In stressful or uncertain times, it’s easy to get caught in an endless cycle of scrolling through negative news and social media. This behavior, known as doomscrolling, is increasingly common—but it can take a serious toll on your mental and physical health. This article explores the risks of doomscrolling and offers practical tips to help reduce this habit.
What Is Doomscrolling?
Doomscrolling refers to the habit of endlessly consuming negative news—stories about crises, conflicts, tragedies, and other distressing topics. Often, it happens without you even realizing it, and once you’re in the loop, stopping can feel nearly impossible. It triggers the release of dopamine, creating a hard-to-break cycle that fuels anxiety and stress.
How Doomscrolling Affects Your Mind and Body
Mental Health Effects: It increases anxiety, stress, sadness, and feelings of being overwhelmed. People often report feeling more pessimistic, mentally fatigued, and depressed. For those with pre-existing mental health conditions, doomscrolling can worsen symptoms and may even trigger panic attacks.
Physical Health Effects: The habit is linked to headaches, nausea, muscle tension, reduced appetite, and elevated blood pressure. It can also disrupt sleep, leading to insomnia and poor sleep quality, which further exacerbates mood and stress levels.
Social and Lifestyle Impacts: Excessive doomscrolling can reduce time with friends and family, decrease motivation for exercise, and contribute to unhealthy eating and sedentary behavior.
Tips to Reduce Doomscrolling
While we can’t control the global news cycle, we can manage how we engage with it. Here are some effective ways to cut back:
Set screen time limits. Use your device’s built-in tools or apps to limit time spent on social media or news apps. Creating these boundaries helps you stay mindful of your screen use.
Edit your news feeds. Unfollow accounts or remove apps that contribute to negativity. Instead, follow credible sources and uplifting content that inform without overwhelming.
Stay active. Regular physical activity lowers stress levels and improves mood. Whether it’s a short walk or a workout, movement can help shift your focus and reduce the urge to scroll.
Find positive actions. While the news can feel overwhelming, taking small steps—like donating to a cause or volunteering – can help you feel more in control and optimistic.
Practice self-care. Activities like deep breathing, journaling, or mindful walks can bring you back to the present and help regulate stress.
Tidy up your space. Organizing your surroundings can reduce mental clutter and help you focus on healthier, more productive habits.
Connect with others. When the news feels too heavy, reaching out to friends and family can offer much-needed support and perspective.
A steady diet of negative news can wear you down mentally, emotionally, and physically. Reducing your doomscrolling habits gives your brain a break and helps you stay grounded in your daily life. By setting limits and focusing on positive actions, you can create more room for meaningful connections and a more hopeful perspective.
With any actions that increase anxiety, don’t hesitate to seek support from a mental health professional. Help is available, and you don’t have to face it alone.
Every year, millions of people experience mental health challenges with limited access to care. According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 8 people globally are affected. Conditions like anxiety and depression significantly reduce productivity, costing the global economy around $1 trillion annually. Despite the rising demand for support, more than two-thirds of those who need mental health care don’t receive it.
When left untreated, mental health issues can deeply impact the workplace—reducing productivity, increasing absenteeism, and driving up healthcare costs. Offering meaningful mental health benefits is a proactive step employers can take to support their workforce and reduce these risks.
Raising Awareness
Employers can help employees feel less alone by developing campaigns that raise awareness. Here are a few ways employers can raise awareness, address stigma, and foster a sense of belonging in the workplace:
Enhance accessibility.Mental health programs should be inclusive and easy to access for employees from all backgrounds. Employers can explore both digital platforms and in-person options to ensure support is available in ways that meet diverse needs.
Showcase mental health benefits: Ensure employees are aware of mental health benefits by holding meetings, providing resources, and sharing instructions about accessing care through benefit offerings.
Integrate wellness into workplace culture: Formal strategies that infuse mental well-being into the company culture focus on providing workplace processes and benefits that help reduce stress and promote mental well-being, including flexibility, time off, added breaks, environmental changes, etc.
Have mental health conversations in the workplace: Normalizing conversations around mental health in meetings, informal discussions, and one-on-one talks can help reduce stigma and bolster employee belonging.
