Democracy Dies in Darkness

Carolyn Hax: Keep scrolling seven hours per day, or give therapy a try?

A letter writer is “high-functioning” and appears okay to others, but privately struggles with lethargy and self-doubt.

Advice by
Columnist
May 12, 2024 at 12:00 a.m. EDT
(Illustration by Nick Galifianakis for The Washington Post) (Illustration by Nick Galifianakis for The Washington Post)
5 min

Dear Carolyn: I think I should go to therapy because of my increasing sense of paralysis. I scroll for seven-plus hours a day. I put off both hobbies and important life tasks, from large things like taxes to small things like making dinner at a reasonable hour.

I ought to be able to get unstuck on my own, since there aren’t any mitigating factors; I’m not disabled, nothing is going catastrophically wrong in my life, etc. But so far, no dice.