Mindless scrolling can disturb quality of cognitive processing: NIMHANS article

Understand the psychosocial factors associated with "mindless scrolling syndrome" with a team of researchers from NIMHANS. Review article published in Journal of Public Health and Primary Care.

With smartphones all pervasive, scrolling mindlessly has become ingrained behaviour in many people’s daily lives. Fuelled by the constant influx of information and social media platforms, individuals often find themselves endlessly scrolling through content without a specific purpose or engagement.

To understand the psychosocial factors associated with this habit, a team of researchers from NIMHANS conducted a review of literature related to “mindless scrolling syndrome.” The team led by Manoj Kumar Sharma, Professor at the Department of Clinical Psychology, who also heads SHUT Clinic at NIMHANS, has analysed that the scrolling syndrome can disturb the quality of cognitive processing, reduce productivity and impair attention.

The review article titled “Scrolling Mindlessly: Emerging Mental Health Implications of Social Networking Sites” has been published in the Journal of Public Health and Primary Care. Dr. Sharma, who is the corresponding author of the article, told The Hindu that this habitual behaviour can lead to decreased productivity, increased stress, and a sense of detachment from the present moment as attention gets divided among countless digital distractions.

“Thoughtless scrolling can disrupt face-to-face conversations, causing isolation and lowering the quality of relationships. Evidence suggests that it takes an average of 23 minutes to fully restore attention following a distraction,” he said.

Internet applications have devised several persuasive techniques to get its users to be more addicted to digital sites. A design often employed is the “refresh” scroll – a long pull without lifting the finger, where the screen then displays fresh content. This makes use of the user’s low threshold of boredom or affinity toward novelty, while maintaining their areas of interest to reinforce the habit. “Despite the rapid progression of the digital age, and the growing incidence of scrolling on Social Networking Sites (SNS), there is no diagnosis or diagnostic criteria yet, and very few cases of SNS addiction have been clinically diagnosed,” he said.

“The scrolling syndrome has not been explored enough from the psychosocial perspective, especially given the increase in the time spent online during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic when people were forced to stay indoors. The main risk factors are family functioning, personality features, and need to pass time to avoid boredom. The consequences that usually take place are a poorer level and quality of cognitive processing,” the doctor explained.

Stating that treatment can include cognitive behavioral therapy, medication and group and family therapies for managing scrolling or social media use, the researcher said, “Infinite scrolls can be punctuated with natural breaks, as in books where chapters mark an end. This can serve as a stopping cue for the user’s self-control. Such measures will go a long way in preventing or helping solve the problem.”