All Pro Dad Podcast: "How Dangerous is Doomscrolling?"

Date: March 9, 2026
Hosts: Ted Lowe (A), BJ Foster (C), Bobby Lewis (B)

Episode Overview

The episode explores the phenomenon of "doomscrolling"—the compulsive consumption of negative news and content, especially on social media—and its impact on mental health, particularly for children and teenagers. The hosts reflect on their own childhood experiences with traumatic news events, discuss recent research on doomscrolling's prevalence and effects, and provide practical advice for dads on how to help their families combat its negative influence.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Early Memories of News-Induced Fear (00:00–02:34)

• Ted Lowe prompts the group to recall the first scary news story from childhood.
  • Bobby remembers the Columbine High School shooting as traumatizing:
    “My parents sitting on the couch watching the news… I was thinking, what in the world is this? It was traumatizing for sure.” (00:22)
  • BJ cites the Reagan assassination attempt and the Challenger disaster, highlighting the constant media replay even before 24-hour news.
  • Ted recalls the Atlanta child abductions sparking widespread fear and the "stranger danger" movement.

What is Doomscrolling? (02:34–04:29)

• Definition:
  BJ explains doomscrolling as “a cycle of looking up… negative stories, sensationally doom and gloom type stuff,” whether on news sites or social media reels. (02:34)
• It’s not just kids; all generations are affected, with stats showing it's increasing in younger cohorts.
  • “46% of millennials doom scroll, 53% of Gen Z doom scrolls… and women tend to doomscroll more than men.” —Bobby (03:33)
  • Women are reportedly more deeply affected emotionally, especially when stories involve vulnerable victims.

The Impact on Productivity and Mental Health (04:29–07:52)

• Socio-economic correlations:
  Lower salary earners doomscroll more; perhaps younger people or the unproductive are spending more time on their devices.
• Work impact:
  “Doom scrollers are four times more likely to miss a deadline, meeting, or opportunity due to doomscrolling distractions.” —BJ (05:01)
• Time spent:
  Average American spends 3.5 hours doomscrolling during their workweek, much of it before bed, impacting sleep and overall focus.
• Phone usage stats:
  People check their phone up to 200 times per day. (06:06)
  • “You’d be embarrassed if you knew your number.” —Bobby (07:18)

Why We Doomscroll (07:25–08:19)

• FOMO and brain chemistry:
  Doomscrolling is fed by a fear of missing out, and the cycle is reinforced by the brain’s need for stimulation (dopamine/cortisol balance).
  • “When you’re not touching the phone, your brain starts releasing cortisol…you’re not getting that dopamine…so you just do it more and more.” —Bobby (07:25)
• Satisfaction differential:
  Non-doomscrollers are much more satisfied with life, sleep, and mental health.
  • “Non-doom scrollers, 19% are more likely to be satisfied with their lives…45% are more likely to be satisfied with their mental health.” —Ted (07:52)

Mental Health Effects: Pessimism, Anxiety & Hopelessness (08:19–11:43)

• Pessimism:
  Doomscrolling fundamentally alters outlook, making it difficult to maintain optimism or gratitude.
  • “You can’t fill your mind with all these negative stories without it impacting your overall outlook on life.” —BJ (08:19)
  • Cites Unbroken as an example of mindset affecting survival outcomes.
• Negativity Bias:
  Our brains hold on to negative experiences more than positive.
  • “If you get 99 compliments today and one guy tells you off…it’s the one guy you remember.” —Bobby (10:17)
• Anxiety & Escape:
  Doomscrolling offers temporary escape but compounds anxiety over time.
  • “You come back and you have the same anxiety except now you’ve procrastinated… now you’ve added onto it all this other stuff.” —BJ (11:09)
• COVID-19 Example:
  Pandemic doomscrolling heightened hopelessness and anxiety.
  • “Daily bad news intake, or what we’re calling doomscrolling, contributes over time to hopelessness and general worry.” —Bobby (11:43)
  • Teens on their phones 5+ hours a day are 71% more likely to have at least one risk factor for suicide. (12:42)

