doom loops
Self-reinforcing downward spirals
A doom loop is a self-reinforcing cycle where negative conditions feed back on themselves, making things progressively worse.
The term appears in economics (falling asset prices forcing sales that drive prices lower), psychology (anxiety causing avoidance that increases anxiety), and urban planning (declining tax bases leading to service cuts that accelerate population loss).
The company entered a doom loop: layoffs hurt morale, productivity dropped, revenues fell, triggering more layoffs.
- cyclicalityRecurring in regular intervals
- vicious cycleSelf-perpetuating harmful pattern
- escalationProgressive increase in intensity
- race to the bottomCompetition through degraded standards
- debt trapsLoans structured to perpetuate obligation
downward spiral · rumination · entrapments · sunk cost fallacy · self-sabotage · bank runs · too big to fail · negative feedback · self-fulfilling prophecy · financial crisis · reflexivity · learned helplessness · currency devaluation · chronic stress · austerity measures · stagflation · avoidance behavior · emotional exhaustion
doom loopsvirtuous cycles
Self-perpetuating beneficial patterns
virtuous circles · snowball effects · snowball effect · winning streaks
doom loopsturnaround
Shift in opposite direction
renaissance · escape velocity · turnarounds · breakout · ascent
doom loopsequilibrium
State of balance
homeostasis · stability · steady state · self-regulation · balance
doom, loop, dooms, doomed, dooming, doomsday, loops, looped, looping