Encouraging Self-Care
Integrating self-care throughout your daily schedule improves both mental and physical health. Yet, self-care is often reserved for hours outside of work. Employers can help employees practice self-care by changing workplace policies and improving work-life balance. For example, creating flexible work schedules can help employees manage personal responsibilities without missing work. Providing mental health days or time off for self-care activities can give employees more balance and improve morale. Developing a company-sponsored wellness program can provide employees with resources and eliminate cost barriers to services that can improve mental and physical wellness.
Providing Support and Resources
Stigma surrounding mental health often leads to limited knowledge about mental health conditions and ways to prioritize mental wellness. Employers can provide employees with resources about the importance of mental health care and offer frequent, transparent information about the company’s mental health benefits and how to use them.
Did you know that your oral health can have a significant impact on your overall health? It’s true! Your mouth offers clues about your general well-being. Good dental hygiene can help improve your overall health. As a bonus, maintaining good oral health can even REDUCE your healthcare costs!
Your Mouth: A Window to Your Health
Your mouth is a gateway to your body. It’s home to a diverse community of bacteria, some beneficial and some potentially harmful. When oral health declines, it can have a ripple effect throughout the body. Oral bacteria can contribute to:
Cardiovascular Disease: Heart disease, as well as clogged arteries and even stroke, can be traced back to oral bacteria.
Diabetes: People with diabetes may experience more severe gum disease, and poorly controlled diabetes can increase the risk of oral health problems.
Respiratory Infections: Bacteria from the mouth can travel to the lungs, increasing the risk of respiratory infections such as pneumonia.
Low birth weight: Poor oral health has been linked to premature birth and low birth weight in newborns.
Over $45 billion is lost in productivity in the United States each year because of untreated oral health problems. These oral diseases can result in the need for costly emergency room visits, hospital stays, and medications, not to mention loss of work time. The pain and discomfort from infected teeth and gums can lead to poor productivity in the workplace, and even loss of income. Children with poor oral health are more prone to illness and may require a parent to stay home from work to care for them and take them to costly dental appointments. In fact, over 34 million school hours are lost each year because of emergency dental care.
So, how do you prevent this nightmare of pain, disease, and increased healthcare costs? It’s simple! By following through with your routine yearly dental check-ups and daily preventative care, you will give your body a big boost in its general health. Check out these tips for a healthy mouth:
Maintain a regular brushing/flossing routine: Brush and floss your teeth twice daily to remove food and plaque from your teeth and between your teeth where bacteria thrive. Use the right toothbrush—when your bristles are mashed and bent, you aren’t using the best instrument for cleaning your teeth. Make sure to replace your toothbrush every three months.
Visit your dentist: Schedule regular check-ups and cleanings with your dentist. They can identify and address any potential issues early on.
Eat a healthy diet: Limit sugary foods and drinks, as they contribute to tooth decay. Starchy foods have a similar effect.
Drink more water: Water is the best beverage for your overall health—including oral health. Drinking water after every meal can help wash out some of the negative effects of sticky and acidic foods and beverages in between brushes.
Quit Smoking: Smoking weakens the immune system and increases the risk of gum disease.
Investing in your oral health is an investment in your overall well-being. By practicing good oral hygiene, you can not only maintain a beautiful smile but also significantly improve your overall health and quality of life. And at the same time, you can increase your productivity and potentially lower your healthcare costs – a win-win!
February is American Heart Month, a time to raise awareness about cardiovascular health and how to keep your heart in top condition. Are you taking steps to protect your heart? You can actively reduce your risk for heart disease by adopting a healthy diet, staying physically active, and managing your cholesterol and blood pressure.
Heart disease is responsible for nearly one-third of all deaths worldwide. Experts and research consistently emphasize exercise as a key factor in maintaining heart health, but diet also plays a major role in lowering the risk of heart disease. A balanced diet, mindful portion sizes, and enjoying the foods you eat are essential to long-term success in heart health.
