My Doomscrolling Addiction Is Why I Avoid Prediction Markets

For more than a decade, I’ve had periods of addiction to consuming negative news content on social media—typically through Twitter. This is commonly called doomscrolling.

I’ve had trouble sleeping; I’ve deactivated and reactivated my Twitter (now X) account countless times; I’ve heard phantom notifications. I justified my doomscrolling by my career as a journalist, telling myself it’s my “job” to have a near constant deluge of news. Overloading my brain with news helped me go far in my career, all the way to becoming a managing editor at Forbes. 

However, over time, I realized my mental health should take higher priority.

In 2025, my doomscrolling returned after a period of remission. The chaos and barbarism in the world appear immense, and some social media algorithms are pushing distressing content to our feeds more than ever before. AI-powered slop and bots have worsened what was already a bleak landscape on many social media platforms.

These days, doomscrolling has become especially concerning for some people because gambling on real-world events through prediction markets can worsen both impulsive decisions and addiction. These betting platforms, which flood social media with ads, can interact dangerously with doomscrolling, compounding its harms.

Prediction Markets & Doomscrolling

The reason I avoid prediction markets—betting sites like Kalshi, Polymarket, DraftKings Predictions, and FanDuel Predicts that allow stock-market-style trading on countless real-world events—is that they could amplify my compulsion to monitor and react to news.

Behaviorally, a prediction market is gambling on the news, and even CNN is promoting it. The network sometimes shows gambling odds on the weather, even ahead of storms that kill dozens of people.

Some prediction markets offer betting on war, natural disasters, and distressing political news, such as people losing their healthcare. Polymarket even has mass shooting-related markets.

For me, betting on these types of events would worsen my doomscrolling addiction, making it harder to “unplug” from my digital life. It also feels unethical to bet on anything involving human suffering.

Some prediction market companies advertise that you can monetize your knowledge on a niche topic. That may work for some, but for people like me, prediction markets are a bad bet.

My Experience Using PredictIt in 2020

I have experience with a prediction market, and I found it addictive.

Another platform in the prediction market space is PredictIt, which has actually been available in the U.S. for years under the claim of academic research.

During the height of the pandemic, when I was feeling isolated and deeply stressed, I used PredictIt to bet on various political events. Unlike today’s prediction markets, PredictIt capped user spending at $850 per market.

In one instance, I lost around $500 when I bet that a member of Congress would be censured for saying something extraordinarily awful. I was wrong, and this policymaker was not reprimanded.

After a few months of using PredictIt, winning some bets and losing others, I was down about $1,000, and I called it quits.

I had quit poker a handful of years earlier after trying to play it professionally. Consequently, using a prediction market felt like a gambling relapse. It made me sick that I was sucked into “predicting” on a political spectacle. I thought my doomscrolling gave me an edge in the market over others who weren’t consuming news like I was.

Ultimately, I tried not to be too hard on myself for my betting.

The money I lost was negligible to my finances, and I felt claustrophobic during the early stages of the pandemic when I barely left the house. I also had COVID, which gave me a low-grade fever and anxiety for weeks. For me, it was a perfect storm for gambling on the news.

What Does Doomscrolling Do to Your Brain?

I want to backtrack to the definition of doomscrolling and why it’s been harmful to me.

Doomscrolling means compulsively absorbing social media content even when it causes anxiety, stress, or anger. It’s most associated with negative headlines, but can also include absorbing distressing images or videos. I prefer reading, so most of my doomscrolling is done this way.

It typically involves a social media feed, but it can include scrolling through the comments on a piece of content. You may have heard of the social media axiom, “never read the comments.” Sometimes it’s very challenging for me to heed this warning.

Doomscrolling plays tricks on you for several reasons:

• Distressing news is harder to ignore than positive news.
• Our brain’s survival instincts may be a reason for the fixation.
• Social media apps are designed like slot machines to addict you.
• News items can release dopamine, which makes us feel rewarded.
• Addiction to scrolling for news can cause anxiety and depression.
• Doomscrolling at night can disrupt sleep, worsening mental health.
• It often leaves you feeling worse or more exhausted than before.

Doomscrolling is powerful, and I’m apparently one of nearly half of U.S. “millennials” who struggle with it.

Approximately 31% of U.S. adults who use social media say they doomscroll either “a lot” or “some” of the time, according to a 2024 Morning Consult survey. Gen Z adults (53%) and millennials (46%) reported higher rates.

Betting on the News Isn’t for Me

I’m already deeply affected by current events, especially those involving death and suffering, so it’s crucial for my well-being that I limit my exposure to the so-called “timeline.”

Social media platforms flood our brains with distressing content because it boosts engagement. Terms like “rage bait” help explain why negative content goes viral rather than positive news.

Of course, there is a real avalanche of bad news. It’s not as simple as social media platforms showing us everything terrible in a constant stream. In my view, the world is objectively worsening in many ways.

Nonetheless, I can’t doomscroll too often if I want to be happy. Sometimes I succeed in moderating my news intake, and I hope to keep improving. I don’t think I can live without reading the news, since journalism is who I am.

Based on my experience, prediction markets are an unhealthy extension of my compulsive news checking. In 2020, I experienced this overlap firsthand, and I know returning would worsen my well-being. That is why I abstain from “predicting” the news.

If you relate to my experience, I hope my story gives you pause before trying these betting platforms and helps you make a choice that’s right for your mental well-being.