Facebook was founded in 2004, Twitter (now “X”) in 2006. The Apple iPhone was launched in 2007. Since those seminal years, wireless devices and social media have dramatically changed the world. Glowing screens dazzle our eyes. Our devices have become extensions of our bodies, reshaped every facet of our lives, from classrooms to newsrooms, from dating to cooking. More alarmingly, many of us are now dependent on our devices, which can monopolize our attention and keep us scrolling endlessly.
During these last two decades, a significant body of evidence suggest that excessive social media use contributes to a host of mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression[1]. The harms of social media are especially pronounced in children and teenagers, whose developing brains are not yet able to moderate social media use, and are more susceptible to online influences. In my practice, I have encountered many clients who report a degradation in their quality of life due to phone addiction. They are not in denial about the effects of social media, nor do they resist my encouragement to reduce compulsive use.
Recent landmark decisions in US courts found Meta and Google, the parent companies behind Instagram and YouTube, liable for harming the mental health of young people[2]. These legal claims are consistent with both anecdotal reports and an established consensus among the research community: the design of social media apps pose considerable risks to users’ mental health. Whereas the link between social media use and adverse mental health was equivocal ten years ago, the causal relationship is clearer than ever. Anyone who has scrolled through Instagram is familiar with its endless parade of videos, shorts, AI slop, and commercials. Very little of this content edifies or informs, but it is hard to stop swiping. Meta’s algorithms aim for maximum and prolonged consumption, making it hard for users to limit their use.
Many studies have shown that excessive use of social media is linked to more severe cases of depression and anxiety[3]. Recent legal cases have revealed that social media companies deliberately designed their platforms to dominate users’ attention. Designers implement Intermittent Reinforcement, or “slot machine mechanics,” to hook users into using their platforms for longer. By randomly presenting “likes” and relevant videos, platforms unpredictably distribute rewards, thus activating a powerful dopamine circuit within the brain. Psychologists identify the intermittent reinforcement mechanism as one of the most powerful ways to induce addiction. Autoplay streams content without presenting an opportunity for users to stop. Push notifications tempt users constantly with enticing content. These designs have created a deluge of online dross that confiscate our attention and benight our intelligence.
Regarding children and adolescents, Jonathan Haidt has argued vociferously against the widespread effects of screens and social media[4]. He identifies the four fundamental harms of a phone-based childhood: social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, and addiction. I shall touch on each of these in turn.
Social Deprivation – When kids are on their phones, they are not interacting with one another face-to-face. Without experiencing, activating, and refining their social acuity, they miss out on the ability to read, attune, and relate with their peers. This leads to a decline in social skills that lead to increased feelings of loneliness and isolation, which can ramify into more serious mental health disorders.
Sleep Deprivation – Screens tend to deprive adolescents of sleep, keeping them up later into the night as their eyes stay rivetted to the screen. With sleep deprivation comes a host of adverse health outcomes: moodiness, fatigue, inability to concentrate, difficulty with learning. Further research has linked chronic sleep deprivation to weaker immune function, cardio-vascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and even an increased risk of dementia later in life[5]. Teens are especially vulnerable to sleep deprivation. Their developing brains are not yet capable of making executive decisions that are good for their overall health; yet, by depriving themselves of sleep, they are denied the neurological growth that they need to step into adulthood.
Attention Fragmentation – The internet delivers a world of information at the click of a button. However, this also means that a world of content is constantly competing for our attention. It becomes harder to apply sustained effort to one task when the noise of social media lurks in the background. For adolescents making their way through school, the lure of the screen can prove irresistible. The inability to concentrate has multiple consequences: erosion of academic performance, impaired ability to learn, and inability to master skills that require attention, practice, and repetition.
Addiction – I have seen some strange sights in my life. Among the most harrowing: a man on a motorcycle, riding with traffic with one hand on the handlebar and the other swiping his phone, eyes alternating between the screen and the road. I also often see pedestrians crossing busy intersections, eyes fixed on the phone, completely oblivious to surroundings. At the dinner table, friends and family are often absorbed in their screens. These sights are no longer rare; they are almost given. According to ICBC, distracted driving is a factor in 37% of reported crashes[6]. Why might drivers be on their phones while operating deadly machinery that can kill or seriously injure others, apart from the fact that they are enthralled by devices that are designed to be addictive?
Given the preponderance of evidence, and now the landmark court decisions, there is little room for ambiguity. Social media has an adverse effect on mental health. Although experts have focused on children and adolescents, the four foundational harms are equally observable in adults. Moderate use may not lead to severe outcomes, but with their design intentions now transparent to the public, we now know that the platforms are not neutral. It is not a matter of being vigilant and disciplined about social media; the moment we log in, swipe our fingers, the app is collecting information about our behaviour and pitching us content that we are inclined to watch. They play off our need for amusement, validation, connection, curiosity. In the social media sphere, autonomy is a constant uphill struggle.
Some industry watchers predict that these court decisions will not change how Meta and Google operate. Their business models are too profitable and too entrenched to tolerate meaningful reform. Instead, they will update their terms and conditions to severely limit their users’ ability to hold them legally liable for adverse mental-health outcomes. If these predictions prove true, then Big Tech will join the ranks of Big Tabacco and Big Oil in their unyielding drive for profit over collective wellbeing.
We do not have to yield to Big Tech the decisions related to our mental health. Today, at this very moment, we can choose to take hold of our minds, the primary means we have of experiencing the world. We can put down the phone, look up to the sky. Cherry blossoms regale the meadows. The birds chirp their mating song. Spring has arrived. Right under our nose, the life presents itself in all its ordinary splendour. Meeting our lives with sincerity and serenity, we find a home that surpasses the allure of the screen.
[1] Mingxuan Du et al., “Association between Problematic Social Networking Use and Anxiety Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” BMC Psychology 12, no. 1 (2024): 263, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01705-w; Liu yi Lin et al., “Association Between Social Media Use and Depression Among U.s. Young Adults,” Depression and Anxiety 33, no. 4 (2016): 323–31, https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22466.
[2] “Jury in Los Angeles Finds Meta and YouTube Liable in Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial | CBC News,” accessed March 31, 2026, https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/social-media-trial-la-9.7141920.
[3] Osman Ulvi et al., “Social Media Use and Mental Health: A Global Analysis,” Epidemiologia 3, no. 1 (2022): 11–25, https://doi.org/10.3390/epidemiologia3010002.
[4] Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation (PENGUIN, 2025).
[5] Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams (Scribner, 2017).
[6] “Distracted Driving in B.C. Infographic,” accessed March 31, 2026, https://icbc.com/road-safety/crashes-happen/distracted-driving/distracted-driving-infographic.