How to prevent doomscrolling from controlling you

Editor’s note: Kara Alaimo is an associate professor of communication at Fairleigh Dickinson University. W. W. Norton & Company We’re all potential victims of mind control, according to Rebecca Lemov, a historian of science at Harvard University and author of the new book “The Instability of Truth: Brainwashing, Mind Control, and Hyper-Persuasion.” The American soldiers were brainwashed into not wanting to go home through tactics including isolation, the fraying of social bonds and sleep deprivation, Lemov said. Ask yourself how social media affects you Social media affects users differently, Lemov noted, comparing it to some people’s experiences in cults. What to do about it: Lemov recommended social media users work on what’s called good sleep hygiene. By making sure we realize how social media use affects us, spending time socializing offline and getting enough sleep, we can stay in control of our lives rather than letting social networks control us.