&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Wion Health Pulse | Social media more addictive than alcohol, smoking, gaming, says expert")
Social media is more addictive than alcohol, smoking and gaming and is harming us immensely, said Dr Sanjeev Bagai, Paediatrician & Paediatric Nephrologist, Chairman & Managing Director, Nephron Health Care, while speaking at WION Health Pulse on Wednesday.
Shedding light on the negative impact of the increasing use of digital devices and social media, Dr Bagai said, “As per authentic scientific data in established peer-reviewed international journals, every hour more than three to four hours a week of screen time and social media use leads to 13% decrease in our cognitive functions. Just imagine what we are doing to ourselves.”
Citing a study to buttress his point, Dr Bagai said, “The largest study was in Stanford last year in which 35,000 university students were enrolled. They were kept away from social media and screen time for six months. This resulted in 29% increases in academic performance, memory, recall, writing skills, mathematics.”
“We have actually become slave of a device, and are becoming more and more dependent on it,” he added.
Sharing the scientific and medical aspects of increased social media use, Dr Bagai said, “Social media and abnormal sleep patterns release dopamine, the reward hormone which is addictive. Social media addiction releases more reward hormone than alcohol, smoking, gaming or any other addiction. This leads to an abnormal ratio of serotonin, gabapentin and dopamine in the body. This causes disruption which is corroborated by MRI studies, brain volume studies cognitive studies.”
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“Use social media as less as possible. Our lives cannot be dictated by reels, shares and likes,” he concluded.
Mini Shastri, Founder, Om Yoga Shala, stressed on the need to be conscious of our good and bad habits and highlighted the importance of sleep.
Replying to a query on whether putting away the phone would be an easy and effective solution, she said, “It is a biochemistry of habits, good habits and bad habits. The brain doesn’t understand habits, both of them have the same reward. Dopamine is the same for good and bad habits.”
She stressed on the need to be conscious of our good and bad habits. Increasing one good habit breaks a cycle and changes so many negative things, she added.
