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Detoxing from Screens: Is It Really Possible?

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Our phones are the center of our lives right now. It is not just a tool to help us communicate with others. It is a tool that lets you reach out to places around the world, order whatever you need or want, connect with strangers, and access any kind of information. And that is not limited to our phones; other digital devices are also so-called smart nowadays. You might even notice that only one screen is not enough anymore. You can use your phone, television, and PC all together and all connected. That might help you transfer information quickly and make your life easier. Yet, you might also notice that sometimes you are picking your phone up for no reason, or you might not remember why you picked it up in the first place. Eventhough you do not need to check your phone, you might notice the urge to scroll through different apps. And the urge might not be just related to your phone. Maybe you might feel like you need to watch a video or listen to a podcast to eat something or sleep. You might feel anxious about losing or forgetting your phone, or you might feel that it’s impossible to function without smart devices. And somewhere along the way, you may feel exhausted about how this has begun to be normal. The urge to scroll through social media can present with tiredness, or more negative feelings like guilt, anxiety, and anger at the same time. The need for digital devices might feel too much. Yet, it is hard to balance the need to use digital devices, which make life so easy and relatively enjoyable, with the need to be without screens. That might lead you to search for the ways that can help, and one of the things you will see in this literature would be “digital detox.” Digital detox means disconnecting from technology for a certain period of time. This could be a day, a week, or just a few hours. Even though it sounds like a quick fix for digital exhaustion, it’s way harder than it sounds. And maybe the real question is how feasible and sustainable this is in today’s digital world? In this therapy sketch, we will explore the concept of digital detox.

What makes us seek detox from the digital world?

Digital detox is a concept that emerged in the early 2010s with the frequent use of technological devices. Eventhough it sounds like cutting out digital devices altogether, it is not a concept against using digital devices. After digital devices became more common, the researchers found a profound negative effect of them on individuals’ mental health. Several studies reported increased anxiety, mental exhaustion, attention deficiencies, and severe dependency on digital devices. Moreover, individuals reported feeling constantly on edge because they must split their attention between the digital and physical worlds. That affected not only the individuals’ inner world but also important areas such as school, work, hobbies, friendships, and relationships (Uluçay et al., 2020).  

As the digital world becomes part of our reality, research about the effects of digital devices becomes more comprehensive. Right now, we are not just talking about anxiety or depressive feelings after using digital devices or social media. Researchers come up with more specific terms to describe our relationship with digital devices. Here are new concepts:

Digital Overexposure

Digital overexposure is what happens when your mind is asked to hold too many lives, too many crises, and too many opinions at once. You open your phone to relax and end up absorbing grief, outrage, beauty, success, and catastrophe in the same five minutes. It’s often associated with feeling emotionally flooded without knowing exactly why (Glass, 2023).

Digital Fatigue

After hours of emails, messages, and video calls, your body may be sitting still, but your nervous system feels like it’s run a marathon. It’s commonly linked to a sense of dullness, irritability, or the feeling that even rest doesn’t feel restorative anymore (Supriyadi  et al., 2025).

Notification Anxiety

Notification anxiety is the tension of waiting for something to happen on your phone, even when nothing is happening. You check your screen not because it buzzed, but because it might, which is often associated with anxiety.

Hyperconnectivity 

Hyperconnectivity means being reachable all the time and forgetting what it feels like not to be. Messages, calls, video meetings, or app notifications come in at all hours, and silence starts to feel like neglect or avoidance. It’s generally associated with burnout in the literature (Candiotto, 2022). 

Fear of Missing Out

Fear of missing out, or FOMO, is the anxiety that something meaningful is happening and you are missing it somehow. So, scrolling becomes a way to reassure yourself that you’re still “in the loop”. Ironically, it deepens the sense of exclusion because you are not physically present. It’s often tied to social comparison and a fragile sense of belonging (Gupta & Sharma 2021)

Nomophobia

Nomophobia is the fear that shows up when your phone isn’t somewhere near you. In this concept, your phone stops being just a tool and starts functioning like a safety object. It’s commonly associated with anxiety regulation (Bhattacharya et al., 2019). 

