Brainrot is a slang term used to describe the modern mental health phenomenon of the fatigue and burnout caused by consuming too much digital media.
It’s gained tons of online traction the past few years, but what does it really mean, and is it something to be concerned about?
Even though it’s a slang term, brainrot is a very real phenomenon, a touchpoint of today’s culture. It represents the mental exhaustion many people experience from excessive screen time and being constantly exposed to online content.
Scrolling through bad news (doomscrolling) or binging short form videos often causes that foggy, anxious, overstimulated feeling. That’s brainrot.
Let’s talk about what brainrot is, what causes it, how it’s connected to your mental health, and what you can do to stop it.
What Is Brainrot?
Brainrot is a slang term for the mental fatigue, emotional burnout, and cognitive overload that comes from too much negative content. It’s not a clinical term, but many people use it describe the symptoms they experience.
How to Identify Brainrot
To determine if you’re experiencing brainrot, ask yourself a few questions:
- Do you feel mentally exhausted after prolonged internet use?
- Are you experiencing difficulty concentrating?
- Do you find yourself checking social media compulsively?
- Do you feel more anxious or irritable after online sessions?
The word “brainrot” first gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic, because many people were using the internet to connect with each other, and distract themselves from the stress of the outside world.
What started as an innocuous coping mechanism for many, has now spiraled into its own unhealthy habit for many.
If you feel like your brain is mush after hours online, that’s a symptom of brainrot.
How Are Brainrot and Doomscrolling Related?
Doomscrolling is the act of endlessly scrolling through bad news or emotionally intense content, often out of habit or anxiety.
They’re not exactly the same, but doomscrolling and brainrot go hand in hand:
- It reinforces negative emotional patterns.
- It keeps the brain in a hyper-aroused, overstimulated state.
- It becomes compulsive—even when it doesn’t feel good.
How To Recognize and Stop Doomscrolling
- Awareness Stage
- Install a screen time tracking app
- Keep a journal of your digital usage
- Identify your most common negative content triggers
- Boundary Setting Stage
- Set strict daily time limits for social media and news
- Use app blockers during work or personal time
- Find some positive content to replace it with
- Habit Transformation Stage
- Develop offline hobbies and interests
- Practice mindfulness or meditation
- Increase face-to-face social interactions
Numerous studies associate doomscrolling with increased anxiety and disrupted sleep. Some people also develop a tendency to keep seeking out negative content, just to maintain a sense of control.
Your brain gets hooked on the dopamine hits that come from each swipe. Even if the content makes you feel bad, it’s like junk food.
What Are the Mental Health Effects of Brainrot?
Brainrot isn’t just an abstract feeling. It’s backed by data on how internet addiction and negative media exposure affect mental health. Here’s how it shows up:
Anxiety and Depression
Research shows a strong correlation between excessive internet use and symptoms of anxiety and depression.
- One meta-analysis found a significant link between Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) and depression/anxiety.
- According to the Compensatory Internet Use Theory, people often turn to the internet to escape negative emotions. But, avoiding them like this makes those emotions worse over time.
This means brainrot creates a vicious cycle. Stress drives screen time, and that screen time creates more stress.
Sleep Problems
Doomscrolling and late-night phone use can destroy sleep quality:
- Screens suppress melatonin, a hormone critical to sleep.
- Constant media exposure keeps the brain stimulated and alert.
- This leads to chronic sleep disruption over time. Poorer sleep leads to more stress, which leads to more doomscrolling.
Practical Sleep Hygiene Strategies
- Try not to use any screens 1-2 hours before bed
- Use blue light filters on devices
- Create a relaxing bedtime routine
- Keep electronic devices out of the bedroom
- Keep a consistent sleep schedule
Impaired Attention and Focus
Brainrot often feels like your attention span has vanished. That’s not your imagination.
- Studies show that heavy media multitasking reduces gray matter in brain regions responsible for impulse control and sustained focus.
- When you’re constantly switching between tabs, videos, and apps, it trains your brain for distraction instead of focus.
Emotional Dysregulation and Social Withdrawal
When you’re always online, emotional responses can become blunted or exaggerated:
- Negative content can fuel hopelessness, fear, and even obsessive thoughts.
- Over time, some people develop increased irritability, emotional numbness, or OCD-like symptoms.
- Many also experience social withdrawal, preferring to interact online over interacting in real life.
