Are there any other signs people could look for, for themselves or the people around them, that their brain is being negatively affected by social media? How can we counteract these effects?

Jim KwikFounder, Kwik Brain · Brain Coach

Are you addicted to social media? Find out!

7 Feb 2025 · 1 min

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0:51

In this brief Q&A segment, Speaker A asks how individuals can recognize that social media is harming their brain and what steps can be taken to mitigate those effects. Speaker B responds by highlighting clear behavioral warning signs—such as an inability to stop using social media despite a desire to engage in other activities and the feeling that social media is interfering with daily life. He then references multiple clinical trials that examined the impact of taking a break from social media, noting consistent findings that participants report improvements in mental health metrics: lower depression and anxiety scores, better sleep quality, and an overall sense of well‑being after a digital detox.

Questions this video answers

If you notice that you are using social media in a way that's unhealthy—feeling unable to stop, wanting to get up and do other things but can't, and sensing that it interferes with your life—that's a bad sign. Clinical trials show that taking time off social media improves depression and anxiety scores, leads to better sleep, and generally makes people feel better.

Chapters

Are there any other signs people could look for, for themselves or the people around them, that their brain is being negatively affected by social media? How can we counteract these effects?
If you notice that you are using this social media in a way that's unhealthy, you know, I think that there's a general awareness there that you can tell. I actually don't want to be on social media right now. I'd really love to get off the couch or get out of bed and do that other thing, but I just kind of can't. If you feel you can sense that it's If it's getting in the way of your life, that's a bad sign. To answer your second question, there are many studies where there are sort of clinical trials have been done. They tested the efficacy or the outcome of taking time off of social media. And from what I've seen, they're generally pretty clearly showing that people who take time off of social media feel better. You know, their depression scores go in the right direction, their anxiety scores go in the right direction. You know, they may sleep better. They just feel better.