I think we’re all guilty of doomscrolling once in a while, some of us perhaps more often than others.
A TikTok creator named Iona decided her usual morning scroll wasn’t helping her, so she challenged herself to stop doomscrolling — and ended up sticking with it for 50 days.
Rather than starting the day with grim headlines and stressful posts, she chose to step back completely and reset her routine.
Doomscrolling typically means endlessly consuming negative news and content, which can leave people feeling anxious or low. For Iona, that cycle became a clear sign she needed to change how she used her phone.
In a video that quickly gained traction, she said she could spend as much as eight hours a day watching what she described as “meaningless” content. Initially, she aimed to avoid negative news for 35 days.
But after feeling a noticeable shift in her mindset and daily habits, she extended the experiment — reaching 50 days in total.
She said: “I just have my brain back. That’s all it is. I have my brain back. I have ideas back. My dopamine levels are regulated. Before, I used to open up my phone all the time and just [scroll] and get a hit of dopamine. Now, there are no more hits of dopamine. Which is fine. I just feel completely regulated and calm.”
Iona later spoke with Newsweek about the challenge, explaining how she approached it and what changes she noticed along the way.
“I started on November 11, 2025 privately for 35 days, and then I decided to continue when I led my online community to join me with a public social media fast,” she said.
She explained that breaking the habit felt automatic at first — as though her hand moved before she’d even made a conscious decision.
“I noticed by the third day that my thumb had a brain of its own, but I just slowed down and closed the app if I opened it. Days 10 and 11 seemed to have the most impact because by then I was actively fighting it.”
According to Iona, stepping away improved her ability to focus and concentrate. She also said that reducing her social media use had an unexpected effect on her personal style and clothing choices.
She realized that when she was constantly online, she was absorbing endless visuals — from ads and trends to other people’s outfits — and that exposure subtly shaped what she liked and bought.
“I didn’t realize how I was constantly being bombarded with imagery, ads, trends, even other people’s personal style and being influenced by it,” she added to Newsweek.
“Stepping away made me realize I was always there, and that allowed me to hone in on my authenticity.”