Is Brainrot a Form of Internet Addiction?
Not exactly, but there is a lot of overlap between the two.
Psychological literature recognizes internet addiction, sometimes called Problematic Social Media Use (PSMU), as a behavioral addiction. Some of the signs include:
- Obsessive engagement with online content
- Loss of control over time spent online
- Withdrawal symptoms (e.g., irritability, anxiety)
- Negative impact on real-world responsibilities and relationships
Brainrot isn’t formally defined in the DSM-5, but it shares traits with many things that are, like PSMU and IAD. It affects mental health, attention, and emotional well-being in many of the same ways.
Why Are Young People More Vulnerable?
Teens and young adults are the most likely to experience brainrot for several reasons:
- Their prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for impulse control, isn’t fully developed.
- They grew up with screen-based media and have been exposed to it for most of their lives.
- Social comparison, FOMO, and constant content exposure can all have disproportionate effects on younger brains.
All these make young people more likely to fall into patterns of compulsive scrolling, emotional dysregulation, and addictive tech use.
How to Stop Brainrot
1. Start With Awareness
The first step is noticing the behavior. Pay attention to how often you reach for your phone, and how you feel afterward.
Ask yourself if you’re using it out of boredom, stress, or habit?
2. Set Boundaries Around Screen Time
Use app timers, screen time trackers, or even app blockers.
Here’s few ways you can manage your screen time:
- Think about how much digital media you consume
- Set realistic goals for reducing them
- Use app limits and blockers
- Create phone-free zones in your home
- Establish specific times for checking messages and social media
Avoid screens during meals, before bed, and first thing in the morning.
Try staying offline for the first 30–60 minutes after waking up to reset your reward cycle.
3. Practice Mindful Scrolling
Don’t just scroll aimlessly. Before opening a social media app, set a reason for doing so.
That could mean connection, inspiration, information, or something else.
4. Curate What You Consume
If you mostly see fear-driven headlines or toxic content, it’s time to clean house.
Unfollow negative accounts. Subscribe to creators and news sources that focus on education, balance, or positivity.
5. Replace Doomscrolling with Real-World Habits
Move your body. Journal. Cook something. Read a physical book. Call a friend.
Even 10–15 minutes away from screens can help reset your mind and mood.
6. Seek Help If You Need It
If symptoms of brainrot are causing anxiety, insomnia, or social withdrawal in your daily life, talk to a mental health professional.
Depression and anxiety therapists trained in digital wellness or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help rewire those patterns.
Brainrot and Anxiety FAQs
What causes brainrot?
Prolonged exposure to repetitive, negative, or meaningless content can cause brainrot. Doomscrolling and excessive social media use are common contributors.
Is brainrot a real condition?
While it’s not an official, clinical diagnosis, brainrot is a real cognitive and emotional challenge that stems from overusing the internet.
Can brainrot be reversed?
Yes, brainrot can be mitigated with lifestyle changes like screen boundaries, curating positive content, and mindfulness practices.
Reclaiming Your Mental Space
Brainrot’s become more than just a meme. Now, it’s an expression of something real: how overwhelmed, overstimulated, and undernourished our brains are these days.
All is not lost, though. It’s entirely possible to reclaim your focus, mood, and mental energy by setting boundaries and better habits.
That doesn’t require throwing away your phone or quitting the internet entirely. You just need to pay attention to how and when you engage with those things.
Resources:
https://www.uhhospitals.org/blog/articles/2024/07/doomscrolling-breaking-the-habit
Sun Y, Wang Z and Liu T (2025) Association of Internet addiction with psychiatric symptom levels and sleep disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front. Psychol. 16:1573058. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1573058
Firth, J., Torous, J., Stubbs, B., Firth, J.A., Steiner, G.Z., Smith, L., Alvarez-Jimenez, M., Gleeson, J., Vancampfort, D., Armitage, C.J. and Sarris, J. (2019), The “online brain”: how the Internet may be changing our cognition. World Psychiatry, 18: 119-129. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20617
https://www.newportinstitute.com/resources/co-occurring-disorders/brain-rot/
Tereshchenko SY. Neurobiological risk factors for problematic social media use as a specific form of Internet addiction: A narrative review. World J Psychiatry 2023; 13(5): 160-173 [PMID: 37303928 DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v13.i5.160]