Real-life Parenting Examples (12:42–15:25)

• Ted shares:
  Daughter’s anxiety during COVID, driven by “news” on TikTok.
  • “I watched it elevating her anxiety like maybe nothing else.” (13:07)
• Hopelessness in teens:
  “56% of high school students have reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless. Doomscrolling… certainly isn’t helping.” —Ted (14:12)
• Desensitization:
  Kids exposed to constant violence in media become numb or frightened.
  • “They’re getting desensitized and they’ve got to think, wow, the world is really, really, really, really scary.” —Ted (15:25)

The Modern News Repeats Outlier Horrors (16:17–18:45)

• Intensity & frequency:
  With constant cameras, kids are exposed to graphic news and outlier crimes in endless succession.
  • “On and on…the worst outlier is the next in a string of outliers. But those outliers shape your world and you think everything is dark, everything is awful.” —Bobby (17:25)

What Can Parents Do? (18:45–24:33)

1. Have Open Conversations

• Check in: “Have you heard of this? Are your friends doing it? What do you think about it?” (19:10)
• Ask about friends to destigmatize: “Some of the best ways to get our kids to talk…is asking about their friends.” —Ted (19:13)
• Show empathy and avoid judgment to encourage honesty. (19:55)

2. Focus Attention on the Positive

• Practice intentionally talking about good things happening:
  • “Let’s dwell on that…You can choose to dwell on the good stuff.” —Bobby (20:10)
• Share uplifting stories—both hosts’ professional experiences and family anecdotes featured.

3. Cultivate Optimism

• Encourage optimism and positive anticipation.
  • “One of the things that our kids really need these days is optimism. We’ve got to cultivate optimism in our kids.” —BJ (22:36)
  • Family saying: “Something good’s gonna happen.” (23:07)
• Optimism is shown to have a protective barrier effect on mental health (study cited, 23:20).

4. Set Practical Boundaries

• Enforce digital curfews and device downtime, especially before bed. (06:06)
• Teach media literacy and encourage balanced consumption.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Doomscrolling by its very nature just goes on and on and on. If you’re doing this before bed, it’s going to start impacting your sleep, your health, your focus.” —Bobby (06:06)
• “If you are scrolling through, you probably saw 80% great stuff but it’s the 20% your brain hangs onto. That’s just one of the dangers.” —Bobby (10:17)
• “Endless scrolling tricks us into thinking we’ve escaped our problems. Now we’re looking at someone else’s, but it adds to it.” —Ted (13:07)
• “Wall to wall coverage is the cell phone…that feeling you had as kids of breaking news happens minute by minute right in front of them.” —Bobby (14:25)
• “We’re the first dads whose kids have this in their pockets.” —Ted (15:25)
• “You get to choose, and your kids get to choose, what they focus their attention on.” —Bobby (22:34)
• “Something good’s gonna happen.” —BJ quoting his father-in-law (23:07)
• “We can be that for our kids. This doomscrolling will lead your kids down the wrong track. So be the catalyst that moves them into something better.” —Bobby (24:12)

Actionable Takeaways & Pro Move of the Week

[24:33] Pro Move of the Week

• Daily Positivity Practice:
  At dinner or during family time, have each family member share a positive or funny story. For teens, encourage them to find a good story to share with the family.
  • “Everybody bring a fun story. Bring something positive. We get to lead the way.” —Ted (24:33)

Conclusion: A Message of Hope

• Despite the heaviness of the topic, the hosts reinforce optimism and proactive parenting.
  • “I hope we’re cultivating it here, too…there’s so much hope. And when dads, when we get this right, there’s a lot of optimism there for us and our kids.” —Ted (23:51)
• Listeners are challenged to be that “track switch” for their kids—redirecting their focus from doom to hope and positivity.