Doomscrolling can be defined as the habit of scrolling through social media and news feeds, usually in the context of finding the answers or information on negative events or news (Salamon, M., 2024, September 1). Doomscrolling became more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but has become a consistent concern ever since. 

Everyone is susceptible to doomscrolling, whether you are a high school student, a college student, a fully fledged working adult, or someone who has retired. Some of us may scroll for hours on TikTok or through Instagram Reels before bed. Others may be hooked onto Facebook Reels or Youtube Shorts during their work lunch break. Others may be scrolling through news article after news article while they eat dinner. 

Doomscrolling can become a strong addicting habit, which makes it really hard to stop or redirect ourselves. People often doomscroll in order to find answers or information about the negative events happening in their area, country, or around the world. The hope is to ease the anxiety we may experience when we may not know all the information about something; however, consistently scrolling through negative media has proven to worsen the anxiety and may bring up other emotions such as depression or hopelessness (Cleveland Clinic, 2025, April 22). Prolonged exposure to negative news and information can deepen these emotions that we may already be experiencing before opening up our phones. This then may lead to a decrease in social connection, low hope in the future, and overall lower levels of wellbeing.

Oftentimes it may be hard to set boundaries with those around us. Whether it is how to navigate moving out of the house and rediscovering those limitations with our parents, or addressing ongoing conflict with those important to us. Maybe, it might even be how to stop any communications with someone entirely. 

When thinking about this out loud, the intuitive solution might be, “Let’s just set boundaries!” It sounds easy enough, but it is actually very normal for it to be a bit more complicated than it seems, especially as a child of immigrants. The cultural layers someone holds may clash often with this concept of “boundaries”. This article goes into the nuances of boundaries and the intersections of growing up in an immigrant household and trying to say “no”. 

Oftentimes clients may come to therapy hoping to explore how to handle family dynamics. Whether it is how to navigate moving out of the house and mom is trying to have surprise visits, addressing conflict concerns with parent-in-laws, deciding whether or not to cut off a family member, or a mix or variation of all three.

Most therapists may intuitively think, “Oh, let’s explore how to set boundaries!” which is what we were trained to do! However, this can be very complicated for children of immigrants. This article goes into why this may be complicated and how to navigate its nuances with clients.