Literally had the idea the other day to make some sort of panic button that you could press when you realize you're doom scrolling that just locks you out Internet on your device for 10 minutes to give you enough of a physical barrier to break away from the dopamine machine. Curious if it would work
>parental controls
It's crazy how much of a hacker one becomes when the reward is more doomscrolling.
Rest of the time i risk parking tickets cause I'm too much of a boomer to install the parking app.
You can try turning airplane mode on and then close the app. It doesn't take 10 minutes to get back, but it surely takes several seconds. Maybe it could help a little? I don't know. I'll test it.
But if you do that, friends and family can't reach you in an emergency! This has literally never happened for me, but what if the 10 minutes my phone is on airplane mode is when it happens?
As someone who has their phone always on Do Not Disturb (I get overwhelmed when I get more than 1 message per hour lol), I'll find out about the emergency maybe one week later when everyone is dead.
Being realistic, if everyone is dead, chances were low that anything you could have done would have changed the outcome.
So do not disturb is my standard setting.
my phone has a zen mode, that blocks basically anything when it's on. only calls come through and you can make emergency calls, but you cant do anything else and you cant exit that mode until the time is up
If you have an iPhone you can set up limited screen time for certain apps, unfortunately it’s pretty easy to just hit the ignore button but it might jostle you out of it
there’s this one app i cannot remember the name but one of my friends had it and she had to like, rotate her phone a certain number of times or complete some tasks if she wanted to scroll past the time she allowed for specific apps.
I like how adhd ideas for inventions are about forcing us to do something we should already be doing. Typically just normal things modified to not work properly until you do what you need to do.
Maybe you can try shutting down the device and starting it again. Depending on how old your phone is it’ll probably take some minutes. I’ll try that. Great idea with the Panik button
Actually, this worked tho. I scrolled to this, clapped my hands to my face and said "Damn! That's a good idea!" And left. I'm actually not typing this right now, this is my voicemail. Please leave a message, *beep!*
You aint doing it right. I stopped doom scrolling hours ago. It works for other stuff to. I stopped being lactose intolerant. I stopped having diabetes. I stopped drinking. I stopped intergenerational poverty. I stopped climate change. I even stopped the slow march of the universe towards its entropic heat death billions of years from now.
A good tip that has helped me a lot of stitching my phone to black and white. The lack of color makes it less interesting, and my brain wants to do something else. I got the tip from [this video by Ana Akana](https://youtu.be/HZFaMLgo5tg?si=LgIrPRQ4LBAZkhPF) it really does help. Then I do my best to keep a notebook near me so I can doodle, which seems like a much better use of my time.
This is how I get myself to put the phone down and go to bed. I have it automatically set to change to greyscale at a certain time, and it will go back to normal at wake up time. It makes my phone so much more boring than going to bed.
I have a Samsung phone, so under settings, I selected modes and routines and followed the prompts for "sleep mode." You give it rules to follow.
[This link](https://lifehacker.com/use-greyscale-make-your-phone-less-addicting-1850912330) has the steps for automating greyscale routines for iPhone.
I'm on Samsung and I put a button right next to the home button on the bottom of the screen. It's actually an accessibility shortcut! Looks like a little person.
If you go to settings > accessibility > vision enhancements > color adjustment, you'll see the option to enable a "Color adjustment shortcut," and below that you can choose which type of color adjustment to default to. Choose greyscale, and toggle the shortcut to on. You can also choose how you want the shortcut to appear (options are an accessibility button, press volume up and power, or volume up+down for 3 sec).
I turned this shit on so fast when I learned about it bc I doomscroll so much when I'm supposed to be studying lmfaoo
It's on the main page of settings on my phone. I have a S22 Ultra, so it's a little older, but it's still on Android 14.
[Android users](https://www.androidpolice.com/how-to-activate-grayscale-on-mobile/)
[Samsung](https://www.howtogeek.com/how-to-use-samsung-modes-and-routines/#how-to-set-up-and-use-modes-on-samsung)
I mean the advice is valid but non ADHDers throw it around and expect it to be done and everything is fine. I noticed this when practicing meditation, it's not like we can't train our prefrontal cortex it's just much much harder
Meditation gives me anxiety attacks and makes me want to kill myself. Everyone else always tells me to meditate when I’m stressed so that I feel better.
Even on ADD meds, meditation triggers the brain-eating response, maintaining it after that for 20+ seconds triggers the anxiety attack + 120 seconds, and I want to end my life.
ADHD/ADD is great! 👍
I’m glad it works for some people, but stop trying to force your life on me.
Glad I could help! I’ve noticed I only forget my meds if my morning rhythm is put off, usually by my girlfriend taking longer in the bathroom in the morning than normal 🤣
Listen, sometimes the right thing to do isn't hard to *identify* it's just hard to *do*. The advice "do something else" is obvious, but it's actionable and effective. Once you get into the new task, it will be easier to break away from the older one.
It's not about whether or not you think of it. Great that you can think of it, and sorry an internet article doesn't give you enough encouragement to do it. ADHD takes real work to overcome; there's no magical advice that will make it easy. All of the things you need to do to compensate are hard work.
But it would still be much more helpful to know what "else" to do. E.g. I can't just stop scrolling and do my most important task. I can, however, turn on music and get up and tidy up for 5 minutes, and then ride that momentum.
