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Updated October 15th, 2021 at 19:24 IST

Doomscrolling COVID content on social media can spoil mood in two minutes, study finds

Just two minutes of scrolling through COVID-related content on Twitter or YouTube can spoil people’s moods, cause anxiety and even depression, experts said.

Reported by: Harsh Vardhan
doomscrolling
Image: Unsplash, Pixabay | Image:self
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While we are already dealing with numerous repercussions of the COVID pandemic, new research has unveiled another one that was unnoticed till now. Psychologists from the University of Essex, revealed via their study, that only two minutes of 'doomscrolling' social media pages, that are filled with COVID-related content, can spoil your mood, Daily Mail reported. On the other hand, it hasn’t been a hidden fact that cases of anxiety and depression among adults increased to an all-time high across the globe during the pandemic.

Avoid COVID-related content to stay lively

Several studies conducted during the pandemic have shown results that people were exposed to a higher level of stress, anxiety and depression. Whereas this research, compiled from two observations, revealed that only two minutes of scrolling through COVID-related content on Twitter or YouTube can instantly spoil people’s mood, cause anxiety and even push them to depression. 

The experts arrived at this conclusion after they observed a group of people to determine how much time it took them to negatively react to the pandemic-oriented content. As per Daily Mail, research volunteers in two separate groups were asked to randomly scroll through COVID-related news on Twitter and videos on YouTube for a few minutes. Just a few minutes in and the volunteers reported being in a bad mood as compared to how they were before the content consumption. 

The experts reportedly stated that it took just an average of two minutes for all consumers to experience a lower state of well-being. Interestingly, the volunteers were also showed positive news and videos following a depressing experience which showed to have a better impact. 

This helped the researchers to conclude that it is not just the duration of scrolling through social media, but also the quality of content that decides a person’s mental state. 

Previous studies like the one conducted by researchers at the Goethe University Frankfurt had revealed that physical activity levels have gone down significantly, and psychological well-being has suffered during the coronavirus lockdown. After surveying over 15,000 people across different countries, the study found that 73% of the participants' overall psychological well-being had deteriorated, and depression had tripled.

Image: Unsplash, Pixabay

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Published October 15th, 2021 at 19:27 IST

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