We can all be guilty of doomscrolling from time to time. Social media has become a huge part of our lives, and while it can be used in positive ways to bring like-minded people together, it has also been used as a tool to divide, and can negatively impact your mental health when not consumed safely.

Social media is also responsible for the rise of a concept called doomscrolling. This is when you find yourself scrolling endlessly through social media feeds, often subjecting yourself to negative news and posts that cause you distress, anxiety, or sadness. As these apps are so easy to access, many of us don't realise we've spent half an hour swiping through posts and videos, and you may not see the impact they have on your health.

But what would happen if you decided to put down your phone for an extended period of time, or deleted the social media apps from your phone so you couldn't doomscroll? That's what one woman on TikTok recently tried for 50 days - and she noticed something staggering about how it changed her brain.

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Iona Burciaga is a TikTok creator who recently went on a social media detox, with the exception of still posting some content online herself. She went cold turkey on scrolling through apps like TikTok and Instagram, as she admitted that prior to her experiment, she would often spend up to eight hours a day watching "meaningless" videos.

The woman, from the US, decided she'd had enough of wasting her time with doomscrolling in November last year, and initially set herself the goal of coming off social media as a consumer for 35 days.

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But in a video shared just after Christmas, Iona revealed she'd actually managed to smash her target and had now stopped doomscrolling for 50 days - and she'd noticed a huge change to how her brain worked.

She said in her video: "I just have my brain back. That's all it is. I have my brain back. I have ideas back. My dopamine levels are regulated. Before, I used to open up my phone all the time and just [scroll] and get a hit of dopamine. Now, there are no more hits of dopamine. Which is fine. I just feel completely regulated and calm."

Speaking to Newsweek, Iona said that one surprising way her life has changed since she came off social media is the way it has impacted her style and fashion sense. She admitted her outfits were often dictated by what she saw other people wearing online, but without her constant scrolling, she's had to come up with her own sense of style.

She explained: "This part is my favourite. I didn't realise how I was constantly being bombarded with imagery, ads, trends, and even other people's personal style and being influenced by it. Stepping away made me realise I was always there, and that allowed me to hone in on my authenticity."

Commenters on Iona's video were keen to try scrolling less often themselves, as many said they felt they had developed an addiction to social media and would be interested in seeing how a detox helps them.

One person said: "Were the first few days hard? It's really sad, but I don't know what I'd do with my time if I'm not scrolling."

Another added: "I have an app blocker, so I'm down to one hour a day on social [media], but I actually still pick up my phone 200 times a day and check nothing, I don't know how to stop!"

A third wrote: "This is my sign to stop! Putting my phone down and breaking this habit!"

Iona's video has over 1.6 million views and more than 177,200 likes, and although she's happy with the success her clip has received, she says it's a sign that more people need to try and reduce their screen time.

She said: "Everyone's waiting for social media to shut down, but it's here to stay. The best thing to do is learn to control your impulses and have self-control now and build discipline so you can live more freely. Create more and consume less."