ADHD Weekly, September 18, 2025

Infinite scrolling and short videos are purposedly designed to keep your eyes on the small screen. The program engineers who write computer code for social media platforms know that if they create a platform that captures your attention, they can count you among the viewer numbers on that platform that are appealing to potential advertisers. Your attention is their product.

While that benefits social media platforms, the benefits are far less for average viewers and even fewer for viewers who have ADHD. Multiple sets of researchers are examining how watching short videos made by content creators for platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube can make paying attention more difficult and increase procrastination in young adults. Scrolling through this almost endless video library may turn into an addiction.

When you also have ADHD, it can be hard to limit the amount of time spent watching short videos, especially if you already struggle with time management, procrastination, or impulsivity. Although not an official diagnosis, the newly coined term short form video addiction (SFVA) is used by some professionals to describe when watching short videos becomes compulsive behavior and interferes with daily life.

Short videos can be found on a variety of topics including: the daily life of a dog, cooking without carbs, hacks for motivation, and ways to cut costs on vacation travel. And, of course, there are the cat videos—felines caught in humorous antics. Compulsively watching this type of content can interrupt your daily life, work, and school. To top it off, these video platforms are programmed to offer new content on things that you’ve watched previously, continuously capturing your interest. Meanwhile, hours have gone by and that homework, work task, or household chore you’ve meant to do doesn’t get done.

Less mental effort makes it appealing

College students and young adults are a large viewer group drawn to information shown in small bursts. But what makes short videos so appealing?

“Information is small, bite-sized, emotional, and not involving much cognitive complexity that requires thinking,” says Randy Kulman, PhD. Dr. Kulman is a clinical psychologist and the founder and president of LearningWorks for Kids, an educational technology company that specializes in using video games to teach executive-functioning and academic skills. He points out that watching a short video doesn’t require much mental effort which, may be why it’s more appealing than doing homework or some other task that requires attention.

“It’s as if you were taking a bite of ten different peaches, looking for the best one and maybe never finding it,” he explains. “Short videos are not designed for the most part to be cognitively engaging but more emotionally engaging, and perhaps this leads to or is related to a lack of cognitive engagement in studies or learning. As if everything should be simple and not require much effort.”

More than sixty percent of the global online community watches short form video content daily, according to Ampere Analysis, a UK-based company that provides market data on global media and entertainment. Researchers are now studying how constant short-form video viewing can affect the brain as these videos become the preferred form for sharing information.

One such study found that this behavior seems to be rewiring parts of the brain and affecting behavior.

“Short video use can develop into an addictive pattern, and the reward-driven, rapid-cue format of these videos has been shown to heighten susceptibility to impulsive and risky decision-making,” the researchers concluded. The format of short videos activates the reward center of the brain, and that can affect decision-making. This is especially true for individuals with ADHD who are more likely to act impulsively and have increased risks for additive behaviors.

How it affects college students

College students and young adults often watch videos when they are bored or avoiding a task that requires focus and attention. Researchers have shared concerns about how constant viewing of short videos can affect their mental health and interfere with academic performance.

In 2023, a study focusing on short-form videos and students’ procrastination behaviors, found a definite connection between video watching and delays in studying or completing assignments. The researchers noted that the students who constantly watched short videos had a harder time controlling their attention, which affected their academic performance. Dr. Kulman reviewed this study for CHADD’s ADHD Weekly.

Short videos activate the reward center of the brain and may be more tempting to watch because there’s little effort involved. Academic work involves thinking, organizing, and planning, all tasks that offer delayed rewards.

“There’s less complexity [in short videos], generally not much in the way of in-depth themes, and the ability to not pay too much attention because the next video will be coming up,” Dr. Kulman says. “One doesn’t need to be too invested initially in watching it because if you don’t like the beginning of it, you just go to the next one.”

The more we watch the short-form videos, the more difficult it becomes for our brains to “want” to stay active with learning materials that require more effort—including reading, studying, or critically analyzing a concept.

Risk awareness can reduce negative effects

How can you protect yourself from developing SFVA? Awareness of the financial motivations for social media platforms and video creators may help you decide to spend less time scrolling on your phone. Tracking the time you spend watching videos or scrolling social media for a few days or a week can help you determine if you’re spending too much time online. There are some useful free apps to help with this (check your provider’s app store).

Knowing how much time you’re online can help you to find ways to cut down on your viewing time. You might want to plan each week how much time you’ll spend online, and when, each day. If you want to try these options but find it hard to stick to a limit, there are mobile and internet browser apps that can help you stick with your planned limits.

If you are really stuck and struggle to limit time online, don’t be afraid to reach out for help. If you feel like you might have SFVA—or your teen or young adult may be struggling with it— contact your doctor or the college health office for support. If you are falling behind academically, talk with your professors and make a plan to catch up.

You can keep short videos from becoming a problem for you while still enjoying them as an outlet during a stressful or busy school or work week.

“While sometimes this is fun, it’s certainly not exercise for the brain like other forms of cognitive engagement and thinking,” notes Dr. Kulman.

Further reading:

• Too Much Time Online: Suggestions for Limiting Media Use
• ADHD on TikTok
• Video Games and ADHD: Harmful or Helpful?
• Internet Addiction and ADHD
• College and ADHD
• Young Adulthood and ADHD

Join the discussion: How has your video watch affected your day-to-day activities?