Reading the news is the new smoking

According to Wesley Davis writing in Experimental History, a recent essay compares constant news consumption to smoking. Both activities, the piece argues, are addictive, extract a mental health toll through stress and anxiety, and exploit our psychological vulnerabilities. The comparison raises a pointed question: if we regulate cigarettes for public health, why not the anxiety and sleep disruption caused by information overload? The essay suggests that doomscrolling, like smoking, has become normalized despite real consequences.

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