Do you ever stop to ask yourself how you feel before you start scrolling, and more importantly, how you feel after?
It’s no secret that we’re glued to our screens, but the sheer amount of time might surprise you. While the general health recommendation for daily recreational screen time is 30 minutes to 2 hours, teenagers are routinely shattering that benchmark.
Scrolling for hours can lead to negative mental effects, as well as physical health effects such as anxiety, depression, sleep problems, reduced attention span, and impaired memory.
While scrolling you suffer from eye strain, headaches, and sometimes even an increase in stress hormone levels.
In an article called “Doomscrolling and Brain Rot: What Are They?” the medical professionals at Nationwide Children’s said: “while a little screen time here and there isn’t inherently bad, excessive doomscrolling and mindless consumption of digital content can have serious consequences.”
Doomscrolling leads to reduced attention span as the brain finds quick, immediate rewards. As a result it becomes harder to do everyday tasks and homework. In addition, according to Nationwide Children’s: “doomscrolling tends to erode deep thinking.”
When you are bombarded by information that you don’t care about or “surface-level” information and breaking news headlines, your ability to think critically, analyze and reflect diminishes.
Jack Montrone, a 9th grader at NPHS, admits he spends at least 2 1/2 hours a day scrolling on his phone: “Sometimes I just scroll and it’s usually just to clear my head a bit. Maybe I’m bored or if I’m a little stressed, I just scroll. It’s kind of addicting almost, which is not good. And you can feel drained even though you did nothing but scroll.”
Fellow freshman Max Zapanta also said he scrolls over the recommended average, coming in at about 2 – 3 hours a day: “I just go on my phone and scroll when I’m home.”
Zapanta pointed out that event though most scrolling is done for entertainment, it can have hidden educational benefits: “I sometimes do enjoy it, but there’s the occasional informational video.”