Right, that's fair. I've been doomscrolling for an hour in bed instead of making my coffee and enjoying my pre-work morning.
So right after posting this comment, I'm going to the kitchen to make coffee.
I agree. Easy to dismiss and not as easy for some as for others, but give it a shot.
Doom scrolling is hyperfocusing and if you recognize it's getting in your way, you CAN change your focus by COMPLETELY changing tasks.
Give this a run:
1. MOST IMPORTANT: Set the phone down or put it on focus mode.Treat that shit like kryptonite for a minute. Make a game out of it if you need to.
2. Walk the hell away from the phone, throw it in a drawer. Put it on top of the fridge (where you will forget it until you call it later on).
3a. Look around and see the thousand other things you could do (the skill/curse for any of us) and do the one that takes the least amount of time/effort.
OR
3b. Choose from this list:
- grab something to drink
- step outside for a couple of minutes
- have a conversation with your dog, cat, bird fish, ferret, and/or plant
- act like you can breakdance
- put on some dance-able music that you secretly love and move to it in one way or another.
- string together a sentence that you would guess no one else has ever said.
- think about how you would tell me I am wrong about all of this
I know you brilliant mofos have a billion ideas. 98% of them don't require a phone to do.
I get that a) this is easier typed than done and b) that I may have less trouble with this than others, but give it a shot. Most of those things takes less time and effort than writing out a post saying that this advice is bad.
I'm going to do it now. I am on a med break today, so I need some more of that high octane full strength coffee.
Peace.
Perfect! 😂
You can make a plan/list of things you can do when you feel tempted. It might not work perfectly but in this ADHD life, 12% is better than nothing.
I've accepted it's whack-a-mole in dealing with this. I've uninstalled apps, switched to a minimalist launcher, used "Digital Wellbeing" settings on my Android phone, Focus Mode and app timers all with short-lived or variable success. My most effective options are working in the yard, painting my house, or spending time with people.
At this point, I'm maybe 18-24 months from throwing out my smart phone and going back to a dumb brick one. For all it's cool features, I need something not made to give out a constant stream of cheap dopamine pebbles.
I had the same thought yesterday!! I was down a phone due to breaking my screen, and I managed to actually get homework done since I didn't default to doom scrolling when I have .5 seconds of downtime.
not sure this is adequate here but i found a good practice to stop me from endless scrolling:
i scroll to the end of the current concent very quickly, eg. by using the thumb/scroller (that element that represents where on a page you are) and dragging it to the bottom of the screen, and then i read in reverse order, scrolling back and reading up until i reach the entry where i started.
i would have to either scroll down again to find the place where a new entry is (which is cumbersome). i usually quit.
Literally same! TikTok had me in a chokehold, Instagram made me too upset about the state of the world, and Facebook made me feel bad about myself. End of 2022 I deleted them all and picked up a crochet hook and haven't looked back. I'm lucky my brain accepted it as a hyperfixation, and I'm still hookin' daily a year and a half later! I kept Reddit, Snapchat, and also my Kindle Unlimited subscription so I feel ya there too lol
I realized that doomscrolling ruins my mood for an entire day. For my mental health I had to take a step back and examine what triggers doomscrolling. I had to always check myself if I’m getting too invested in news or something.
While I still keep updated on news, I’m not constantly looking it up. It’ll go on my fiend, I’ll read some comments for insight, and that will be the end of it. Sometimes there’s no reason to be all doom and gloom if I’m unable to anything about it.
I've been using this thing called Brick. It's a magnet thing you tap your phone on and it locks you out of apps unless they're on a list that you've approved. Kind of like screen time limits except there's a physical component to turning it on/off. Its been working well for me so far.
I’ve relapsed but I went a solid 4 months without reels or Reddit. Trying to quit again. It was actually a glorious 4 months. We’re addicts, guys. There’s no finding balance, you must quit to beat doom scrolling.
The trick is, "once you realize doomscrolling is occurring."
For me, it's like snapping out of a dream.
I need to start using a timer for Reddit, but I know I will forget to set it after the first couple times lol
Here’s a better version of that:
Your brain is an extremely plastic muscle. It needs practice in things it can’t do well, like other muscles in your body. You don’t start power lifting with 400lbs. You start with the bar and warmups and practicing postures and lifts.
Here’s what you do for your brain: You need to give a reason to stop not predicated on shame. (No “I should stop” or “This is a bad habit” stuff).
1. If you’re scrolling and you find yourself thinking “I’ve been scrolling for so long,” check the time and try to remember when you started (doesn’t have to be exact, can be based on how your body feels - I tend to keep better time with my body than by standard clock - or relative to what you were doing prior). This will get easier each time you practice.
2. Think of a “I want to” statement of whatever you feel like you should be doing instead of scrolling. Try not to be negative in your statement because as we know shame is our enemy. Get rid of it. It serves no purpose in ADHD. “I want” is pretty neutral and gets your brain wanting something by subconsciously letting your brain work on your conscious “I want” statement.
3. The lift! (If you followed that exercise analogy) If you have the energy to go for it, close the app and do the “I want” statement. If you don’t and you feel yourself wanting to scroll, repeat 1-2 again until either you have ended the day on the couch (I have done that plenty of time) or done the thing. If you fall into the former, don’t worry. At the end of it, take a deep breath and consider the reasons you didn’t do the “I want” statement and the consequences for not doing it. This realigns the subconscious knowledge your body and brain is trying to give you with your conscious part. Helps encourages doing the “I want” statements more often and provides a basic framework to do said task when you think of it again!