Netlessphobia

Netlessphobia is the fear of being without internet access. It’s not about communication with a specific person, but about losing the sense of orientation that being connected provides. This often manifests as restlessness or disorientation in offline settings (Bacaksiz et al., 2022)

Phubbing

Phubbing is what happens when the person across from you slowly disappears behind a screen. You can see that what you just talked about is not heard, eye contact is lost, and the connection becomes only physical. It affects relationship satisfaction drastically (EBSCO Research Starters, 2023).

You might be familiar with some of them or all of them, as they are all part of our daily experiences. Eventhough digital devices come with significant benefits, the negative effects that we describe below sometimes lead us to seek escape from them. To do that, you might have tried deleting certain apps, switching to a basic phone, or taking a short break altogether. Still, you might find yourself slowly returning to your old habits. Please acknowledge that this isn’t just a lack of discipline. It’s because digital devices and social media apps don’t just reshape our daily routines, our inner worlds, and our relationships; they also reshape our brains. 

How do digital devices reshape our brains?

Researches show that digital devices interact directly with the brain’s reward and regulation systems. Social media apps, notifications, and endless scrolling are designed to trigger dopamine release (dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that is associated with motivation and reward). The way these platforms are designed offers novelty, unpredictability, and quick response from others. Over time, our brains can begin to crave this constant stimulation, making stillness, boredom, or slower activities feel uncomfortable (Small et al., 2020). 

At the same time, frequent exposure to LED screens, especially in the evening, interferes with melatonin production, the hormone that regulates sleep–wake cycles. Blue light and cognitive stimulation delay sleep onset and reduce sleep quality. This can affect cognitive processes like attention, mood regulation, and emotional resilience the next day (Small et al., 2020). Together, disrupted dopamine reward patterns and altered melatonin rhythms can leave the brain feeling overstimulated yet exhausted. All of these changes in our brain, our overall wellbeing and relationships can lead us to bring us our search for “Digital Detox”.

How to do Digital Detox?

Digital detox may be worth considering if you experience negative well-being outcomes after using digital devices most of the time. There are many ways to start digital detox, as you can see from different resources. However, please keep in mind that not every plan might align with your reality and your needs. Therefore, starting the digital detox process begins with clearly understanding the place of technology and media in your life. At this point, you can develop awareness in the following key areas:

  • Time spent in front of the screen: Ironically, you can use the screen time tracking tools on your phone to find out how much time you spend on your screen each day. This allows you to see the time you spend without realizing it in a more concrete way.
  • Check out how technology makes you feel: Which digital habits are good for you? Which ones lead to stress, guilt, burnout, or feelings of inadequacy? You can observe their emotional effects to understand your digital habits better.
  • Determine problems caused by the use of technology: Insufficient sleep, weakened social relationships, procrastination, neglecting self-care, or physical health issues… These are important clues showing how digital habits affect your quality of life.
  • Priorities in life: Are the things you value most compatible with the time you spend in front of a screen? For example, spending time outside with friends may be more valuable to you than spending time on your phone or in front of a screen. However, despite this, you may still spend more time in the digital world.  Taking a step back and evaluating is an important step towards more conscious technology use.

After understanding your technology use pattern, the next step is to set goals because change begins with clear yet achievable goals. Completely disconnecting from technology is neither possible nor necessary for most of us. Therefore, choosing one behavior and focusing on changing that behavior might be more goal-oriented and achievable. For example, setting a concrete and achievable goal such as “I will not use my phone after 9:00 PM” makes the process easier. Here are the next steps for your plan:

