How to Doom-Detox: 5 Ways to Break Free From Dark Internet Content
Violence is the norm, and that’s not norm. Please, go touch grass and pet an animal you aren’t allergic to.
2020 brought on a lot of new hobbies and interests, and that one interest that millions of us share is, true crime.
I’m not sure why we all decided to distract ourselves from the chaos that unfolded in that year with more…chaos. It was a weird time, we’re all forgiven.
Unfortunately though, four years later, my mindset is not in a healthy spot because of all of the doom scrolling and over consumption of “dark” media on the internet. Whether it was true crime, learning about the dark web, attacks on the subway, extreme misogyny, Epstein files and other diabolical celebrity affairs, excessive Tik Tok, and the list goes on. Since when did the dark web take over the “light web?” I think we might have over-stimulated ourselves to a point of internalized fear. Or is it just me?
I don’t know about you all but sometimes I find myself in a state of anxiety, where I over-analyze the what-ifs of going somewhere nowadays. And the source of that was the kind of content I was consuming.
I did too much work learning how to protect myself just to back slide, I have to make a change and maybe you should too. In this article, I’m going to be sharing some ways I will be doom-detoxing from the dark side of the internet.
Get off your phone: The girlies who don’t look at their phones the second they wake up are on to something. I’ve been trying this hack for a few weeks now and it really makes a difference in how I begin my day. If your phone is also you alarm clock, consider investing in a separate alarm clock so that the first thing you touch isn’t your phone. If you don't want to spend extra money, put your phone on Do Not Disturb throughout the night and into the morning, try about and hour or two after you naturally wake up.
Delete a few apps: I’m not gonna lie, deleting Instagram & Tik Tok off of my phone for 6 months changed the game for me. Not only was I on my phone less but I had more time to focus on things I actually wanted to get into…like reading. I’ve already read 4 books this year!
Unsubscribe!: Need I say more? Unsubscribe from everything and everyone that makes you feel icky. Do you really care about those people from high school? Unfollow. Are those channels you subscribe to on YouTube helping you, harming you, or causing some sort of mental clutter or FOMO? Unsubscribe. There’s no shame in unsubscribing and unfollowing accounts that no longer serve your highest good or make you feel good.
Trash it, then replace it: Sometimes we just can’t go cold turkey from certain things, especially if these habits have been with us for years. Honestly, it’s been hard to quit the true crime, it’s like an addiction. So, I advise, after you unsubscribe, unfollow, unfriend, or whatever, replace that activity with something you always wanted to do. For me, instead of watching true crime videos, I’m slowing getting into more creative things I enjoy, like drawing and interior design.
No news: This one is kind of a double edged sword because it’s great to know what’s going on in the tri-state area but also not, haha. The news’ job is to keep us updated but lately it’s been too much, so I’m trying to regulate how much news I ingest. Knowledge is power but too much knowledge gives me anxiety. My advice is to take the news in bit sizes, maybe get reliable and valid news from Twitter or Apple News.
What are some doom-detoxing tips you have been implementing in your day-to-day? Comment below!