How Social Media Destroyed My Generation's Mental Health
benthams.substack.com
Imagine if there was some drug that was taken by the vast majority of Gen Z. This drug was absurdly addictive, with many people reporting being unable to watch a movie or read a book without taking the drug. There were well-understood psychological mechanisms by which it made people miserable—making people feel insecure, wasting people’s time, and crowding out social interaction. Gen Z’s mental health took a massive nosedive when—around 2012—this drug became ubiquitous. Furthermore, in natural experiments, places that roll out the drug have much worse mental health than places that don’t. Worst of all, almost 40% of Gen Z spent 4 hours or more taking the drug each day (and that’s just what they admit to) and those who spent more time taking it were considerably more miserable.
How Social Media Destroyed My Generation's Mental Health
How Social Media Destroyed My Generation's…
How Social Media Destroyed My Generation's Mental Health
Imagine if there was some drug that was taken by the vast majority of Gen Z. This drug was absurdly addictive, with many people reporting being unable to watch a movie or read a book without taking the drug. There were well-understood psychological mechanisms by which it made people miserable—making people feel insecure, wasting people’s time, and crowding out social interaction. Gen Z’s mental health took a massive nosedive when—around 2012—this drug became ubiquitous. Furthermore, in natural experiments, places that roll out the drug have much worse mental health than places that don’t. Worst of all, almost 40% of Gen Z spent 4 hours or more taking the drug each day (and that’s just what they admit to) and those who spent more time taking it were considerably more miserable.