In a world where endless scrolling has become the norm, psychiatrist Anna Lembke's stark warning on the podcast The Diary of a CEO resonates deeply: "We may, quite literally, be entertaining ourselves to death." At first glance, this statement might seem exaggerated, but a closer look at our daily habits reveals a disturbing truth. From the moment we wake up, many of us chase small dopamine hits through quick scrolls, short videos, and harmless reels, turning minutes into hours of unproductive digital consumption.
The Hidden Toll on Mental Health
This relentless digital engagement is akin to consuming unregulated street food from every stall in sight—none inspected, none accountable. If we did this with food, the result would be obvious gut dysregulation. Yet, we are doing exactly this with information, indiscriminately consuming endless videos of cats, carpet cleaning, and shopping streams. In clinical practice, patients often complain of headaches, poor concentration, memory lapses, and persistent mental fog. When asked about screen time, they typically respond with "just a couple of hours," framed as harmless relaxation after work.
Device Analytics Tell a Different Story
However, device analytics paint a grim picture: seven to eight hours a day online, with nearly 80 percent spent on social media. What feels like 15 minutes of scrolling often turns out to be two uninterrupted hours, and a "short" YouTube break can stretch into an entire evening. For many, social media has evolved beyond mere entertainment; it has become their primary source of information and, in some cases, their worldview.
One patient shared a telling experience: they switched to audiobooks to rest their eyes, but their screen time did not reduce. While listening, their hands felt so restless that they had to scroll through apps or play video games simultaneously. When asked how they followed the story, the response was unsettling: "I really want to concentrate. But then, what do you do with your hands?" This question perfectly captures the crisis—many of us no longer know what to do with our eyes or hands if we are not being continuously entertained by online, largely nonsensical data.
The Inadequacy of Willpower as a Solution
The common solution offered is willpower: put the phone away, be disciplined, control yourself. Yet, this approach is inadequate and unfair. We would not ask a lifelong pack-a-day smoker to quit using willpower alone; instead, we would reduce access, regulate advertising, offer rehabilitation, and provide medical and social support. Only then would individual effort have a fighting chance. With digital entertainment, however, we have done the opposite, flooding every waking moment with temptation and then blaming individuals, including children, for failing to resist it.
Why Regulation Is No Longer Optional
This is no longer an individual problem but a systemic one demanding government-level intervention. Consider the loss of productive man-hours and the growing burden on healthcare systems as attention disorders, anxiety, sleep disruption, and cognitive fatigue become chronic. These are not abstract questions; human resources are being drained, and healthcare systems will increasingly feel this pressure. Telling people to try harder is not a solution when hooks are everywhere, money is involved, and no stakeholder will voluntarily give this up.
What is happening to the human brain today is neither random nor coincidental. If we continue to treat this as a matter of personal weakness rather than public health, we will pay for it with our attention, productivity, and collective well-being. It is high time we start addressing scrolling addiction as the public health issue it truly is.
