By: Kyle Arnold
The
term brain rot gain popularity between 2023 and 2024, and it was extremely popular
in TikTok communities among Generation Z and Generation Alpha. On the other hand
doom scrolling was something that ramped up during COVID when people were stuck
in their homes.
Brain
rot was defined as the “deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual
state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material consider
to be trivial or unchallenging”, according to the Oxford University Press. People
consume so much low effort content that they get used to it and it leads to
negative impacts.
Doom
scrolling is defined as purposely searching out negative content, according to
Psi Chi the International Honor Society in Psychology. Just like brain rot, doom
scrolling leads to negative impacts on someone’s mental well-being.
So
what’s wrong about consuming low effort content and negative content? Brain rot
and doom scrolling both come with their own negative outcomes that both impact
a person’s brain.
While the studies on brain rot are fairly new,
studies show that brain rot impacts attention span. The attention span is
lowered because dopamine is sent to the brain from using phones as a reward
system, which leads to addiction, according to the Psi Chi the International
Honor Society in Psychology.
On
the other side, studies show that doom scrolling leads people to constantly show
negative emotions and makes it harder for them to have pleasurable feelings. They
reflect the news and content that they consume, even if they don’t know it.
“A
reason that this happens is because someone can be very passive when consuming
negative content,” Cassandra Baldwin, an assistant psychology professor at Georgia
Southern University said.
Well
why do people do it? Why would they continue to return to these bad habits that
lead to their mental downfall?
As
mentioned before studies have shown that dopamine is sent to the brain when
people use their phones as a reward system. However, for young adults the reason
that they consume low effort content was because of what happens in the world
around them.
“Its’s
a distraction, but it’s a good distraction because sometimes the world is bad,” a Georgia Southern student majoring in criminal justice said. “Sometimes
we need something to distract us.”
For
doom scrolling, people constantly fall to it because they are desensitized to
the negative content that they consume. This could also lead to addiction when
you factor in how social media algorithms work.
“That’s
the stuff that is attention grabbing,” Baldwin said. “That might be why people
want to focus on that rather than something that is more positive.”
Baldwin
also went on to mention that when it comes to falling into the trap of overconsuming
negative content, younger adults are most likely to do it.
“In
developmental psychology, there is one phenomenon that’s been found suggesting
that younger adults are more likely to pay attention to negative content than older adults are,” Baldwin said.
So
are there any solutions? What can people do to quit these bad habits?
When
it comes to countering doom scrolling and brain rot, the best thing to do is to
limit screentime. People should reduce their screen time and commit to more
stimulating activities like exercise or reading which allows them to keep their
minds active and in turn makes them more productive.
Baldwin also backed up the solution with a study that was written about in a NPR article that showed when students in a classroom avoided their phones for a day, their mental well-being and their productivity rose.