What a digital detox can do for you

Some people are aiming to reduce overall screen-time or social-media use (including yours truly). Others want to carve out regular no-screen days—OK, maybe more like time periods—or days or retreats.

A survey by the digital-wellness app Opal (granted, a bit of a biased audience) found that 33% of 1,306 users said reducing screen times and being more present was their top New Year’s resolution, compared with 28% who aimed to lose weight.

Even teens are voicing a desire to reduce screen time. A Boston Children’s Digital Wellness Lab report cited results from a survey of more than 1,500 teens and found that 63% said they use their phones too much and 47% said they used apps or tools to manage phone use.

It’s high time we all cut down. There are growing signals it’s bad for our mental health—especially among adolescents and young adults.

A recent study in JAMA Network Open found that when young adults did a social-media detox for a week they had a reduction in anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as less insomnia.

Dr. John Torous, senior author of the study and director of the division of digital psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, says previous research often relies on people self-reporting their screen time or social-media use, which can be unreliable. He wanted to do it differently.

Here’s what his study did: About 400 people between the ages of 18 and 24 were instructed to use their phones normally for two weeks to get a baseline of screen time and other metrics. The third week they were asked to reduce their social- media use.

About 80% of people were successful in reducing their social-media time. Average use went down from about two hours a day to 30 minutes.

The participants were asked questions about their mood, activity and sleep daily. After a week of their social-media detox, participants on average had: a 25% reduction in depression symptoms, a 16% decline in anxiety and a 14% decrease in insomnia. There was no significant change in exercise or number of steps.

Some apps were easier to quit than others. Video-based apps such as TikTok and Snapchat were harder to stay away from than more text-based ones, like Facebook or X, says Torous.

Interestingly, overall screen time went up about 4% overall. “So it does seem like people were doing other things on their phone," says Torous. “Kind of points to the fact that all screen time is not equal."

But time spent on your phone isn’t just about what you’re doing—it’s also about what you’re not doing. After all, what you’re not doing could be boosting your physical and mental health and social connections.

That’s the main benefit for Andy Liu, a 19-year-old college student at Rutgers University in New Jersey, who joined Appstinence—a collective that advocates for eliminating addictive technology—three to four months ago.

Liu says that in the New Year he hopes to continue committing to an app-free lifestyle. He’s already deleted all his social-media accounts. He’s transitioned to a flip phone. He still goes online for schoolwork and other things such as YouTube or Reddit a few minutes a day.

“I’m not completely offline but I’m more centered on finding meaningful activities for me," he says.

Since eliminating social media, Liu says, he exercises more, has taken up some old hobbies like drawing and painting and has even learned to cook.

David Bickham, research director of Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s, says adolescents and teenagers are tracking screen or social-media time and striving to rely on it less.

He says digital detoxes, like going phone-free for a day or a weekend, are useful to learn how much you rely on technology and how you feel when you aren’t using it. This can be liberating.

“I think it can be a really great experience, some people do it weekly, like every Saturday or Sunday a family goes screen-free."

But it can be difficult to do regularly and isn’t always practical.

Not all social-media use is bad, Bickham says. There’s evidence that engaging with friends on social media can be positive and lead to a better sense of belonging and connection. But using social media to connect to people you don’t know tends to be more linked to negative feelings, like loneliness.

“It makes a lot of sense that if you’re feeling lonely you might go online to look for that connection," he says.

Aiming for a digital detox or just want to reduce your phone use? Here are some tips:

• Don’t go cold turkey. If you’re averaging multiple hours on social media, it’s not realistic to go to zero. Start with a goal of limiting or restricting your use by a certain amount.

• Use your phone to set screen-time limits or cut-off times. Your phone can help you reach your goals. If you need harder barriers, try an app.

• Create tech-free zones or times. Start by charging your phone outside of the bedroom and avoiding use an hour before going to sleep. Avoid phones at meal times. Put your phone in a different room.

• Replace time spent on social media or screens with other things. That could be anything from real world-socializing, to exercise, to going to bed an hour early. You can even use your phone to call a friend instead of doom scrolling for an hour.

• Don’t blame yourself for your behaviors. “The way technology and social media is designed, it’s very hard to keep track of time," says Dr. Sajita Setia, a physician in Auckland, New Zealand, who conducts research studies on screen time and mental well-being, particularly in children. “It’s not about will power, it’s not about self control. We can never win against tech."

Write to Sumathi Reddy at Sumathi.Reddy@wsj.com