We've always known it but turns out doom scrolling isn't good for you

The science is in and it's not in our favour. 

Bree Tomasel & Clint Roberts on ZM - find us @breeandclint on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Show requested, So here it is.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
As long as you've got DA data, it's z it
ms Brian Clinton podcast.

Speaker 3 (00:06):
Are you the sort of person who has a little
scroll to unwind to relate?

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Absolutely?

Speaker 2 (00:11):
I even ever tie them on my phone to tell
me to get off my phone.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Do you that's proactive?

Speaker 2 (00:15):
I know, but I shut it off and pops up
and it says one more minute, or just turn me
off for today, and I might turn you off. I
need my scroll.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
I installed the one on Instagram, the daily timer, and
so it says, hey, you've chosen to have two hours
of Instagram today and you have reached your limit.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Would you like.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Fifteen extra minutes? Yeah, one extra hour? Or ignore for
two day?

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Every time?

Speaker 1 (00:38):
Every time, Ignore for two days.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
And you're like, oh my god, you just go in
front of my video get out.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
And then I'm like, oh my god, I can't believe
I'm getting this notification at breakfast. I'm doing really well today.
This is bad news. If you're a scroll relaxer, which
we all are. We talked about like when you go
on holiday with your partner and you go and see
all these sights and do all these active things, and
then you go back to the hotel before dinner and
you both have like forty five minutes where you lie
on the bed and don't talk to each other.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, and just use the hotel Wi fi to scroll
your phone.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
It's probably my favorite part. No, it's not bad. You
need it. It's like a little it's just a little
relaxed time.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
This is bad news.

Speaker 3 (01:13):
Researchers say that scrolling to relax after work or whatever
may actually leave you feeling more stressed and more mentally drained.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Is it because you're watching like you're overstimulated by all
of the videos that you're seeing a.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Little bit sounds?

Speaker 3 (01:31):
They said. The biggest reason is the infinite scroll. Because
there is no end to TikTok, Instagram, whatever you use.
It removes a natural stopping point that gives you like
a satisfaction. You go, oh my god, that was great.
I gave myself fifteen minutes and I finished Instagram. It's
never gonna happen, is it. They also said, even if

(01:53):
you're watching funny or harmless content, your brain is constantly
processing more information and it never switches into rest mode
because it's always just like, Okay, what are.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
We looking at? What are we looking at what are
we looking at?

Speaker 3 (02:07):
And this is the other bit that I'd kind of
thought about, but I've never quite truly been able to
put it in words. It said, one of the worst
parts is the emotional rollercoaster of scrolling something like TikTok,
because one minute you'll be watching a funny real and
the next one you're seeing some really upsetting news from
shit you should care about or something like that, and
then you flick over to a cooking video and then

(02:29):
you're watching a video of a monkey stealing someone's hat.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
You know, how is your body meant to?

Speaker 3 (02:36):
I've had that where I've watched like a video and
it's like a tribute someone has done to their father
who passed away, and I've gone through the album and
I've read this beautiful message and I'm like, oh my gosh,
there's heartbreaking.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
I can't imagine if that sort of thing happened. I
wonder how they're doing.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
I wonder how their siblings are feeling about this haha,
funny video from the Inspired Unemployed.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
You know, yeah, it is really and you know we
should be reading books.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
Well, this is that that's when you know you're truly mature,
and that says that is what you should do. I said,
if you want to truly unwind, you need to do
something with a clear beginning and end, like say, I'm
going to read a chapter of my book. I'm going
to go for a walk from here to here. I'm
gonna do this amount of stretching. I'm going to listen

(03:23):
to this music. I'm going to chat to my friend
Clint for ten minutes.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Because that's the thing you don't actually like when you
do that doom scrolling like this morning, when you scroll,
name one thing that you remember from saying.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
I can't exactly.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
None of it goes not bad, but then it also
gives you a little dopamine hurt.

Speaker 3 (03:44):
So it was bad this morning. We were having breakfast
and my seven year old daughter too. He said to me, Dad,
how come you're on your phone at breakfast time?

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Naughty day.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
I felt awful.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Oh that would have got yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
And I said, have to watch this again.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Play zitdims Brim Clint on Inser, Facebook, TikTok and

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Live weekdays from three on zim