Wasted hours, anxious minds: Reclaim your brain power

The Citizen

15-05-2025

On stage recently, I broke down the Neuroscience of Doomscrolling. You know it – that state where you're mindlessly scrolling down, down, down on social media, only to surface hours later feeling drained and maybe even worse.
It feels mindless, but neurologically, it's a trap. Your brain gets hooked on the unpredictable reward of the next post, triggering small dopamine hits that reinforce the habit, making it incredibly addictive. This isn't just lost time; this compulsive loop is increasingly linked to anxiety and symptoms of depression.
Why does this happen?
Neuroscience shows this habit exploits the brain's dopamine-driven reward pathways and can become deeply ingrained, operating on autopilot.
Beyond the staggering time loss, this addictive cycle – often exposing us to negative content or social comparison – can significantly impact mental well-being, contributing to what some call 'Social Media Depression'.
Does this sound familiar? Are you a victim of the scroll?
From a NeuroEngineer's view, this exploits your brain's reward system (the constant hunt for novelty triggering dopamine) and locks you into a powerful, addictive habit loop. It's more than just wasted time; this cycle can actively erode your mental state, contributing to anxiety and depressive symptoms linked to social media use.
This doesn't end there, it affects your self-esteem and damages your self-confidence because of constant comparison with others.
Here's the question for you to consider each time you are tempted to compare yourself with others on social media. If you were given five of your photos and were to pick one to post on social media, how would you go about choosing the ones to post? Surely, if you are like me, you would spend some time choosing the best one.
This means you are comparing your ordinary self to the best of others, hence you'll never win.
At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!