Nobody really knows how much screen time is too much for our health, according to an article in The News-Times (Danbury, Conn.) and posted by GovTech.
Is there a need to worry?
The American Academy of Pediatrics admits on its website that “there isn’t enough evidence demonstrating a benefit from specific screen time limitation guidelines.” But since 2024, when the Oxford English Dictionary named “brain rot” the word of the year, defining it as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state,” even some avowed “addicts” of video platforms have worried about effects on their cognition
One meta-analysis of 71 studies published in Psychological Bulletin last year found that greater use of short-form video platforms was associated with poorer cognitive performance —especially attention and inhibitory control — and worse mental health, particularly stress and anxiety.
Other studies, including one in the Journal of Education and Health Promotion, have found that prolonged use of digital devices is associated with eye strain, neck and back pain, sleep disruption, increased risks of depression, anxiety and other mood disorders. Face-to-face interaction is reduced and there are potential impacts on cognitive development.
Still other studies, including one in the medical journal Cureus, conclude that too much screen time leads to more sedentary behavior — a risk for heart disease, obesity and other diseases, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
“People get distracted by screens,” says Yale psychiatrist Dr. Yann Poncin. “The degree to which people are switching screens is happening more frequently,” he says, pointing to research by University of California, Irvine professor Gloria Marks, author of “Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity.” Marks found people are more interrupted by screen notifications, and “auto-generated interruptions are also happening more frequently,” Poncin says.
“It’s really hard to get off this problem because we are not going to be able to function without screens,” Poncin says. “We need them to communicate and there’s so much positive from screens. I think the problem is that there’s too much good, and then we get sucked into another world and we’re getting manipulated to use it more.”
Children — especially young children whose brains are developing — are at risk for numerous problems from excessive screen use, researchers have found. Preschoolers who spent less than one hour of screen time a day were more likely to show vulnerabilities in language, cognitive development, communication and social skills, according to a Canadian study.
Yet purchases and consumption of screens continue to boom.
“Technology is not going away,” says Joshua C. Elliott, director of educational technology at Fairfield University. “It’s only going to advance so we have to prepare our kids and adults to learn responsible use, which is sometimes learning not to use it.”
Beyond physical effects of too much screen time are cognitive ones, says Northwell Health neurologist Dr. Paul Wright. He believes social media use has its users “addicted to dopamine,” a neurotransmitter responsible for the rush of pleasure, according to Harvard Health.
“We’re just being over-stimulated and over-involved with too many things that we can’t really concentrate on people and things at hand,” he says.
Sara Baker Bailey, an associate professor of communications at Southern Connecticut State University, says her students have to be reminded about assignments repeatedly because they are distracted. Students typically take a picture of a deadline date on their phones but fail to write it down. “The old school pen and paper method is the best way to go” to remember, she says.
Dr. Laura Holt, a clinical psychologist and professor at Trinity College, agrees, saying society — and school systems — seem to be recognizing the effect of excessive digital stimulation. Holt, who has a no-technology policy in her classroom, says she’s noticed a tidal wave of change. “There’s just a bit more vigilance and recognition that just because we can do it on a computer doesn’t mean we should,” she says.
Mindfulness about when we are spending too much time on screens, and setting limits to use, whether in certain situations or in minutes, is worthwhile, say Elliott and Wright. “We all think we’re good multi-taskers,” says Elliot. “We’re not. Research shows the concept of brain rot takes a toll on us.”
The News-Times (Danbury, Conn.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
GovTech