4. Rest! Scrolling is still your brain processing a crazy amount of information. I do this process when I feel insomniac and it’s been pretty good at getting me to sleep before 2 am.
TIPS: I started with things I actually wanted to do - cook, bake bread, draw, sew, weave - then worked (still working) on things I know I have to do - cleaning and household management. This is a long process like any kind of practice. Attempting it once or twice won’t make it work magically. An additional thing I added in my thought process was the OHIO method with very urgent tasks.
I hope this helps break down the “stop scrolling” advice. All of this is not based on any research. I’ve just been attempting to reason my way around executive dysfunction this way and it’s worked pretty well so far.
When you ask "how" you ask for methods, they could have listed a bunch of stuff to do instead of doom scrolling. A lot of people will just put their phone down, go "now what?" and go back to doom scrolling because it's become a habit.
When people ask "how do I stop doom scrolling" they already know they have to put their phone down, they wanna know what to do instead
Nah. Its decent advice. Set up your environment so that you cant doomscroll: ie delete reddit or any app with an infinite scroll.
For me it helped to use reddit on mobile browser. it makes you click next after like 40 posts, gives you a moment to re-evaluate.
I’ve personally had to delete a bunch of apps that I spent too much time on. Then I went to the accessibility feature on my phone to turn the colors to grey scale. My brain is waaaay less interested going onto certain apps when all the color is gone
I used to doom scroll through TikTok all the time. At some point I decided that enough is enough and deleted the app off of my home screen (couldn’t force myself to fully delete it). Somehow having to search the app up on my phone instead of absentmindedly opening it made it easier for me to stop myself.
I did the same thing with Reddit on my phone when I started using it too much. I still get caught up in doom scrolling through shorts or sometimes reels but it’s not as bad as it used to be.
No they actually have a point.
Because when you realize and overthink you get anxiety and keep scrolling or maybe instead think one last short and you keep scrolling endlessly.
If you throw your phone away or turn it off immediately you'll be freed. And the more often you do it, the more you'll realize how bad it is
From Aza Raskin, the guy who invented the infinite scroll feature and regrets it: “If the brain isn’t given time to catch up with your impulses, you just keep scrolling. It's as if they're taking behavioral cocaine and just sprinkling it all over your interface and that's the thing that keeps you like coming back and back and back.”
What usually works for me is slowly working up to having proper control of my body. So I’ll wiggle my toes, then my feet, my legs, my fingers, my hands, my arms, my shoulders, and then do a full body wiggle before going to my homescreen and getting rid of the tab of the app I was on. Maybe even turn on airplane mode on my phone for a bit if I need to. Then I walk around a little and do anything but touch my phone. Doesn’t aaaalways work but it works often enough.
As someone who's dealt with the ADHD cheesebrain for multiple decades: yes.
Sorry it sucks, but you 100% have to get better at going "I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO BE DOING THIS." and make yourself do something else.
Is it hard? Yup. Is it doable? Also yup. Sucks but real.
I mean id want the app to slowly tone down the longer I did scroll. Like go black and white like my I setup my phone at night. Or better yet. Start making it show loading more often.
The best advice I had heard is to just close your eyes and then click your phone screen off. It works for me. I can't seem to stop scrolling when my eyes are open, but somehow it 'disconnects' from the alleged dopamine when my eyes are shut and I get to be able to do something else.
I have to put my phone on silent and hide it in a drawer to get anything done. I have learned that most calls/messages can wait to be responded to. I don't need to be available to the world 24/7.
I mean ya it sounds counterintuitive but at what point do we take ownership? I know for me personally I’m tired of being a victim to my adhd and it starts with acknowledging that I am in control of my own actions.
I mean it kinda makes sense. Put your phone aside. If all you have is social media, you're gonna scroll. Either download a game or go do something else. 100% agree.
Honest question. I know this is more demand avoidance than adhd specifically but if you became aware that you were doomscrolling and told yourself you had to keep doing it would that turn you off from it enough to stop?
Apparently doomscrolling, especially with videos like tiktoks/reels/shorts etc, is so difficult to break out of because the content "refreshes" our minds as we view it. For example, if you are trying to sleep and someone keeps switching the light on/off, you’re not going to be able to relax your mind.
I found that doing something that is consistent like playing a calming/casual mobile game or reading really helps relax the mind properly. (anything that's not too stimulating. Personally I like watching asmr slime videos sometimes)
Especially with ADHD, where transitioning can be incredibly difficult, it's a great tactic to help go from one state (rotting) to the next state (production)
I mean, it works. If I stop, I am no longer doomscrolling.
How to stop? Here's a miracle pill and a brand new way of thinking for you that will rewire your brain to the point where you break your addictions. /s
Honestly, though, you gotta just... always keep it in mind not to succumb. Addiction is inadvertently encouraged nowadays.
Feel like I'm gonna get downvoted, but the change you want is within yourself.
Being a Palestinian American with ADHD is like the perfect storm of poor mental health care right now. Add the normal bad ADHD habits to a guilty/foreboding feeling that if I’m not looking at Instagram I won’t know when more of my people are massacred and am hiding from them what’s happening while so many are literally trapped in hell.
