Excessive use of screens has become an epidemic silently eroding lives with little resistance.
Gallup’s 2012 survey found that around 60 percent of young adults admit to spending too much of their time on the internet; in a subsequent survey, 83 percent of smartphone users said they kept their phone near them “almost all the time during their waking hours.”
The problem is screens can overstimulate our brains, resulting in perpetual stress, also known as the fight-or-flight state. This state taxes the brain and body and makes us prone to meltdowns, depression, and anxiety when even minor changes in the environment occur.
The initial link between screen time and poor mental health was spotted through generational studies.
Between 2005 and 2012, the change in rates of depressive episodes in teens aged 12 to 17 barely exceeded 1 percent. However, between 2012 and 2017, there was an almost 4 percent increase.
Additionally, fewer teenagers are going outside or reading books, while their time on social media and the internet is dramatically surging.
The answer to the problem from a growing number of pediatric psychiatrists? A four-week “screen fast” that eliminates all TVs, phones, and video games.