The Anxious Generation Tries Logging Off

By Julie Deardorff

Amid growing signals that using smartphones and social media is bad for mental health, some SESP students, alumni, and faculty are seeing the upside of taking a break.

When Andrew Onema has exams coming up or an important project due, he'll post a story on Instagram letting people know he's taking a little break from social media. But he inevitably searches for the app whenever he picks up his phone, forgetting he's deleted it.

"You don't realize how much of a habit it is until it's gone," says Onema, 20, a first-year SESP student whose longest social media pause has lasted a month. "But whenever I really need to focus or feel like my brain is beginning to rot, I know it's time."

As governments, schools, parents, and now courts wrestle with the addictive nature of social media, a growing number of Gen Zers are stepping back on their own. Labeled the "anxious generation" by social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt, they cycle on and off apps like Instagram and TikTok—or quit altogether—often in response to an unsettling feeling that the constant connection comes at a mental health cost.

Supporters of digital detoxes say even short breaks can reduce stress, improve mood and sleep, and help people notice unhealthy tech habits. But the benefits are often temporary, and pausing can make people feel isolated, especially those who rely on social media to stay connected. Detoxes don't work the same way for everyone and may postpone addressing deeper issues related to mental health.

Moreover, a detox puts the burden on the user instead of on the company that designed the technology, says Charles Logan (PhD25), a postdoctoral fellow at SESP's Center for Responsible Technology, Policy, and Public Dialogue and incoming research assistant professor of AI and Society at the State University of New York's Binghamton University.

"A detox means it's up to you to manage your relationship with the technology, rather than asking why the technologies were ever released in the first place," says Logan, who teaches a class on the design of learning environments.

The science is still catching up

Researchers are still working to pin down exactly how, and how much, social media affects well-being. Past studies have often contradicted one another, partly because they rely too much on teens' and young adults' estimating their own screen time. Practitioners, however, say they routinely see negative effects on mental health, especially self-esteem. "It makes people feel like losers when they don't have plans every single weekend," says therapist Scott Gerson (BS17), who was known for using a flip phone as an undergraduate. "It's sad, since social media was originally meant to connect people. It seems like the effect today is quite the opposite."

A recent study in JAMA Network Open used data from participants' phones to track behavior and mood in real time, which researchers said provided a more complete picture. Young adults between ages 18 and 24 used social media on their phones regularly for two weeks followed by a week of abstinence. They reported declines in depressive symptoms, anxiety, and insomnia, which suggests that even a short social media break can be temporarily helpful.

Smartphones, social media, and artificial intelligence are accelerating the pace of emotional life, often in ways our brains and bodies are not built to handle, says stress researcher and professor Emma Adam. "Our systems are designed for small-to-medium waves of experience," she says. "Prolonged high levels of stress can alter stress hormones and related biological systems in ways that affect sleep and health." What's important is that we help young people "surf" life's waves by reducing stressors, strengthening social supports, and designing technologies that align with human well-being.

"It's not that social media and phone use are bad, per se—in fact there can be benefits," says Michal Boyars (BS12), a licensed psychologist in Maryland. "The problem is that they amplify existing challenges, so someone prone to anxiety becomes much more anxious when they spend time scrolling."

There's a huge opportunity cost too, Boyars says. When she began checking screen time and app use during neuropsychology assessments, she was stunned to see that "some teens were spending five to seven hours a day on their phones—mostly on addictive apps, like TikTok, which are designed to give our brains a surge of rewarding neurotransmitters like dopamine." Her patients are surprised to see how the time adds up.

"They are often motivated, driven, wonderful kids who feel like there's never enough time in the day, and this is partially why. Scrolling has become a full-time job, and that means a real loss of growth opportunities, like having a real job, hanging out with friends in person, or learning to cook. And they're less prepared for adult life."

Goodbye, Instagram?

SESP senior Grace Lee noticed that she's sensitive to external stimulation; after she deactivated Instagram for good, her anxiety level decreased. She's been completely off social media for a year, and her boyfriend—whose job involves creating social media content—also deactivated his personal accounts. With her focus back, she can now read a book, watch an entire movie, or sit in a two-hour lecture without checking her phone or computer. "I can look out a window and be entertained," she says.

Lee cautions that disappearing from social media "takes a whole other level of not caring about what's going on socially." She misses out on different trends or events—like a thrifting pop-up—unless her friends tell her about them. She also doesn't know what other people are doing.

But for her, that's a positive. "It's become a comfort not having to know what I'm missing out on," says Lee, who hopes to become a therapist and work with children and families. "It gave me the freedom to just do what I want."

Growing up in Oklahoma City, first-year Onema got his first phone in eighth grade, later than many of his friends. He joined Instagram at age 16 and now mostly uses social media to keep up with people. At Northwestern, he says, it adds another layer of competition: Who you follow—and whether a professor follows you back—can feel like a measure of status.

He has seen how the apps affect his attention span and study habits, making it harder to focus or even watch videos at normal speed. He tries to take breaks, but as social media manager for Griffin's Tale, a student-led organization that adapts stories by Evanston elementary school children into songs and sketches, he has to stay online.

After one Griffin's Tale meeting, a friend wondered what they would do for fun without phones. The conversation turned to when they might give them to their own children, all feeling they'd gotten theirs too early.

"We agreed that the end of high school" was the right time, Onema says. But he knows that's easier said than done without universal buy-in or better tools to help people build healthier relationships with technology. "It has to be a community mindset. No one wants to be the one kid without a phone."