Mental health disorders and feelings of alienation and loneliness have been rising at an alarming rate since 2010. A growing body of research links these rises with the use of smartphones and online digital technologies (DT) such as social media. The potential severity of this link comes into stark focus when we consider that adult internet users spend an average of six hours 38 minutes per day online. That’s around 40 per cent of total waking hours (assuming eight hours of sleep), or in more sensationalist terms, more than three months of the year.
The link between DT use and mental health disorders is profoundly relevant to undergraduate students, whose age range of 18 to 21 falls into the late adolescence period, a prime age for the development of mental health problems. University staff are reporting feeling “stretched at both ends” as they try to support students who are presenting at university with such issues in vastly increasing numbers.
This led us to consider ways to integrate disconnection periods into higher education pedagogy. We invited students to take part in a “digital fast”, a month-long break from non-essential DT activities such as social media and gaming. We were deliberately non-prescriptive about which technologies and activities participants should detach from.
The efficacy of digital detoxes may significantly differ depending on the person and the precise parameters of the detoxification process. Our programme was designed to scaffold detachment from DT through regular meetings and activities.
We presented the fast as an opportunity for participants to:
• reflect on how technology affected their focus, mood and relationships
• clear their minds before the assessment period
• create space for rest, creativity, learning and connection
• build a new community
• experience something new and challenging in a supportive environment.
Focus groups showed that during the month participants found time and space to reconnect with old hobbies, socialise more or try new activities. The detachment was also an opportunity for reflection on their digital habits. Their detachment from DT progressively became less anxiety inducing, and they came to see the time spent “disconnected” as valuable solitude (rather than boring or lonely). They reported better sleep and improved mental clarity, which led in some cases to increased focus and creativity.
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“I would go on walks, and I’ll be like: ‘I don’t want to listen to music’, even though I’ve always listened to music,” said one student. “And I would just think things throughout the day. Like, what are my actual goals and stuff. And I would have a problem that I didn’t know what to do about, but having that silence…really helped. The answers just come to me.”
The extended duration proved important as it allowed time to effectively acclimatise to the detachment. Participants realised they could use their devices more moderately and “with intention”.
“When I was doing it [the fast], I felt more alive, awake and freer,” said another student. “I had a better schedule. I was going to sleep. I made sure not to use my phone at night and tried not to use it in the morning as well. So that was quite good, but I feel like I’ve definitely carried on with making sure: ‘OK, I’ve been on my phone too much. Let me put it down now’, and I actually have. I’m actually able to do that.”
Tips for helping students disconnect from their tech
Run reflective pre-fast activities: Invite participants to develop an awareness of what this exercise means to them and why they volunteered to take part. Remember, you are not telling participants what is or isn’t healthy. Nor should you prescribe a set of behaviours and technologies to step away from or try to directly influence outcomes.
Detach together without judgement: Make the first meet-up about detaching from DT together in a judgement-free space. Encourage students to delete apps that they spend large amounts of their time on. Create an environment that acknowledges that excessive use is not the fault of the individual. Making it clear that time spent on DT is the result of deliberate strategies by particular apps can foster openness and candour; these are essential elements of communal support and understanding.
Incorporate activities to personalise the experience: Book clubs, sports or exercise sessions, socials and arts and crafts activities personalise the experience and build a sense of community. A one-off charity fundraiser worked well for us; we set up a treadmill in our school foyer for a relay ultramarathon and hosted a bake sale in the coffee room. The collective effort to plan and deliver these created a sense of togetherness.
Check in regularly: You may find that participants are curious about each other’s progress and viewpoints during a digital fast. These are invaluable motivators. Encourage everyone to bring food so you can “break bread together” and keep the conversation going.
Make it count: Short-term fasts only put people in withdrawal. Give students the time to get through it and to discover and delight in what eventually fills the space. We recommend at least a month. If you scaffold participants’ detachment, the experience will feel more manageable, and may give them the confidence to use their devices with greater intention in the future.
Paul McDermott, Leoni Palmer, Rosemary Norton and Joanne Bower are associate professors, and Megan Jones is a lecturer, all at the University of East Anglia.
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