We’ve all been there: you open your phone to check the time, and 45 minutes later, you’re deep in a rabbit hole of stressful news or short-form videos. For the ADHD brain, this isn’t just a bad habit—it’s a dopamine trap.
Doomscrolling provides a constant stream of "micro-rewards." Every new post gives your brain a tiny hit of dopamine. However, it also spikes your Digital Cortisol, leaving you feeling "wired but tired." This state makes it nearly impossible to transition back to productive work without a "reset."
Social media apps are designed with high-arousal colors to trigger your brain's reward system. By turning your phone to greyscale (Settings > Accessibility), you strip away the visual dopamine, making the "doomscroll" significantly less rewarding for the ADHD brain.
ADHD often comes with time blindness. A digital clock is easy to ignore, but a physical visual timer shows you exactly how much "scrolling time" is left. Seeing the time physically disappear helps snap you out of hyperfocus before an hour vanishes.
Research shows that even having a smartphone in the same room reduces cognitive capacity. If you find yourself doomscrolling in bed or at your desk, charge your phone in another room 30 minutes before you need to focus. Distance is the best discipline.
When stuck in a scroll-loop, your body often enters a "freeze" state. Simple physical movement—like standing up or stretching for 10 seconds—can break the mental circuit of a dopamine loop more effectively than trying to "will" yourself to stop.
Instead of trying to use willpower to stop, give your hands something else to do. ADHD brains crave sensory input. Using a non-stimulating, rhythmic game acts as a bridge that lowers your heart rate and cortisol levels, transitioning you safely from the high-stress feed to a calm state.
If you're finding it hard to put the phone down, try Circle Illusion. It was designed specifically to provide that rhythmic input your brain craves without the stressful "infinite scroll" of social media.
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