nexus

Is Social Media Bad for Our Mental Health?

Take a break! Caught up in the web of social media? Maybe it's time to snap back to reality to improve your mental health, just like Tom Holland. But are the clever designs of big tech the problem or do we have ourselves to blame? And when are online social habits an addiction versus just a terrible distraction? Is this the 'Big Tobacco' of our time... Nexus speaks to Anna Lembke, Professor of Psychiatry and Social Behaviour at Stanford University who featured in the 2020 Netflix documentary ‘The Social Dilemma’ who says social media addiction is a reality for many people but abstaining completely is unrealistic for our times. Brian Primack is the Dean of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University who says we need to be very selective in the content we consume in order for it to be beneficial, and Nir Eyal, a behavioural design consultant believes we cannot wait for big tech to change, we need to be in control of our own behaviour.

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