, offline activities feel difficult. When the brain becomes accustomed to constant digital input, real-world interactions start to feel dull or taxing by comparison. 
Experts emphasize that breaking the habit often requires environmental changes. Keeping phones off nightstands to avoid starting the day with a stress response or keeping phones silent and out of reach during meals and disabling notifications can also reduce the instinct to keep scrolling. 
As doomscrolling becomes more ingrained in daily life, the challenge is less about avoiding bad news entirely and more about limiting its grip.