New Social Media trend may be affecting your Mental Health

By Mumtaz Moosa Saley

17:09:2020

Social media coverage over the last few weeks has been filled with negativity, from recent crimes to just plain out bad news. The term “doomscrolling” has been bandied about recently, describing the routine consumption of negative information on a daily base.

According to experts, consuming gloomy information could lead to depression, anxiety and panic attacks.

When news about Coronavirus breaks, people globally became addicted to “doomscrolling”, with the need to stay informed a potentially negative response. With this, there was no shortage of doom and gloom news around. As the lockdown eases other stories came to light.

With all these negative stories, the need to unplug has become imperative, especially if we want to maintain a semblance of sanity. Happy or good news may not just be one click away.

So, my advice would be to take time out from the news, social media and so on, pick a day or a time and simply just go tech-free.

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