Screen Time Statistics

Everyone is waking up to the fact that social media and video games are addictive. What are some statistics that show this? I’m glad you asked!

There is a residential treatment center in Washington state that exclusively treats screen addiction. The ICD-11 (the diagnostic manual that your primary care physician uses) has ‘Gaming Disorder’ listed as 6C51. Those two facts alone should tell you that screen addiction is a real problem.

There has been a steep rise in anxiety and depression diagnoses in children and adolescents, starting around 2010. The U.S. Surgeon General, in 2023, issued a ‘Social Media and Youth Mental Health’ advisory, stating that social media can pose “a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.” In an opinion piece he published in the *New York Times* on June 17, 2024, titled ‘Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms,’ he called for Congress to mandate warning labels on social media platforms, akin to those on cigarette packs. This comparison - social media to cigarettes - should give any person serious pause.

Depression is a devastating consequence of digital overuse. Rates of depression have taken a steep rise for those under 26 years of age, since 2010. Due to those survey results, the American Psychological Association is suggesting more research to understand the role that technology, digital media use, and sleep disturbance, plays in that increase.

In 2023 the CDC reported that for kids aged 10-14, the suicide rate tripled from 2007 to 2018. It is not surprising that many professionals like me see the connection between increased suicide and the beginning of the social media age in 2007. We simply can’t let this continue! How extremely tragic, for a young life to be snuffed out, just at the beginning of life!

Teens’ use of electronic devices for at least 5 hours a day doubled from 2009 to 2015. These teens were 70% more likely to have suicidal thoughts or actions than those who reported 1 hour a day of use. This is not a coincidence; it’s a warning.

Suing social media platforms is happening. There is an organization called the ‘Social Media Victims Law Center.’ I don’t have enough knowledge to have an informed opinion of them, but the fact that they exist and get business makes a statement.

An article was published in Politico on April 10th, 2024, that asked 1,400 mental health professionals what they thought caused mental health issues in youth. The top reason they listed, by far, was social media. Shouldn’t that alone, tell us what we need to know? Those professionals hear the inner-most thoughts of today’s children and youth. Can it be any more plain? Shouldn’t this unanimity serve as a wake-up call?

If you are trying to cut down on screen time, or your child/teen needs to cut down on screen time and you can’t seem to make it happen, give me a call so we can set up some coaching sessions.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/10/youth-mental-health-crisis-survey-00151349

https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-advisory.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/17/opinion/social-media-health-warning.html

https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/abn-abn0000410.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db352.htm

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2167702617723376