Doomscrolling is the habit of repeatedly consuming negative or alarming content in a loop that feels hard to stop. The behavior is driven by novelty, anxiety, and endless refreshable feeds, making users keep checking for “just one more” update. In cyber security, that matters because attention is a limited resource: the more mentally overloaded a person is, the easier it is to miss warnings, verify less carefully, or click a convincing lure.
Attackers can exploit doomscrolling indirectly through fear-based phishing, urgent scam messages, and social media posts designed to trigger rapid reactions. A user already primed by stressful content may be more likely to trust a fake alert or act before confirming details. Defenders counter this by reducing interruption and decision fatigue: notification limits, trusted-source habits, deliberate breaks, and clear security prompts all help break the loop. Doomscrolling is not malware, but it is a real human factor that can weaken judgment and make other attacks more effective.