  • Writing down your goal can increase your motivation. 
  • There is no right way to plan a digital detox. You can consider the following suggestions:
    • You can turn off all screens at a specific time.
    • Leave your phone in another room while you work.
    • Rather than deleting altogether, you can start by reducing the time you spend on social media apps or delete some of them. Declare a few days a week as “screen-free days.”
    • You can set a limit on your daily screen time.
  • Note what benefits you expect from this change. 
  • Determine the detox period according to your needs: one week, two weeks, or a month. However, be patient, as it may take time for habits to change permanently.
  • At the end of the detox period, it is very valuable to evaluate the process, even you accomplish your goal or not. You can ask yourself the following questions:
    • Which changes were good for me?
    • What were the difficult points?
    • Did I achieve a balance in my relationship with technology?
    • Did I see improvements in my sleep, mental health, and overall well-being?
  • Based on your experience, you may choose to make some habits permanent or continue in different ways (Setia et al., 2025).

Take-away:

  • Digital detox means disconnecting from technology for a certain period of time. 
  • Researchers come up with more specific terms to describe our relationship with digital devices such as Digital Overexposure, Digital Fatigue, Notification Anxiety, Hyperconnectivity, Fear of Missing Out, Nomophobia, Netlessphobia and Phubbing
  • Digital devices and social media apps don’t just reshape our daily routines, our inner worlds, and our relationships; they also reshape our brains by altering our reward systems and melatonin production.
  • Digital detox may be worth considering if you experience negative well-being outcomes after using digital devices most of the time. Yet, please note that  completely disconnecting from technology is neither possible nor necessary for most of us.
  • Not every digital detox plan might align with your reality and your needs. Therefore you might need to better understand your habits and set realistic goals. 

References:

  • Small, G. W., Lee, J., Kaufman, A., Jalil, J., Siddarth, P., Gaddipati, H., Moody, T. D., & Bookheimer, S. Y. (2020).Brain health consequences of digital technology use. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 22(2), 179–187. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2020.22.2/gsmall
  • Uluçay, D. M., & Kobak, K. (2020). Dijital detoks: Teknoloji bağımlılığına karşı yeni bir eğilim ve genç yetişkinler özelinde bir değerlendirme. İlef Dergisi, 7(2), 325–350. https://doi.org/10.24955/ilef.827235
  • Glass, V. (2023). Digital overexposure. In Humanizing the Digital Economy (pp. 207–215). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37507-1_9
  • Supriyadi, T., Sulistiasih, S., Rahmi, K. H., Pramono, B., & Fahrudin, A. (2025). The impact of digital fatigue on employee productivity and well-being: A scoping literature review. Environment and Social Psychology, 10(2), Article 3420.https://doi.org/10.59429/esp.v10i2.3420
  • Candiotto L. (2022). Extended loneliness. When hyperconnectivity makes us feel alone. Ethics Inf Technol. 2022;24(4):47. doi: 10.1007/s10676-022-09669-4. PMID: 36408126; PMCID: PMC9644005.
  • Gupta, M., & Sharma, A. (2021). Fear of missing out: A brief overview of origin, theoretical underpinnings and relationship with mental health. World journal of clinical cases, 9(19), 4881–4889. https://doi.org/10.12998/wjcc.v9.i19.4881
  • Bhattacharya, S., Bashar, M. A., Srivastava, A., & Singh, A. (2019). NOMOPHOBIA: NO MObile PHone PhoBIA. Journal of family medicine and primary care, 8(4), 1297–1300. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_71_19
  • Eskin Bacaksiz F, Tuna R, Alan H. Nomophobia, netlessphobia, and fear of missing out in nursing students: A cross-sectional study in distance education. Nurse Educ Today. 2022 Nov;118:105523. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105523. Epub 2022 Aug 26. PMID: 36058115.
  • Phubbing. (2023). In EBSCO Research Starters: Communication and Mass Media. EBSCO.
  • Setia, S., Gilbert, F., Tichy, M. L., Redpath, J., Shahzad, N., & Marraccini, M. E. (2025). Digital detox strategies and mental health: a comprehensive scoping review of why, where, and how. Cureus, 17(1).
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