Doom Scrolling: Why We Scroll, Why We Struggle to Stop, and Why We Feel Worse Afterwards
Black Mirroring: Why We Scroll, Why We Struggle to Stop, and Why We Feel Worse Afterwards by David Kelly
Abstract Infinite scrolling, a feature designed for seamless digital engagement, has evolved into a compulsive behaviour that many struggle to control. While existing research frequently frames scrolling within biological and behavioural models, these approaches fail to capture its deeper psychological function. This study proposes a psychodynamic model of scrolling, arguing that it serves as a neurotic-level defense mechanism that simulates a soothing, infantile phenomenal world - what object relations theorists term the paranoid-schizoid position. Drawing on defense mechanism theory, neuropsychoanalysis, and object relations theory, this study elaborates Herdi’s (2023) flowing construct and situates it within an extended mind framework.
Through reflexive thematic analysis of psychodynamically-oriented interviews with eight participants, the findings suggest that scrolling functions as a technologically scaffolded defense against the depressive position, where one must confront finitude, loss, and responsibility. While scrolling, the algorithmic systems engage in a process termed black mirroring by generating an impinging phenomenal world characterised by splitting, semantic levelling, and part-object perception, termed the paranoid-schizoid simulacrum. The guilt and demoralisation experienced by participants post-scrolling is proposed to reflect an oscillation back into the depressive position. These findings have implications for how we conceptualise digital engagement, arguing that scrolling constitutes the ontological antithesis of psychodynamic psychotherapy by precluding the emergence of spontaneous thought and emotional insight.
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Author - Christian Gould
