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A new cross-cultural study has revealed that doomscrolling, 'the habit of continuously consuming negative news online,' significantly increases feelings of existential anxiety, distrust, and despair. Researchers from the United States and Iran found that constant exposure to distressing news reshapes our perception of reality, making life seem more fragile and uncertain. This phenomenon, described as 'vicarious trauma,' causes symptoms similar to PTSD—even without direct personal experience. The lead author of the study, Dr. Reza Shabahang, explains, 'When we’re constantly exposed to negative news and information online, it can threaten our beliefs about our own mortality and the control we have over our own lives.' ALT

This isn’t technically good news, but I wanted to highlight it, because it underscores a DEEPLY important thing to understand about the news and social media in their current forms: They are warping people’s perception of reality. Bad news gets shared more, gets reported more, and gets highlighted more. People think that means there IS more bad news than good news, and that is simply not true. There are lots of good resources for finding good news, and you should seek it out for yourself to get a more accurate understanding of the world we all live in.

Doomscrolling evokes existential anxiety and fosters pessimism about human nature? Evidence from Iran and the United States

Fix The News

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