Let’s take a closer look at four key components of a heart-healthy diet and how you can incorporate them into your daily routine:
1. Fruits and Vegetables
Leafy greens are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that support heart health. A review of eight studies found that eating more leafy greens was linked to up to a 16% reduction in heart disease risk.
2. Healthy Proteins:
Lean meats, poultry, fish, low-fat dairy, and eggs are excellent sources of protein. Legumes such as beans, peas, and lentils offer a low-fat, plant-based alternative. Replacing animal protein with plant-based options (like a black bean burger instead of a beef burger) helps reduce fat and cholesterol intake while increasing fiber.
3. Healthy Fats:
Not all fats are bad. Foods with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are important for your brain and heart. Limit foods with trans-fats, which increase the risk for heart disease.
4. Whole Grains:
Whole grains are rich in fiber and essential nutrients that help manage blood pressure and support heart health.
Eating heart-healthy is a lifestyle choice—one that involves making nutritious, balanced food choices. What you eat affects nearly every aspect of heart health, including blood pressure, cholesterol, inflammation, and triglycerides. A well-balanced diet is key to maintaining a healthy heart and lowering the risk of heart disease. With a little planning and some simple substitutions, you can make heart-healthy choices a part of your daily life!
The old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” rings truer than ever in today’s world. While reactive healthcare plays a crucial role in treating illness, a growing emphasis is being placed on the power of health prevention and wellness.
Investing in preventive measures and promoting overall well-being isn’t just about individual health; it’s a strategic decision with far-reaching benefits for individuals and communities. Here’s why:
Reduced Healthcare Costs:
Reactive healthcare, focused on treating existing conditions, can be incredibly expensive. Chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer often require ongoing treatment and management, placing a significant strain on healthcare systems and individuals’ finances.
Investing in preventive measures like healthy eating, regular exercise, and preventive screenings can significantly reduce the risk of developing these chronic conditions, leading to substantial cost savings in the long run.
Improved Quality of Life:
Health prevention isn’t just about avoiding illness; it’s about promoting overall well-being. By prioritizing healthy habits, individuals experience increased energy levels, improved mental clarity, and a greater sense of vitality. This leads to a higher quality of life, allowing individuals to be more productive, engaged, and fulfilled in all aspects of their lives.
Enhanced Productivity and Economic Growth:
A healthy workforce is a productive workforce. When individuals are free from chronic illness and experience better overall health, they are more likely to be present at work, focused on their tasks, and less prone to absenteeism due to health issues. This translates to increased productivity and economic growth for both individuals and organizations.
Strategies for Investing in Health Prevention:
Investing in health prevention can take various forms, both at an individual and community level:
Individual Level: Prioritizing healthy eating habits, regular exercise, adequate sleep, and preventive screenings are essential steps individuals can take to safeguard their health.
Community Level: Promoting access to healthy food options, safe parks and recreational facilities, and community-based wellness programs can significantly impact population health.
Investing in health prevention and wellness is a wise decision with far-reaching benefits. By prioritizing proactive measures and promoting overall well-being, individuals, communities, and societies can reap the rewards of a healthier, happier, and more productive future.
Mental health isn’t just the absence of illness. It’s a continuum ranging from severe symptoms such as panic attacks and major depression to excellent mental strength and well-being.
Sometimes you’re not ill, but you aren’t well either – and you need help. If you’re feeling down about work or a problem in your life and need to talk to somebody, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a great solution.
What is an EAP?
EAPs are mental health services available at work, and they can be beneficial in helping you work through problems. An EAP provides voluntary, confidential services that help you manage personal difficulties and life challenges under the guidance of a professional counselor.
An EAP can provide counseling, support groups, and other resources to help you cope. An EAP is usually offered 24/7, so you can always access it when you need it most. These programs are usually an employee benefit offered by your employer at little or no cost to you.
Employee Assistance Programs aren’t just for crisis situations. They can also provide advice and practical support for:
The Bottom Line
EAPS offer free benefits like short-term therapy, stress management, financial counseling, and relationship support, among other services. Even though they’re short-term, EAP benefits can help you to address issues that have been building up. The end goal of an EAP is to improve your well-being, using a plan that works for your unique circumstances.
