Social media addiction

Social media addiction is a behavioural addiction that is characterised as being overly concerned about social media, driven by an uncontrollable urge to log on to or use social media and devoting so much time and effort to it that it impairs other important life areas.

Although the majority of peoples’ use of social media is non-problematic, a small percentage of users do become addicted to social networking sites and engage in excessive or compulsive use.

Doom scrolling is real!

The term “doomscrolling” first caught on in early 2020, right around the time the world went into a pandemic-induced lockdown. Doomscrolling is when you spend a lot of time online consuming negative news. You may feel like you have to — like you just can’t tear yourself away from all the horrible headlines.

While you doomscroll, you may also tell yourself that you’re just doing it to stay informed about what’s going on in the world. But there’s something deeper at play. It can easily become a habit, locking you into a loop of feeling bad and then reading the news to confirm that you should be feeling bad.

Internet addiction

Internet addiction is recognised as a mental health disorder. The World Health Organisation (WHO) included ‘gaming disorder’ in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in 2018, recognising excessive gaming as a mental health disorder.

Effects of blue light

Blue light exposure, particularly at night, can disrupt our sleep patterns by interfering with the production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep. Additionally, it can contribute to eye strain, dry eyes, headaches and even long-term vision problems such as macular degeneration.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 14th, 2025