Why can’t we stop scrolling — even when we know we should? This episode dives deep into the science of mindless scrolling, exploring how dopamine, algorithms, and design psychology trap our attention.

Discover how social media platforms are engineered to keep us hooked, what internationally recognised scientific journal's research paper says about it and practical tips to break free from the endless scroll.

References:

1. Amirthalingam J, Khera A. Understanding Social Media Addiction: A Deep Dive. Cureus. 2024 Oct 27;16(10):e72499. doi: 10.7759/cureus.72499. PMID: 39600781; PMCID: PMC11594359.

2. Anderson, I.A., Wood, W. Overestimates of social media addiction are common but costly. Sci Rep 15, 39388 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-27053-2

3. Brand, C., Fochesatto, C.F., Gaya, A.R. et al. Scrolling through adolescence: unveiling the relationship of the use of social networks and its addictive behavior with psychosocial health. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health 18, 107 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-024-00805-0

4. Sinha, Snigdha; Sharma, Manoj Kumar1; Tadpatrikar, Ashwini1; Anand, Nitin1; Kumar, Rajesh1. Scrolling Mindlessly: Emerging Mental Health Implications of Social Networking Sites. Journal of Public Health and Primary Care 4(3):p 179-181, Sep–Dec 2023. | DOI: 10.4103/jphpc.jphpc_41_22

5. Firth, J., Torous, J., Stubbs, B., Firth, J. A., Steiner, G. Z., Smith, L., ... & Sarris, J. (2019). The "online brain": How the Internet may be changing our cognition. World Psychiatry, 18(2), 119-129.

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