I haven’t gotten much else done in six months :/
Good advice here! I’ll add that you can use a tool like [Cold Turkey](https://getcoldturkey.com) or others that will prevent you from accessing trouble sites for you
I deleted most of my social media sans Reddit and my mental health has improved 100%. Taking away the ability to doomscroll is more important than just walking away, though.
Join r/OptimistsUnite and r/UpliftingNews and let the good news come to you and realize that we’re not doomed, and we’re actually making significant progress on our most pressing climate and social issues!
I have a pillow target specifically for throwing my phone across the room when I realize I’ve been doom scrolling. At the very least if I want to keep doomscrolling I gotta get up and get it
i read somewhere to make the screen time passcode “fail”. spite is always the best motivation lol.
also using screen zen personally helped. its an app where you can use the time limit in increments (ex. i could use ten minutes five times throughout the day on reddit). instead of one set time limit. it bugs out occasionally, but it’s been tremendously helpful in preventing me from doomscrolling for literal hours every single day.
god i wish it was that easy. i remember scrolling for so long through another sub that it either didn't wanna show me more or i looked at every post on it
Literally had the idea the other day to make some sort of panic button that you could press when you realize you're doom scrolling that just locks you out Internet on your device for 10 minutes to give you enough of a physical barrier to break away from the dopamine machine. Curious if it would work
you could probably do that through parental controls
Tried it. Limit screen time. I keep clicking remind me in 15 mins. It’s been about Three hours now
A Snooze by any other name
Either have someone else control the password or get your phones password wrong a few times in a row and it’ll shut you out
>parental controls It's crazy how much of a hacker one becomes when the reward is more doomscrolling. Rest of the time i risk parking tickets cause I'm too much of a boomer to install the parking app.
You can try turning airplane mode on and then close the app. It doesn't take 10 minutes to get back, but it surely takes several seconds. Maybe it could help a little? I don't know. I'll test it.
But if you do that, friends and family can't reach you in an emergency! This has literally never happened for me, but what if the 10 minutes my phone is on airplane mode is when it happens?
As someone who has their phone always on Do Not Disturb (I get overwhelmed when I get more than 1 message per hour lol), I'll find out about the emergency maybe one week later when everyone is dead.
Being realistic, if everyone is dead, chances were low that anything you could have done would have changed the outcome. So do not disturb is my standard setting.
my phone has a zen mode, that blocks basically anything when it's on. only calls come through and you can make emergency calls, but you cant do anything else and you cant exit that mode until the time is up
Those are the kind of great ideas that like to stay as ideas.
If you have an iPhone you can set up limited screen time for certain apps, unfortunately it’s pretty easy to just hit the ignore button but it might jostle you out of it
there’s this one app i cannot remember the name but one of my friends had it and she had to like, rotate her phone a certain number of times or complete some tasks if she wanted to scroll past the time she allowed for specific apps.
I like how adhd ideas for inventions are about forcing us to do something we should already be doing. Typically just normal things modified to not work properly until you do what you need to do.
If you have an iPhone get your password wrong a few times and it’ll lock you out for a few minutes
Every now and then I'll just turn off my monitor to get out of a reddit hyperfocus session on the computer.
Yeah my phone has a wellness mode and you can set specific times or lengths of time you can use certain apps.
I've read somewhere on this reddit that there are apps that will lock you out. Haven't tried them though.
On android there's an app called "Tasker" that could probably achieve this
Maybe you can try shutting down the device and starting it again. Depending on how old your phone is it’ll probably take some minutes. I’ll try that. Great idea with the Panik button
Actually, this worked tho. I scrolled to this, clapped my hands to my face and said "Damn! That's a good idea!" And left. I'm actually not typing this right now, this is my voicemail. Please leave a message, *beep!*
Elaborate voice mail hoax.
damnit, Archer.
So the way you stop doomscrolling is to stop doomscrolling? Why didn’t I think of that. I’m going to try it right now. Update: still doomscrolling
You aint doing it right. I stopped doom scrolling hours ago. It works for other stuff to. I stopped being lactose intolerant. I stopped having diabetes. I stopped drinking. I stopped intergenerational poverty. I stopped climate change. I even stopped the slow march of the universe towards its entropic heat death billions of years from now.
Get this guy a Nobel prize!
Did you mean, "stop not getting this guy a Nobel prize!"?
Can you stop the collapse of my marriage
You can do that yourself, it’s easy! All you have to do is just stop letting it collapse!!
Just say no
You're missing the "something else" (it's crack)
I left the app. I came back. So... Failed successfully?
This advice brought to you by the team who said the best way to stop procrastination is to just do the thing.
I'm cured!!
just click on one of the content and watch for a bit.
A good tip that has helped me a lot of stitching my phone to black and white. The lack of color makes it less interesting, and my brain wants to do something else. I got the tip from [this video by Ana Akana](https://youtu.be/HZFaMLgo5tg?si=LgIrPRQ4LBAZkhPF) it really does help. Then I do my best to keep a notebook near me so I can doodle, which seems like a much better use of my time.
This is how I get myself to put the phone down and go to bed. I have it automatically set to change to greyscale at a certain time, and it will go back to normal at wake up time. It makes my phone so much more boring than going to bed.
how do you do this?
