What Highly Sensitive People Should Do Instead of Doom Scrolling from a Madison, WI HSP Therapist

Doom scrolling might feel satisfying - or maybe involuntary - in the moment, but in the long run it doesn’t exactly support your nervous system. As a Highly Sensitive Person, you have more active mirror neurons in your brain that give you the capacity for increased empathy. This is an advantage and a skill that is sorely needed in the world. It is also something for you to protect.

I’m Bronwyn, an HSP therapist working online with women and Highly Sensitive people in Madison, WI and throughout Massachusetts and Washington, DC. Previously, I’ve written some tips about how to read the news as an HSP. Today I want to expand on that and talk about why it can be so hard to disengage from the news and ways you can protect your empathy.

Especially during times of greatly distressing news, it can feel impossible to turn away. There are many good reasons for staying informed about what’s happening. Reading the news might be part of how you protect yourself. I don’t generally quote GI Joe, but to quote GI Joe: “Knowing is half the battle.”

So how do you stay informed without falling apart in the process? In order to get a handle on it, I first want to talk about why it can feel so hard to disengage. I’ll pose a few reasons, and you can see if they feel true to you. You can also notice and keep hypothesizing to yourself why it might be difficult for you in particular.

I know I’m Highly Sensitive - Why am I Doom Scrolling?

If something happens in the news that feels like a threat to your safety, you might go into alert mode. Things might start to feel out of control. If that happens, a number of things might occur next. First, you might want to distract yourself from the distressing feelings. Second, you might want to feel more in control. Third, it might feel like a way that you can show empathy to stay on top of it or be reminded of it. Reading or watching the news, in any number of forms, can address all of these. However, they might not always address them in the ways that you want.

If your safety is threatened, you absolutely want to get as much information as possible in order to minimize your risk. And as an HSP, you are really good at minimizing risk. It’s one of the skills you have and benefits of your ability to process things deeply. However, too much information is overwhelming and can send you back into feeling out of control.

So - let’s look at a possible cycle here. Something terrible happens. Your safety feels threatened. (And it might be threatened. What I’m talking about here is when it’s removed enough that it’s not at least an immediate threat to you.) You feel out of control and helpless. You don’t want to feel that way. You reach for instagram to distract yourself, and maybe get more information. You watch cat videos alternating with on-the-ground updates and people telling you what to do. You begin to feel more overwhelmed and less in control. Maybe even more scared, or guilty that you’re not doing the right thing. And, you get more information about what’s going on.

Don’t let doom scrolling hijack your HSP nervous system

The first thing you want to do when you hear terrible news is to check in with yourself. How directly is this impacting me right now? Should this take me away from what I am currently doing? If yes, then go to your favorite news sources and make a plan. Hopefully, it doesn’t need to take you away from the task at hand. If it doesn’t, do two things.

• First, find a grounding activity to get you back into the present and calm your nervous system.

• Second, make a note of when you will be able to take some time to come back to reading more about whatever happened. This can allow you to continue throughout your day without telling yourself you need to keep going back to it. You can remind yourself that you’ve set aside time and that you can stay away for now.

Grounding yourself and setting aside time later does at least two things to help you. First, it reminds you of some things you have control over. You have control over grounding yourself, and choosing when and how you take in the news. Harnessing agency builds on itself. Second, it reduces your intake of distressing events, which in turn helps your nervous system.

Not Doom scrolling is Not Ignoring

It might sound callous to hear me tell you to turn away from the news. In some cases I think it is. For you, as a Highly Sensitive person, you take in the pain of the world often before you read about it. You don't need external reminders to keep in mind that people are suffering. It's not helpful to ignore it, but it's also not helpful to take in too much.

What feels true about you and doom scrolling? What do you need in order to support your nervous system?

About the Author

Founder of Bronwyn Shiffer Psychotherapy, I’m a counselor for Highly Sensitive people and I love disrupting doom scrolling.

In addition to providing therapy for HSPs, I also offer depression counseling and therapy for anxiety.

Based in Madison, WI, I provide online therapy throughout Wisconsin, telehealth therapy in Massachusetts, and virtual therapy in Washington, DC.