When stress piles up, plenty of people reach for distraction, and endless scrolling has become one of the easiest escapes. Dr. Aditi Nerurkar points out that this kind of digital soothing often shows up when healthier coping tools are missing. For many mothers, that makes sense, since they frequently carry a heavy mix of admin work, emotional labor, and the expectation to keep everything running smoothly. As YourTango notes, what looks like checking out can sometimes be a quiet attempt to keep anxiety at bay.
One fear behind constant phone use can be feeling unimportant, especially when a woman’s identity has been wrapped up in being needed. If children are growing up or becoming more independent, the silence can be loud. Psychologist Michele Leno has explained that being alone with your thoughts can force uncomfortable feelings to the surface, which is why some people avoid quiet moments altogether. Scrolling can also be a way to avoid slowing down, because easing off the pace can feel impossible when you are used to managing everyone else’s needs.
Phones can also become a shield from conflict. Psychotherapist Jennifer Gerlach has warned that dodging hard conversations may calm things briefly, but it can build resentment and stress over time. That might include tension in a relationship, since early parenthood can put serious strain on couples and make connection feel risky. For some women, there is also grief or older trauma they would rather not touch, and distraction offers a quick way to step around painful memories instead of facing them.
Burnout is another big one, and admitting it can feel like failure. A 2025 study in JAMA Internal Medicine linked worsening mental health among mothers across generations, and that backdrop makes constant scrolling easier to understand. There is also the issue of boundaries, which author and psychology writer Peg Streep has emphasized as essential for healthier family dynamics. Without clear limits, it can feel simpler to retreat into a screen than to negotiate needs out loud.
Sometimes the phone is also a way to avoid a deeper emptiness, the uneasy questions about purpose and whether life has become too narrow. Asking for help can be frightening too, especially for women who are used to carrying others and see support as weakness. And in some cases, the habit is tied to relevance, with mothers trying to keep up with trends and technology to stay connected to their kids, even if it ends up replacing real conversation.
Have you noticed this pattern in your family, and what do you think is really going on when a parent disappears into their screen? Share your thoughts in the comments.