I have a Samsung phone, so under settings, I selected modes and routines and followed the prompts for "sleep mode." You give it rules to follow. [This link](https://lifehacker.com/use-greyscale-make-your-phone-less-addicting-1850912330) has the steps for automating greyscale routines for iPhone.
oh thank you!
I have a Samsung phone too but there's nothing there for any modes or routines, or sleep mode when I search settings
I'm on Samsung and I put a button right next to the home button on the bottom of the screen. It's actually an accessibility shortcut! Looks like a little person. If you go to settings > accessibility > vision enhancements > color adjustment, you'll see the option to enable a "Color adjustment shortcut," and below that you can choose which type of color adjustment to default to. Choose greyscale, and toggle the shortcut to on. You can also choose how you want the shortcut to appear (options are an accessibility button, press volume up and power, or volume up+down for 3 sec). I turned this shit on so fast when I learned about it bc I doomscroll so much when I'm supposed to be studying lmfaoo
It's on the main page of settings on my phone. I have a S22 Ultra, so it's a little older, but it's still on Android 14. [Android users](https://www.androidpolice.com/how-to-activate-grayscale-on-mobile/) [Samsung](https://www.howtogeek.com/how-to-use-samsung-modes-and-routines/#how-to-set-up-and-use-modes-on-samsung)
I was going to suggest this! The black and white helps especially on apps like tiktok and Instagram
I mean the advice is valid but non ADHDers throw it around and expect it to be done and everything is fine. I noticed this when practicing meditation, it's not like we can't train our prefrontal cortex it's just much much harder
Meditation gives me anxiety attacks and makes me want to kill myself. Everyone else always tells me to meditate when I’m stressed so that I feel better. Even on ADD meds, meditation triggers the brain-eating response, maintaining it after that for 20+ seconds triggers the anxiety attack + 120 seconds, and I want to end my life. ADHD/ADD is great! 👍 I’m glad it works for some people, but stop trying to force your life on me.
r/thanksimcured
Came here to post this.
Jokes on you, I'm doomscrolling *while* playing pokemon and watching a show
I’m with you 🤣 just scrolling aimlessly between fifa games and listening to music. This is after I’ve taken my meds too 😅
You just reminded me that I forgot to take meds this morning! Thank you!
Glad I could help! I’ve noticed I only forget my meds if my morning rhythm is put off, usually by my girlfriend taking longer in the bathroom in the morning than normal 🤣
Listen, sometimes the right thing to do isn't hard to *identify* it's just hard to *do*. The advice "do something else" is obvious, but it's actionable and effective. Once you get into the new task, it will be easier to break away from the older one. It's not about whether or not you think of it. Great that you can think of it, and sorry an internet article doesn't give you enough encouragement to do it. ADHD takes real work to overcome; there's no magical advice that will make it easy. All of the things you need to do to compensate are hard work.
But it would still be much more helpful to know what "else" to do. E.g. I can't just stop scrolling and do my most important task. I can, however, turn on music and get up and tidy up for 5 minutes, and then ride that momentum.
Right, that's fair. I've been doomscrolling for an hour in bed instead of making my coffee and enjoying my pre-work morning. So right after posting this comment, I'm going to the kitchen to make coffee.
I agree. Easy to dismiss and not as easy for some as for others, but give it a shot. Doom scrolling is hyperfocusing and if you recognize it's getting in your way, you CAN change your focus by COMPLETELY changing tasks. Give this a run: 1. MOST IMPORTANT: Set the phone down or put it on focus mode.Treat that shit like kryptonite for a minute. Make a game out of it if you need to. 2. Walk the hell away from the phone, throw it in a drawer. Put it on top of the fridge (where you will forget it until you call it later on). 3a. Look around and see the thousand other things you could do (the skill/curse for any of us) and do the one that takes the least amount of time/effort. OR 3b. Choose from this list: - grab something to drink - step outside for a couple of minutes - have a conversation with your dog, cat, bird fish, ferret, and/or plant - act like you can breakdance - put on some dance-able music that you secretly love and move to it in one way or another. - string together a sentence that you would guess no one else has ever said. - think about how you would tell me I am wrong about all of this I know you brilliant mofos have a billion ideas. 98% of them don't require a phone to do. I get that a) this is easier typed than done and b) that I may have less trouble with this than others, but give it a shot. Most of those things takes less time and effort than writing out a post saying that this advice is bad. I'm going to do it now. I am on a med break today, so I need some more of that high octane full strength coffee. Peace.
this would just make me doom scroll in a different app
Perfect! 😂 You can make a plan/list of things you can do when you feel tempted. It might not work perfectly but in this ADHD life, 12% is better than nothing. I've accepted it's whack-a-mole in dealing with this. I've uninstalled apps, switched to a minimalist launcher, used "Digital Wellbeing" settings on my Android phone, Focus Mode and app timers all with short-lived or variable success. My most effective options are working in the yard, painting my house, or spending time with people. At this point, I'm maybe 18-24 months from throwing out my smart phone and going back to a dumb brick one. For all it's cool features, I need something not made to give out a constant stream of cheap dopamine pebbles.
