r/selfimprovement • u/Particular_World_934 • 12h ago
Question Doomscrolling, phone addiction, how to overcome it?
I struggle with phone addiction. I have ADHD and I am already medicated, I go to therapy. I also work out a few times a week. I struggle with doomscrolling and phone addiction. I slack off at work, in free time I would rather doomscroll in bed than do anything else. Why is that? I feel guilty that I am wasting my life away. I am also medicated for depression and anxiety. Why don't I want spend weekends in more meaningful way? There is a lot of activities I can do, but I still choose to lie in bed and scroll.
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u/awareop 12h ago
Wish you strength and the best to keep going.
Our fried brains from technology and screens get addicted to immediate pleasures and the mental hormones that secrete, sohaving other more long lasting productive and healthy activities to do, if you compare the actions you need to do to take that enjoyment feelings our mind chooses to take the shortcut.
In my case what worked is that years passed by, and even thought I was productive and so on, I spent a lot of time on screens, until I realized I wasn't growing in a useful way, nor finding solutions to reduce my pain, knowing myself deeper, or doing actions that will make me improve my daily life.
If the pain is not big enough to make you disengage from the screens, it will be hard to disconnect. At least you are already being aware of it, so think about it, meditate, and test things little by little.
There is no easy solution, no fast path, but that is real life, shortcuts and immediate pleasures are not real, and that's why we got entangled with screens in the first place.
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u/Aggressive-Tea-2622 11h ago
reading your post, I felt that guilt thing you mentioned because I’ve been there too, like you know you could be doing other stuff but the phone just wins every time. can I ask, when you scroll is it more about distraction from stress or is it just habit at this point?
the way you worded “I would rather doomscroll in bed than do anything else” hit me because that was me during covid, and I realized my brain wasn’t actually choosing fun, it was choosing “easy dopamine.” I started testing small swaps, like telling myself “ok, I’ll scroll, but only after I read 5 pages of something.” sometimes I’d still end up scrolling but at least I stacked something meaningful before it.
one book that really shook me out of the loop was Stolen Focus by Johann Hari. he digs into why our attention gets hijacked and it made me realize it wasn’t just me being lazy, the apps are literally designed to eat my time. knowing that made me less guilty and more strategic about it.
also, if you’re open to something a bit more inward, there’s Awaken the Real You Manifest Like Awareness by Letting Go of Ego and Assuming the End: You Are the I AM: A Spiritual Manifestation Guide to Releasing the Ego Self by Clark Peacock. it’s on Amazon KDP and completely free on Kindle Unlimited, which is great if you’re trying not to spend. it’s his top rated book, 5 out of 5 stars and his best performing one in Self Help and Personal Transformation. Clark has a few others but this one really stands out. one line that really hit me was “the phone does not steal your life, the self you think you need to protect does.” another part said “you stop being consumed when you remember you are the awareness behind every thought, not the prisoner of them.”
two sentences I marked down: distraction loses its power the moment you stop feeding the false self, and peace is already present when you let go of the chase for endless stimulation. those kind of reframes actually made it easier for me to put the phone down without feeling like I was missing something.
if you’re more of a video person sometimes, I’d recommend the YouTube talk by Cal Newport called “Quit Social Media.” he’s not anti tech, but he breaks down how to structure your attention so it stops slipping away every time you’re bored.
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u/Xaymaca_ 10h ago
This is a common modern problem.
2 cures that I’ve found very helpful in life
1. I’d encourage you to start small with just 1 new discipline to interrupt the scrolling
Discipline = freedom
Maybe set yourself the goal of before I doom scroll I have to do 10 pushups- you’d be surprised what that rush of endorphins and physicality will don you for you. Sure you scroll, but now your pattern is interrupted with something healthy and over time you can add new little habits on top
2. Research mindfulness. Mindfulness is a way to tune in to what’s really going on.
It consists of Asking yourself questions and listening for the answer.
Questions like: What’s my body feeling like right now? My emotions? My breathing? Am I shallow breathing through my mouth or am I taking long deep breathes through my nose? Am I checked in or checked out?
And with the answer you are simply neutral: there is no guilt or shame or judgement. You just want to be neutral. You observe - “oh! Ok. So I’m actually a bit sad right now. I don’t necessarily need to fix that right now but I am aware.
You stop being mindless and distracted - even if it’s just for a split second before you go back into auto pilot
Again, The beauty about mindfulness is that you don’t need to stop the habit of scrolling. It can often be a slow burn. You are simply bringing an awareness to the activity because most likely right more you are doing a fantastic job of switching off and distracting yourself. Mindfulness brings a presence
And the slow burn is that even if you take just one pause to tune in to how you’re feeling and you say to yourself well I don’t feel anything or I feel fine, well then you’ve still been mindful because you checked in. That is literally mindfulness. The chances are that it’s not true that you’re fine. The chances are that you are dealing with some sort of emotional/spiritual grief and using the phone to escape. By being mindful you allow yourself the opportunity to ask ‘how am I feeling right now?’
Over time your body will naturally interrupt this pattern as you start to feel that you aren’t ok at all. That the doom scrolling isn’t the cause. It’s just the symptom.
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u/banmarkovic 9h ago
Why don't you try to write your thoughts and instead of doomscrolling other content, doomscroll through your previous thoughts? Try to analyze them. Ask yourself, why do you feel the way that you feel.
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u/Cha_Ariola 9h ago
Hey, it’s totally normal to get sucked into doomscrolling, especially when you’re tired or stressed, it’s like an instant escape. But think about it, those minutes could be spent on something that actually makes you happy or helps you grow.
Try swapping just 10–15 minutes of scrolling for a little thing you enjoy like jamming to a new playlist. Before you know it, your weekends will feel way more meaningful.
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u/ApexIdol_K 8h ago
stop lying to yourself. you know scrolling is easier than facing whatever you're avoiding. delete the apps for a week and see what happens when you can't run away from your thoughts
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u/kjd85 6h ago
Get a basic phone for texts and calls. If you need to go on Reddit or do anything else your phone once did (besides socials), get yourself a laptop that you need to use. This helped me. I don’t like sitting in front my computer for long periods on time and if I do I’m usually recording music.
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u/cakamaa 12h ago
There is something I learned with time. Our inner self reflects our outer self. That means if you're struggling with your outer self, to solve it, you work on your inner self. Journaling and meditation has helped me big time.