Doomscrolling Toward Despair: Why Are Anxiety Junkies Addicted to Misery?

I have friends who spend way too much time on the news and social media and keep themselves in a perpetual state of anxiety over the state of the world. And, I guess, if I was still living in the U.S., I would be out of my head with anxiety too. But I don’t, and not everyone who still lives there is a headcase. I got to wondering why people were so addicted to news-related anxiety, and how I refuse to let the algos teach me learned helplessness.

We are not helpless.