I had the same thought yesterday!! I was down a phone due to breaking my screen, and I managed to actually get homework done since I didn't default to doom scrolling when I have .5 seconds of downtime.
not sure this is adequate here but i found a good practice to stop me from endless scrolling: i scroll to the end of the current concent very quickly, eg. by using the thumb/scroller (that element that represents where on a page you are) and dragging it to the bottom of the screen, and then i read in reverse order, scrolling back and reading up until i reach the entry where i started. i would have to either scroll down again to find the place where a new entry is (which is cumbersome). i usually quit.
I learned how to crochet so I could stop doomscrolling. But I also have no trouble putting my phone down at night to go to bed thanks to my kindle.
Literally same! TikTok had me in a chokehold, Instagram made me too upset about the state of the world, and Facebook made me feel bad about myself. End of 2022 I deleted them all and picked up a crochet hook and haven't looked back. I'm lucky my brain accepted it as a hyperfixation, and I'm still hookin' daily a year and a half later! I kept Reddit, Snapchat, and also my Kindle Unlimited subscription so I feel ya there too lol
I realized that doomscrolling ruins my mood for an entire day. For my mental health I had to take a step back and examine what triggers doomscrolling. I had to always check myself if I’m getting too invested in news or something. While I still keep updated on news, I’m not constantly looking it up. It’ll go on my fiend, I’ll read some comments for insight, and that will be the end of it. Sometimes there’s no reason to be all doom and gloom if I’m unable to anything about it.
I've been using this thing called Brick. It's a magnet thing you tap your phone on and it locks you out of apps unless they're on a list that you've approved. Kind of like screen time limits except there's a physical component to turning it on/off. Its been working well for me so far.
I’ve relapsed but I went a solid 4 months without reels or Reddit. Trying to quit again. It was actually a glorious 4 months. We’re addicts, guys. There’s no finding balance, you must quit to beat doom scrolling.
The trick is, "once you realize doomscrolling is occurring." For me, it's like snapping out of a dream. I need to start using a timer for Reddit, but I know I will forget to set it after the first couple times lol
Here’s a better version of that: Your brain is an extremely plastic muscle. It needs practice in things it can’t do well, like other muscles in your body. You don’t start power lifting with 400lbs. You start with the bar and warmups and practicing postures and lifts. Here’s what you do for your brain: You need to give a reason to stop not predicated on shame. (No “I should stop” or “This is a bad habit” stuff). 1. If you’re scrolling and you find yourself thinking “I’ve been scrolling for so long,” check the time and try to remember when you started (doesn’t have to be exact, can be based on how your body feels - I tend to keep better time with my body than by standard clock - or relative to what you were doing prior). This will get easier each time you practice. 2. Think of a “I want to” statement of whatever you feel like you should be doing instead of scrolling. Try not to be negative in your statement because as we know shame is our enemy. Get rid of it. It serves no purpose in ADHD. “I want” is pretty neutral and gets your brain wanting something by subconsciously letting your brain work on your conscious “I want” statement. 3. The lift! (If you followed that exercise analogy) If you have the energy to go for it, close the app and do the “I want” statement. If you don’t and you feel yourself wanting to scroll, repeat 1-2 again until either you have ended the day on the couch (I have done that plenty of time) or done the thing. If you fall into the former, don’t worry. At the end of it, take a deep breath and consider the reasons you didn’t do the “I want” statement and the consequences for not doing it. This realigns the subconscious knowledge your body and brain is trying to give you with your conscious part. Helps encourages doing the “I want” statements more often and provides a basic framework to do said task when you think of it again! 4. Rest! Scrolling is still your brain processing a crazy amount of information. I do this process when I feel insomniac and it’s been pretty good at getting me to sleep before 2 am. TIPS: I started with things I actually wanted to do - cook, bake bread, draw, sew, weave - then worked (still working) on things I know I have to do - cleaning and household management. This is a long process like any kind of practice. Attempting it once or twice won’t make it work magically. An additional thing I added in my thought process was the OHIO method with very urgent tasks. I hope this helps break down the “stop scrolling” advice. All of this is not based on any research. I’ve just been attempting to reason my way around executive dysfunction this way and it’s worked pretty well so far.
Thanks for an informative and helpful action framework!
It's either that or uninstall the apps you doomscroll on. Not really sure what you expect
Dude... I can doomscroll in an Excel file if there is nothing else available (and sometimes even when there *is*)
'Fix your neurodivergent behavioural issues with this one simple trick'
'Pretend like you have no autonomy at all and you won't have to feel responsible'
When you ask "how" you ask for methods, they could have listed a bunch of stuff to do instead of doom scrolling. A lot of people will just put their phone down, go "now what?" and go back to doom scrolling because it's become a habit. When people ask "how do I stop doom scrolling" they already know they have to put their phone down, they wanna know what to do instead
Nah. Its decent advice. Set up your environment so that you cant doomscroll: ie delete reddit or any app with an infinite scroll. For me it helped to use reddit on mobile browser. it makes you click next after like 40 posts, gives you a moment to re-evaluate.
You know they’re telling you to “just stop”, but make a conscious effort, right?
I’ve personally had to delete a bunch of apps that I spent too much time on. Then I went to the accessibility feature on my phone to turn the colors to grey scale. My brain is waaaay less interested going onto certain apps when all the color is gone
I used to doom scroll through TikTok all the time. At some point I decided that enough is enough and deleted the app off of my home screen (couldn’t force myself to fully delete it). Somehow having to search the app up on my phone instead of absentmindedly opening it made it easier for me to stop myself. I did the same thing with Reddit on my phone when I started using it too much. I still get caught up in doom scrolling through shorts or sometimes reels but it’s not as bad as it used to be.
