Doomscrolling

Chances are you’ve heard of this new word, doomscrolling. You've actually probably found yourself doing it. Doomscrolling is the act of continuously scrolling through social media or surfing the web and taking in a constant torrent of bad news. It’s gotten way more attention during the pandemic as there was plenty of bad news to go around!

For many, doomscrolling has become a mindless habit. It can be so mindless that you might find yourself picking up your phone and start scrolling without even being aware of it. Doomscrolling can reinforce negative thoughts and a negative mindset, something that can greatly impact your mental health. Whether it’s reading about another shooting, political strife, racial tension, or just mindless twitter feed, our minds can take a beating to this constant negativity. We can become angry, pathetic, hopeless, discouraged or even depressed by taking in the bad news of the day.

I find myself scrolling instead to Psalm 73 in the Bible. Psalm 73 actually gives help to the doomscrolling habit. If you’ve ever wondered how something could happen to you or your family that seemed so unfair and so wrong, this is the Psalm for you. How could a good God allow all this bad stuff to happen? The writer of the Psalm, Asaph, was acknowledging that God was good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. (Psalm 73:1) But, Asaph was in trouble. Crazy bad trouble. His feet almost slipped. He lost his grip. He was ready to walk away. He, quite frankly, was ready to throw in the towel.

So much BAD had happened! Asaph saw how other not-so-good people were being treated and he was envious! Suddenly, Asaph started paying attention to these people and it led him down a bad path. It was like he was doomscrolling over and over what the important people of his day had, (their bodies, their health, their possessions, the company they kept, etc) and his conclusion? What a rip-off!!! God, it’s not fair!

I find the Psalmist one I can relate to. He’s brutally honest about his feelings, his struggles with God and his envy. But, finally, after he’s poured his heart out to God, he did something hugely important in Psalm 73:16-17 “When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.” 

At that point, everything changed in what Asaph said. He brought his confusion to God. He worshipped God and got God’s infinite perspective, not his own human one. He saw himself and how envy had affected Him. He saw His God clearly and gained an eternal perspective. Asaph prayed so beautifully in these verses “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:23-26)

Doomscrolling can take us down a dismal path of gloom and doom. When we go to God and get His perspective, things change.

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain of the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.