Scrolling on social media responsible for 2.8 million years spent depressed, major review finds

Our phone scrolling habits are costing the globe nearly 2.8 million years of mental illness, scientists have warned. 

Spending more than two hours a day on screens was linked to poorer mental health and depression.

Researchers suggested this could be because excessive screen use can crowd out sleep, exercise and face-to-face social interaction, while exposing users to addictive platform features designed to keep them engaged for longer.

Screen use, including scrolling on Instagram and Tiktok, is also said to be responsible for some 240,000 years lost to obesity worldwide.

The striking estimates have been published in a major review on the harms of screen use - based on evidence from 9 million young adults. 

Writing in the prestigious Lancet journal, an international team of experts from universities across Europe, North America and Asia blamed our increasingly online lives for the rise in mental health problems, sleep disorders and physical inactivity among young people.

Compulsive and addiction-like digital media use can hurt children’s development, review finds 

The scientists accused tech companies of treating global health as an 'afterthought', and have called for 'coordinated global action' to reduce the risk of harm, including disclosing the impact of certain 'addictive' features on health. 

'Use of digital media is now woven into the fabric of childhood and life as a young adult,' Professor Ilona Kickbusch, who led the Lancet review, said. 

'Governments have let technology companies write their own rules, leading to business models built to capture attention and collect data, with health treated as an afterthought.' 

Digital technology is now a near-constant presence in young people's lives, with children gaining access to smartphones and social media at increasingly younger ages.  

The new umbrella review  analysed data from 121 previous studies and found consistent links between problematic, addiction-like screen use and a range of health concerns including anxiety, depression, poor sleep and even neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD and autism.

The findings come amid growing concern about the impact of screen use on children and teenagers. 

Earlier this year, a major study published in JAMA Pediatrics found higher screen use was linked to poorer academic performance as well as a greater risk of emotional and language difficulties. 

Researchers said the impact was comparable to, and in some cases greater than, other factors known to influence child development, including socioeconomic status, parental behaviour and premature birth. 

Technology firms are also facing mounting pressure to strengthen protection for children online, with several platforms including Instagram and TikTok introducing parental controls and age-verification measures. 

But, in the new review, researchers stressed that age restrictions are not enough to tackle the risks posed by digital media.

Rather, Governments and tech companies should be regulated by a dedicated international body that monitors the harms to children and young people. 

The researchers also spoke with a group of six young adults aged 23-30 who were able to draw on lived experience. 

Dr Salman Fitrat Khan, a junior medical doctor and member of the group said: 'The health risks and harms associated with digital systems are preventable. 

'With better governance and by empowering young people to help shape digital systems around us, the online world can give us connection, information and opportunities without putting our health at risk. 

'Governments shouldn't wait for "perfect" evidence before acting for our generation and the ones coming after us.'   

Experts who were not involved in the current review welcomed the findings, but said more research is needed to establish cause and effect. 

Professor Alan Woodward, an expert in cybersecurity from the University of Surrey, said: 'Calling for precautionary action is a legitimate position, but it is a value judgement, not a scientific finding. 

'If governments do act, evaluation needs to be built in from the start, otherwise nobody will learn whether it worked.'

Dr Teodora Gliga, a neuroscientist at the University of East Anglia, added: 'The Lancet call for a public health approach to limiting exposure is necessary. 

'Digital media changes so fast that research becomes obsolete by the time a conclusion is reached.

'Yet this research is critical, both for preventing harm caused by digital media use but also for preventing unnecessary anxiety or loss of potential benefits of such use.'