Coping with Negative News: Emotional Experience of Doomscrolling

The majority of news encountered in media spaces tends to be negative. At the same time, the flow of information in the modern world is increasing, and series of successive crises prompting heightened attention to such content. There is such a phenomenon as doomscrolling. This study explores how doomscrollers describe their emotional experience of consuming news and strategies for managing negative emotions. Drawing upon empirical data from 47 interviews with doomscrollers conducted between late 2022 and early 2023. Informants associate negative news consumption with emotions such as anxiety (egotropic and sociotropic), helplessness/powerlessness (low external political efficacy and inability to control one's own life), apathy, and anger. Emotional experiences are often described using medicalized and psychotherapeutic vocabulary. Doomscrollers refer to their emotions as a form of illness, manifesting in the use of specialized terms, references to attempts at regulation with the help of healthcare professionals, and emphasis on the physical health consequences of news consumption. The coping strategies for dealing with these emotions are diverse. Informants may attempt to change their media consumption style by limiting their attention to negative news. At the same time, doomscrollers who maintain a high level of news consumption engage in active discussion and collective emotional experiences and may shift their attention to other daily activities. However, the practices of doomscrollers and the meanings they ascribe to their experiences are highly variable and diverse.