It’s that when you feel compelled to check your devices or social media or whatever — even when you’re engaged in other activities — to chase out the clatter of anxiety currently echoing in your head, you’re gently anesthetizing that negative feeling by drowning it out. “It becomes this habit-forming loop,” says Dennis-Tiwary. “You escaped from the negative feeling and you feel better. So you keep on wanting to go back and escape from it, and it can become this sort of cycle that becomes harder to break.”
