Researchers call it a potential "game-changer"
We continue scrolling for a narrative or a piece of positive news that never comes, trying to learn everything we can about something spinning out of our control, and that causes enough mental fatigue without adding untrue "facts" into the mix.
It's not your fault! Humans have a tendency to pay more attention to negative news. This phenomenon started in the ‘70s with the “mean world syndrome,” wherein people perceived the world to be worse than it actually was because of how much bad news they were reading. Paired with social media algorithms, doomscrolling is hard to avoid, but it has serious effects on your mental health including depression and anxiety.
The protests of racial injustice and police brutality only filled our feeds more with collapse, and rightfully so in terms of the fight against racism, but individuals scrolling for hours through injustice, pain, and chaos—especially with so little positive counterpart—is harmful, to say the least.
Notifications have been shown to trigger a release of dopamine, and excessive smartphone use can cause a form of addiction, as users constantly check for updates and fear missing out.
We can’t help it, we all occasionally fall victim to bullying ourselves in the mirror. But when you start your day with how you look instead of giving yourself time to figure out how you feel and what makes you happy, your entire mood can sour.
Acting how you feel instead of how you look can make a world of difference. You’ll also avoid noticing things that will stress you out for the rest of the day, you'll forget to be self-conscious, and you’ll become kinder to yourself.
Overwhelming your days has become linked with a “productive” lifestyle, but it can actually harm your productivity. It mentally and physically fatigues you, making it harder to do what you need to because you’re not functioning at full capacity.
Work can be stressful and eating lunch at your desk might seem like the only option, but it can actually worsen the stress. Without taking a distinct break, your body and mind don’t have time to replenish themselves, leading to higher levels of burnout and fatigue, and actually reducing your productivity.
This is an unfortunate habit we all spend too much time doing, especially as it undermines our confidence, sense of self-worth, and relationships with others, among other things.
Other studies show good posture improves self-esteem, and certain stances where you make your body appear larger can actually make you more confident!
Have you ever reflexively chastised yourself when you forgot something or made a mistake? Therapists say this unconscious habit of calling ourselves names like "idiot" harms your base feelings of competency and self-worth, which can spiral into all parts of your life.
It’s tempting to organize your day before you go to sleep, but clinical psychologist Charles Schaeffer told Bustle that this causes anxiety, which hinders sleep and then reduces your ability to regulate negative emotions, leading to more anxiety.
Sending a text instead of calling, or an email instead of going to someone’s office, are commonplace these days. But as isolation and loneliness have become a global health crisis, research has shown that we need to talk to people in real life to boost our happiness.
Additionally, exercise can give you more confidence, it can be a fantastic break from your devices and worries, and it can help you cope with stress in a much healthier way, both mentally and physically.
A sedentary lifestyle can seem unavoidable, but it hurts your waistline, your heart, and your mental health. We’ve all heard that regular exercise is one of the best mood-boosters, as it releases feel-good chemicals that suppress depressive chemicals, so now it’s time to do something about it.
Eating better can actually boost your mood, as your gut health has been scientifically linked to your mental health. Plus, avoiding things like too much sugar, caffeine, or processed foods will reduce your irritability and brain-fog.
Of course, there is an extreme to every good thing, and exercising to the point of exhaustion or in bad form can add a physical and mental strain. Don’t overwork your body and mind at the gym just because you overworked your body and mind sitting at a desk all day!
Social media depends upon comparison, which is bad for you in almost every way you cut it. Feelings of inadequacy, jealousy, and loneliness arise—when you might have just been enjoying yourself—and the constant comparison has been shown to increase depression and anxiety.
Sleep is our main source of physical and emotional resilience. It’s how we recover from the day and prepare for tomorrow. The blue light from screens has been shown to directly affect the body's ability to sleep because it blocks the sleepy hormone called melatonin.
This one is tough and can apply even if you are single, because it spins upon how you determine your happiness. If you’re with someone who is your happiness, or if you’re looking for someone to be your happiness, this could actually harm your sense of self-worth, decrease your confidence, and increase anxiety.
Sources: (The New York Times) (Journal of Affective Disorders) (LinkedIn Pulse) (Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry) (Bustle)
See also: History's greatest minds and their struggles with mental health
Positive perfection helps you do your best, but negative perfection can actually undermine your efforts, making you largely dissatisfied, preoccupied with people’s opinions, and generally way too stressed out.
Losing sleep for one or two nights can already make you feel grumpy, foggy, and unfocused, but chronic sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on your mental health. Put away the screens an hour before bed, don’t have caffeine in the latter half of the day, and avoid stressful situations before you tuck in.
When you eat without focusing on your food, your mind struggles to appreciate the taste or recognize your fullness, and studies have shown it leads to overeating. This repeated pattern cognitively links the two and can seriously harm your food habits, which lead to increased stress and low self-esteem.
According to research published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, compulsive or excessive use of a smartphone could worsen symptoms of depression, anxiety, chronic stress, and low self-esteem. It also trains you to expect instant gratification, worsens your attention span and memory, and makes it harder for us to handle thoughts organically.
Maintaining your mental health can seem like a full-time job, and it only gets harder with the more responsibilities we have. One of the reasons for this is that we take up more habits to cope, most of which we think are harmless, and we don’t have the time to interrogate their effect on us. We also largely underestimate the mind-body link!
Small, everyday things we do can have a huge impact on our mental health and can affect various other parts of our lives without our knowledge, leading us to a whirlpool of negativity that can be hard to escape. But the changes we can make are simpler than you might think. Click through to see the commonplace things you didn’t realize are harming your mind.
Common habits that negatively affect your mental health
The changes we can make are easier than you might imagine
HEALTH Mindfulness
Maintaining your mental health can seem like a full-time job, and it only gets harder with the more responsibilities we have. One of the reasons for this is that we take up more habits to cope, most of which we think are harmless, and we don’t have the time to interrogate their effect on us. We also largely underestimate the mind-body link!
Small, everyday things we do can have a huge impact on our mental health and can affect various other parts of our lives without our knowledge, leading us to a whirlpool of negativity that can be hard to escape. But the changes we can make are simpler than you might think. Click through to see the commonplace things you didn’t realize are harming your mind.