May is Mental Health Awareness Month, bringing a closer look at the impacts of "doom scrolling" on teens. For millions across the country, information is in the palm of their hands. While this can be a good thing, scrolling endl essly without taking a break can lead to negative mental health impacts.I took questions to a local psychologist at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital and listened to mental health experts and a teen here in Tampa Bay on how they are stopping the doomscrolling.Doom scrolling is the term used to describe scrolling endlessly, especially through negative news. According to the CDC, over 25 percent of teens who spend more than four hours a day on their phones experience depression or anxiety.Bryce Allen, 16, spends a lot of time online."Pretty much you can just look at the screen, and there's one touch you can swipe up and then go straight to whatever you're going to use," Allen said.But with the good also comes the bad."You feel like you have like no control over it because like once you start scrolling, you can't stop because it's like an addiction to that you can't like get away," Allen said.Dr. Katzenstein, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, noted the severe impacts of this constant exposure."The electronic exposure at very young ages all the way through. And so from what we've seen over the past 10 years, a significant increase in mood concerns, including anxiety and depression, as well as suicide attempts and suicide completions for our youth, especially from the ages of 11 to 14 and 14," Katzenstein said.Allen's mom, Ashley Marshall, is raising him and three other sons. Only two of them are old enough to have a phone, but she already knows the challenges she will face."I'm not with them all the time. So not only that, but they're with their friends and what our friends are showing them. So that's the part that I always worry about," Marshall said.The solutions for Marshall and other parents can be tricky, but Katzenstein told me one of the most effective solutions is just limiting screen time."So thinking about it more like a digital diet, we're dropping one hour off for the first two weeks just to reduce our time online," Katzenstein said.This helps chip away at screen time. Conversations between parents and kids, checking in to see how they are doing, and asking questions about what they are seeing online are also good ways to make sure your kid is safe."But making sure that they are utilizing content, taking in content that is healthy. to improve their own well-being, but then recognizing when it is impacting them and knowing when to back off," Katzenstein said.For mental health resources, click below:Johns Hopkins All Children's HospitalCrisis Center This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less