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📱 Addicted to Bad News

A relatable mini-memoir on how following the news went from a mark of the respectable adult to self-destructive behaviour — 'like pressing a button that caused one to get punched in the face over and over again by a cartoon glove marked DREAD.' Casey Plett suggests anxious people may be se

Danu Poyner

· 1 minute

Why are we addicted to doomscrolling bad news?
thewalrus.ca

A relatable mini-memoir on how following the news went from a mark of the respectable adult to self-destructive behaviour — 'like pressing a button that caused one to get punched in the face over and over again by a cartoon glove marked DREAD.' Casey Plett suggests anxious people may be self-soothing and reclaiming a sense of control by constantly consuming nightmares: 'The world may be awful, but if I know about it, then at least I know.'

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Danu Poyner

Danu is a writer and founder of Grokkist, a learning community in the deepest sense. His work centres on coherence, curiosity, and helping people make sense of themselves in relation to ideas, experience, and one another.

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