Research finds smartphones linked to depression and anxiety

A new study reported by NPR shows that taking two week breaks from the internet and your smartphone can improve your mood as effectively as medication.

Here’s yet another study that suggests our smartphones and constant internet access may be causing us excessive levels of anxiety and depression.

According to a new article by NPR, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Alberta in Canada have found that taking two week breaks has a monumental effect on our overall mood, improving day-to-day wellbeing just as effectively as medication.

467 participants aged 18 to 74 were monitored for one month. Researchers wanted to see how our connection to everything, all the time, leads to unintended consequences.

Adrian Ward, a psychologist who was involved in the study, said that the results were surprisingly clear. ‘We found that people had better mental health, better subjective well-being and better sustained attention,’ they explained to NPR.

91% of those studied said they felt better after the two-week break.

The researchers looked at three different outcomes of well-being, mood and attention. They did this at the beginning, middle and end of the study.

71% reported better mental health after the break, while 73% reported better subjective well-being. Not too shabby. The participants were asked to complete surveys often used by doctors to assess depression and anxiety, with personal questions that are unique to each individual experience.

The findings suggested that the decrease in depressive symptoms was on par with those studied in trials for antidepressant medication. It was a far greater and effective result than the researchers were expecting.

They also found that the break from internet access improved the attention spans of participants in a sizeable way, so much so that it was ‘as if they had become ten years younger,’ said Noah Castelo, an assistant professor at the University of Alberta.

So, what does all this mean?

Obviously, the study isn’t suggesting that simply switching your phone off will magically improve your life. What did happen was that participants began using their free time more positively. This included exercise, socialising, finding hobbies, cooking, and much more. The less time that was spent mindlessly scrolling feeds, the more productive people were.

For most of us, none of this is likely to be shocking news.