Five Digital Habits to Avoid

Checking a phone every few minutes or opening Instagram and TikTok for a brief scroll can turn into a much longer session without the user noticing. The article presents these patterns as signs of digital use that may deserve attention when they begin to displace sleep, study, work, exercise or social interaction.

Phones and social media are not inherently harmful, the article says. The concern arises when people struggle to control their use. Research cited in the piece has linked excessive digital use with difficulty regulating emotions, anxiety, sleep disruption, sedentary behavior and physical problems.

One habit highlighted is doomscrolling, the compulsive consumption of negative news. The material can include reports about wars, disasters, crises, accidents, disease and scandals. One item leads to another as users continue scrolling.

People may seek out this stream of information because they want to feel better prepared. Yet consuming more negative news can instead increase anxiety. Doomscrolling is not an official medical diagnosis, although researchers have examined it as a form of problematic online behavior and linked it to health concerns, including difficulty regulating emotions.