We’re all doomed!
PERHAPS the internet is not so much a boon as a plague on all our houses. Smartphone and tablet provide easy access to fake news, prejudice, hate, newsbites, porn, jealousy and anxiety.
Internet addiction has been recognised for years and its latest manifestation of self-harm is doom-scrolling.
This is where victims log-on to compulsively follow ever worsening news bulletins of pandemic, war in Ukraine, the cost of living, disaster and the deceit of politics, which can lead to anxiety, stress, depression, fear and distress.
Clinical psychologist Megan E Johnson says: “When you are doom-scrolling, you will find there is no shortage of terrible information out there that will only enhance your confirmation bias.”
“We’re all doomed,” as Private Frazer of Dad’s Army might say.
Martin Preston of rehab clinic Delamere says: “Worrying is a normal part of human life, but during the unprecedented times of the pandemic, people have been exposed to worry burnout.”
All this and I’m only just getting over FOMO, the Fear Of Missing Out, the pandemic that afflicted young people who worried in their millions that friends, who posted fab pics on social media, were having a better time than they were.
That acronym was followed by FOJI, the Fear Of Joining In; MOMO, the Mystery of Missing Out (when your friends stop telling you what a good time they’re having) and the defiant JOMO, the Joy Of Missing Out.
I have been a fervent supporter of missing out on other people’s social events all my life and as a young person my only major anxieties were spots and ensuring I had a pot of Amami Wave Set to fix my hair in a frontal quiff to rival Elvis on a Saturday night. That was before the internet made stress compulsory.
Doom-scrolling is another step along the digital highway that feeds on magnified fears, real or imagined, although those affected should be aware bad news overload is not new. Britain suffered it for six years between 1939 and 1945, but folk kept calm and carried on with the aid of Vera Lynn and George Formby despite Hitler and the threat of imminent invasion.
To be honest, bad news is hard to avoid, which is why I attempt to use common sense and switch off phone, tablet and computer, go to the pub for an early evening drink with friends to talk nonsense, watch re-runs of Derry Girls on TV and always have a good book on the go for immersion therapy.
That’s where the internet really is a genuine boon in providing instant access to thrillers and historical epics I can read on my Kindle.