Mad about Science: Digital Addiction Part III

By Brenden Bobby
Reader Columnist

In the final installment of the “digital addiction” series, we will be looking at methods to combat social media and video game addiction, and the benefits to reducing screen time in favor of other methods of entertainment.

Digital addiction is a tricky subject. There is no single moment when use crosses the threshold into addiction. It is a collection of moments and altered behaviors that culminates into an invisible dependency. It isn’t as clear as substance abuse, as it doesn’t noticeably affect people in the way hard drugs or alcohol do. Unlike those substances, where the suppliers make all the money, there are entire six-figure careers built around mastering social media as a user.

We understand the warning signs of digital addiction. They are virtually identical to gambling addiction, and closely resemble the functioning of substance addiction. 

Dependency and a loss of impulse control related to digital activity is the most obvious effect. Compulsive use by filling every empty moment with a thumb-flick of the screen — searching for something to entertain you for a few moments dozens or even hundreds of times throughout the day.

Agitation and anxiety are more subtle signs of addiction. A gnawing feeling that you’re missing out on something, that someone is trying to contact you, that a new opportunity is awaiting you if you just pick up your phone and check. Feeling agitated or frustrated when you don’t have constant access to your device is a sign of dependency.

Many of us have struggled with emotional regulation in an always-online world. We are constantly barraged by bad news. The quickest fix is to find distracting content on socials or to play a game for a couple of hours. This is a method of coping and rewiring the way our brains process emotional regulation, another major factor of addiction commonly seen in substance abuse.

All of these are damaging to adults, but they are exceptionally damaging to the developing brains of children. The idea of letting a child shoot up heroin is a horrifying mental image, but unrestricted use of addictive modern games and social media isn’t much better. Many of the mental processes are still the same and, while the gray matter shrinkage of these kinds of addictions is prevalent in adults, it is much more rapidly affecting developing brains.

How do we combat this?

The simplest method that no one wants to hear is to stop using: Don’t play video games, unplug the device and/or have a family member hide it if the compulsion to play it is too strong. Social media can be cut out cold turkey.

However, this is an abrupt and sometimes self-destructive path. Digital addiction comes with its own withdrawal symptoms, including anxiety, irritability and depression. This can cause a user to fall straight back into the addiction even harder than before.

Instead, digital dependency is more effectively treated by replacing addictive behaviors with more desirable ones. Once identified, a compulsive urge to turn on a video game console can be redirected into an adjacent activity — board and card game hobbies have experienced a renaissance in the wake of the pandemic and multiple singleplayer hobby games are very accessible to users, while offering a richer cerebral experience than consuming a digital world.

Reading a physical book or magazine is a great alternative to idly scrolling through TikTok or Facebook. A library patron recently told me that 10 pages a day is a great pace for a reader, as many books can be completed in under a month with this goal in mind. 

Identifying the compulsive need to scroll is the first step toward making a concentrated effort to read instead. The next step is to keep a book near places you normally idle or relax, so that the book is easier to reach than your phone. Convenience is the crux of digital addiction, and making other habits more convenient than pressing a button is key to overcoming established habits.

Reading boasts many benefits to the brain. It can effectively undo the gray matter loss from digital addiction, but it takes time. Reading improves problem-solving skills, executive function and critical thinking. Improving literacy helps anyone become more analytical, while reading fiction has shown to increase capacity for empathy in active readers.

Trying to pursue other offline activities also helps to stem the drive to scroll, game or otherwise digitally consume. Exercise triggers similar dopamine reactions after a couple of weeks. Meditation can help recover impulse control through grounding and mindfulness.

Creating a block of time and making sure you have off-limits zones for screens can help retrain your brain. If you lose 30 minutes on the toilet to idle scrolling, you can set a “no screen in the bathroom rule” and slowly expand this to other areas of the home.

Dealing with digital addiction is excruciatingly difficult for children, as children often have no idea what addiction is or feels like. They have been immersed in a digital landscape since birth and peeling away from a screen that has always been there seems like an alien prospect. Combating this requires not only a concentrated effort to reduce screen time, but providing meaningful and engaging alternatives the parent is willing to partake in at home.

It’s unfair for a child to be deprived of something if the parent won’t deprive themselves, and children pick up on that. Children will be far more likely to engage in offline activities when their parents are engaged in performing these activities with them as peers rather than authority figures. Origami, board and card games, reading or engaging in imaginative play can help stem the allure of digital worlds and endless mouse clicking — but only as long as the adults in their lives are willing to do so alongside them.

Stay curious, 7B.