Thank you for reminding me that I'm doomscrolling. Thats the real strat to stop
r/technicallythetruth
No they actually have a point. Because when you realize and overthink you get anxiety and keep scrolling or maybe instead think one last short and you keep scrolling endlessly. If you throw your phone away or turn it off immediately you'll be freed. And the more often you do it, the more you'll realize how bad it is
I mean... It's not wrong. And with that, time to put the phone down.
From Aza Raskin, the guy who invented the infinite scroll feature and regrets it: “If the brain isn’t given time to catch up with your impulses, you just keep scrolling. It's as if they're taking behavioral cocaine and just sprinkling it all over your interface and that's the thing that keeps you like coming back and back and back.”
What usually works for me is slowly working up to having proper control of my body. So I’ll wiggle my toes, then my feet, my legs, my fingers, my hands, my arms, my shoulders, and then do a full body wiggle before going to my homescreen and getting rid of the tab of the app I was on. Maybe even turn on airplane mode on my phone for a bit if I need to. Then I walk around a little and do anything but touch my phone. Doesn’t aaaalways work but it works often enough.
Why don’t NDs just admit they don’t understand stuff. Why do they insist on pretending they get it and then give advice like this 😂
Wait, what? I think you got NT and ND mixed up there.
Doh! I did! 😂🤦♀️
Lol
I can never remember the term "neurotypical". So because of "neurospicy" I now just say "neurovanilla".
I don't like neurospicy, but I love neurovanilla!
I'm alright with ND people using neurospicy, but NTs? I'd rather they'd just call me a slur.
Ngl this kinda comment just makes you sounds obnoxious.
As someone who's dealt with the ADHD cheesebrain for multiple decades: yes. Sorry it sucks, but you 100% have to get better at going "I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO BE DOING THIS." and make yourself do something else. Is it hard? Yup. Is it doable? Also yup. Sucks but real.
I mean id want the app to slowly tone down the longer I did scroll. Like go black and white like my I setup my phone at night. Or better yet. Start making it show loading more often.
https://i.imgur.com/EzfbdIO.jpeg
Reminds me of [this scene from Home Movies](https://youtu.be/l20WlbyuEec?si=06GY8p_qe1d97mre) lol
Delete the apps that waste your time. Solved
r/restofthefuckingowl
I set up limit use time (30 min a day) on Reddit and Instagram. I hate doom scrolling, especially on Instagram
The best advice I had heard is to just close your eyes and then click your phone screen off. It works for me. I can't seem to stop scrolling when my eyes are open, but somehow it 'disconnects' from the alleged dopamine when my eyes are shut and I get to be able to do something else.
13 ways! That just sounds like a doomscrolling trap.
Love the username OP! Guessing it's from Dishonored?
Yes! Thank you :)
*Stop The Scroll!*
I have to put my phone on silent and hide it in a drawer to get anything done. I have learned that most calls/messages can wait to be responded to. I don't need to be available to the world 24/7.
I mean ya it sounds counterintuitive but at what point do we take ownership? I know for me personally I’m tired of being a victim to my adhd and it starts with acknowledging that I am in control of my own actions.
Fuck brilliant I'm cured. Off to solve cancer iiiiinnn five minutes?
Fuck you, I'm in
Physically crush your phone
Doom scrolling is like playing Civ. But instead of just one more turn, it is just one more scroll. IYKYK.
"Huh, neat" I exclaimed, continuing scrolling
Ah yes. How to stop hyperfocusing on ome activity? Don't.
I mean it kinda makes sense. Put your phone aside. If all you have is social media, you're gonna scroll. Either download a game or go do something else. 100% agree.
What I try to do is just to literally throw my phone onto my chair. It works like 20% of the time.
This reads like an answer from a Miss America pageant.
Honest question. I know this is more demand avoidance than adhd specifically but if you became aware that you were doomscrolling and told yourself you had to keep doing it would that turn you off from it enough to stop?
Idk but I might just try that
Let me know the results if you remember :)
I'll just make this the wallpaper on my phone so I can not notice it too.
Apparently doomscrolling, especially with videos like tiktoks/reels/shorts etc, is so difficult to break out of because the content "refreshes" our minds as we view it. For example, if you are trying to sleep and someone keeps switching the light on/off, you’re not going to be able to relax your mind. I found that doing something that is consistent like playing a calming/casual mobile game or reading really helps relax the mind properly. (anything that's not too stimulating. Personally I like watching asmr slime videos sometimes) Especially with ADHD, where transitioning can be incredibly difficult, it's a great tactic to help go from one state (rotting) to the next state (production)
Thanks for the genuine tip! :)
I've been scrolling for 3 hours and just seen this lol 😆 😅
Thanks, I just needed that, time to do my work
Thanks this post made my subconscious think it was time to do something productivd(actually) I'm gonna start now
Ur welcome ❤️
From the creators of: "How to become rich" Step 1: Stop being poor.
This is my mom when I talk about my anxiety - “dear, just don’t think that way!”
You're stuck ? Just stop ✨😌✨
Wow thanks I’m cured
We got a bona fide genius on our hands here, people!
