I recommend running MemTest and testing your RAM.
If you are using SSD, then using Swap is not recommended.
Yes, you can increase swap space ( as in, it is possible to do so), but that will not cure freezing. It is the accessing of swap, when you run out of physical RAM space, that can cause freezes. So once you need to access swap, whether it be 2 gigs or 100 gigs, there will be a hesitation or "freeze".
It sounds more like you have a Memory Leak issue. Your memory is filling quickly and maintaining a full state, overflowing into your swap which also fills.
16 gigs should be more than enough to manage a few browser tabs.
Check which package format you have installed your browsers. If they are installed as Snap or Flatpak, you can try using the APT pacakge, instead. See if they are conflicting with the Gnome-shell.
If you are using APT, you can try testing the Flatpak; I do not recommend the Snap package.
If testing the Flatpak shows better performance, this can indicate that the package itself is the issue. While using Flatpak is a viable option as a workaround, you will also need to install Flatseal and manage its permissions for use with a Browser... So you may consider using a different Chrome-Browser edition in APT or a downloaded .deb package instead.
If using a different package format does nothing to show any difference in RAM usage, then it is very likely a corruption in the shell - in which case a fresh reinstall of your Operating System is the best way to resolve the issue. This is not as bad as it sounds:
Be thorough with backing up your data and files before committing to a reinstall.