"Have you ever fallen into a black hole on your phone? It might have started innocently enough, maybe a notification or text message. Yet, five hours later, you're swiping through videos as the day fades. Those hours can feel like seconds, leading us to miss out on life. Yet, excessive social media and habitual doomscrolling are becoming increasingly common problems, particularly for young people and young adults."
"Researchers have named the phenomenon "digital dissociation" (Goel, 2025), linking unbridled use of social media to an escape from reality. They argue that over time, excessive use can chip away at our identities, as we are no longer living life in full color but spending a significant amount of it in an alternate reality. We can check out of the real world and become less connected to ourselves and others."
Excessive social media use and habitual doomscrolling increasingly affect young people and young adults, producing a state labeled digital dissociation. Digital dissociation operates as an escape from reality that diminishes personal identity and weakens connections to self and others. Compulsive phone use can compress hours into seconds and lead to missed real-world experiences. Interventions emphasize interrupting the compulsive use cycle and fostering healthier relationships with technology rather than advocating complete abandonment. Supports include targeted content, community resources, practical strategies, and creators who engage users with compassionate, realistic guidance to reduce overuse and reclaim presence.
Read at Psychology Today
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