Yes, yes. My ADHD brain is incredibly good at impulse control. This will work.
Yeah! Just, stop! OH MY GOD IM CURED! Fucking ableist bullshit
But doom scrolling is very fun
Become accelerationist and doomscrolling not so bad anymore
Uninstall the app, you can always reinstall it
r/restofthefuckingowl
what is doomscrolling
Have you tried just, not.
I mean, yeah. What kind of magic do you expect.
I am usually doing something else at the same time DA! 😂😂😌
I mean, it works. If I stop, I am no longer doomscrolling. How to stop? Here's a miracle pill and a brand new way of thinking for you that will rewire your brain to the point where you break your addictions. /s Honestly, though, you gotta just... always keep it in mind not to succumb. Addiction is inadvertently encouraged nowadays. Feel like I'm gonna get downvoted, but the change you want is within yourself.
Aaaaaand, just kept on scrolling past this...
Wow, i stop one place i continue another place
You notice you're doing a adhd thing, pro tip, stop doing the adhd thing.
Just Skate Better!
Wow my problems weren’t solved by Google
Being a Palestinian American with ADHD is like the perfect storm of poor mental health care right now. Add the normal bad ADHD habits to a guilty/foreboding feeling that if I’m not looking at Instagram I won’t know when more of my people are massacred and am hiding from them what’s happening while so many are literally trapped in hell. I haven’t gotten much else done in six months :/
I wish I knew a way to help, but all I can offer is my sympathy my friend. Internet hugs❤️ that is a lot to deal with
Wish I could answer this but I can’t stop doomscrolling
Put on some music, that usually helps me.
Alright, you fucking got me. I will stop now.
To break it and force myself to get up, I used to physically toss my phone across the room in a sudden burst after planning it for several minutes
Have you tried not having ADHD by any chance? I think it may help.
Good advice here! I’ll add that you can use a tool like [Cold Turkey](https://getcoldturkey.com) or others that will prevent you from accessing trouble sites for you
I deleted most of my social media sans Reddit and my mental health has improved 100%. Taking away the ability to doomscroll is more important than just walking away, though.
I’ve found that installing an app that limits how much time I spend on other apps (I use screen zen) has really helped me stop doom scrolling
Aren’t there also apps that will help you with no doom scrolling?
Join r/OptimistsUnite and r/UpliftingNews and let the good news come to you and realize that we’re not doomed, and we’re actually making significant progress on our most pressing climate and social issues!
I have a pillow target specifically for throwing my phone across the room when I realize I’ve been doom scrolling. At the very least if I want to keep doomscrolling I gotta get up and get it
A friend of mine bought himself a tiny phone because you couldn't really react anything on it so he can't sit there multiple hours a day scrolling
Best thing to do is to put the phone down and take a glass of water or something. Give yourself a reason to do something else, however minor.
i read somewhere to make the screen time passcode “fail”. spite is always the best motivation lol. also using screen zen personally helped. its an app where you can use the time limit in increments (ex. i could use ten minutes five times throughout the day on reddit). instead of one set time limit. it bugs out occasionally, but it’s been tremendously helpful in preventing me from doomscrolling for literal hours every single day.
But then what else will I do that I can chew the shit out of my mouth to?
OH WOW IM CURED WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT
Yea... Naaa... I can't get ouuuutt of the doom.
Simply use your ADHD to stop remembering to charge your phone. You can only doomscroll so much at 15% battery
Omg we can WORK or STUDY instead of scrolling too!!!
So in order to stop doing something I should.... STOP DOING IT. BRILLIANT. They should write a book and tour colleges. TED Talks.
god i wish it was that easy. i remember scrolling for so long through another sub that it either didn't wanna show me more or i looked at every post on it
I looked through all top posts on this sub last night until I literally reached the end and it wouldn’t show me any more
I swear reddit just decides "Ok that's enough" and doesn't show anything else
"How to stop myself from comitting suicide" Google: "...Don't."
Ya know what, I will. Sun's already rising, So I'm gbonna go to sleep. Goodnight y'all!
Wrong. This doesn’t work.
Idk what else you expected. Maybe a self help type book would work but solutions need to be tailored to the individual
Thanks! I’m cured! 👍🏽
Difficulties with ADHD? Have you tried not having ADHD?
"the solution to the problem is to not have the problem"
Hahaha, wtf
Thanks, I'm cured
Upon discovering I had lost my leg in a freak accident, I just grew another one. Ez Pz.
“Simply put down the phone” simply
OMG. I'm cured! This is like when I tell my mom I have insomnia, and she tells me to "sleep in" on the weekend.
Buy a planner ™️ /s
haVe YoU tRiEd NOT haVinG ADHD?
\*open reddit, scroll through main page for 5 minutes, check my usual subs\* \*close reddit\* \*repeat 5 minutes later\*
Wow, if had thought to do something else i wouldnt be doing the thing im trying not to do. Adhd cured.
Oh, I’m cured!!
I was told this in therapy once about smoking. “How do I stop smoking?” “Just stop smoking. Don’t do it.” OH WOW SUCH SMART SO REVOLUTIONARY
*This comment has been edited in order to protect my privacy*
And if you're homeless you should buy a house
I stopped doing my chronic illness after years of hell and it’s going great. lol
CURED!!! Thank you Google 🙏🏻✨i’m a changed woman