How Your Phone Alters Your Brain Chemistry

Lauren Lee

Apr 20

3 min read

Hello everyone! Today, we're going to tackle a widespread problem that nearly all adolescents are guilty of: "doomscrolling." Not only will we delve into the brain-altering effects of scrolling on phones, we will explore healthy and effective strategies to reduce this addicting pattern in a way that will powerfully change your emotional health, sleep quality, and cognitive performance during the day.

Why is Doomscrolling Harmful?

We have all adjusted to this new habit: waking up in the morning, reaching for your phone, and scrolling through the newest updates from flashing news headlines to your favorite influencers.

On the surface, it may appear completely harmless. Contrarily, it is the worst way to treat your brain. From a physical standpoint, doomscrolling forces people to adopt a sedentary, inactive lifestyle. According to Harvard Health, headaches, nausea, muscle tension, and neck/shoulder pain are several consequences of being glued to the phone. What's even more dangerous are the various mental repercussions associated with doomscrolling.

The Neuroscience Behind Doomscrolling

A research study called Applied Research in Quality of Life published in April 2023 examined 1,200 adults. Through data collection, they discovered that doomscrolling was largely correlated with poorer mental wellbeing and life satisfaction. This is indicative of science behind scrolling obsessively on the phone.

Essentially, when you scroll on the phone, your brain is being overstimulated; consuming that quantity of information hijacks your reward system with continuous dopamine hits, thus, training your brain to crave constant "payoffs" from the reward loop. Additionally, each swipe of new, alarming content triggers your amygdala, the brain's fear center. This contributes to atypically high cortisol levels and a phenomenon known as "popcorn brain": excessive online stimulation makes it extremely difficult to engage with the slower-paced, real world. Moreover, since the amygdala is in a constantly intensified state, the prefrontal cortex responsible for rational decision-making and impulse control is weakened. This explains why we find it challenging to stop scrolling, even when we feel overwhelmed by it.

From a mental health standpoint, doomscrolling increases overall levels of existential anxiety. Time spent in the digital world reduces the propensity for in-person engagement, subsequently reducing social interaction and leading to loneliness. Furthermore, the onslaught of online information, specifically from social media, amplifies stress, the potentiality for panic attacks, and comparison. Hence, people who fall into the trap of doomscrolling experience less feelings of contentment with their life.

How to Break a Doomscrolling Addiction:

It might seem hard to break the loop of doomscrolling, but you can take simple, easy steps to change your lifestyle:

Keep your phone out of reach. Whether this means putting it on the nightstand before you sleep so it's difficult to reach in the morning, or putting it in your desk drawer when you're trying to study, placing your phone beyond an arm's reach will automatically reduce your compulsion to grab it.
Switch your phone to grayscale. Taking away the color from your phone makes scrolling less enticing to the brain. Data shows that this can decrease screen time.
Set daily time limits for apps you spent too much time on. Limiting your ability to constantly click into certain apps (i.e. Instagram, Tiktok, YouTube) will create user discipline and lessen habitual, mindless scrolling.