Social Media Breaks Significantly Improve Young Adults' Mental Health

A study published in JAMA Network Open indicates that young adults can significantly improve their mental health by taking a break from social media. The research involved nearly 400 participants aged 18 to 24, who initially used their phones normally for two weeks while their social media use was tracked via an app.

After this period, about 80 percent of the participants opted for a one-week detox from social media, reducing their usage from approximately two hours a day to just 30 minutes. Participants reported notable declines in mental health symptoms, with depression symptoms decreasing by 24 percent, anxiety by 16 percent, and insomnia by 14 percent.

Mitchell Prinstein, chief of psychology strategy and integration for the American Psychological Association, noted that these reductions in mental health symptoms usually take eight to 12 weeks of intensive psychotherapy to achieve.

This study adds to the ongoing debate around the effects of social media on mental health, with research linking social media use to increased levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has called for warning labels on social media platforms regarding their potential risks to adolescent mental health.

While some researchers have pointed out the mixed findings in studies about social media's negative impact, Dr. John Torous, one of the study's co-authors and an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, suggests that a social media detox could be an effective strategy alongside other mental health treatments like medication and therapy.

However, Candice Odgers, a professor at the University of California, cautions that the study lacked a control group, raising questions about the validity of the findings. Overall, the evidence points to the potential benefits of reducing social media engagement as a means to improve mental health in young adults.