Square eyes: Half of Kiwis addicted to devices, many blame Covid pandemic

here's a new addiction in New Zealand - more than a third of Kiwis say they are hooked on their screens and many are blaming Covid for it.

As the country enters its second week of lockdown, New Zealanders have been averaging five hours of screen time a day on top of using devices for work and school since the Covid pandemic started last year, a new NortonLifeLock study has found.

Read the full article on NZ Herald.

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Dopamine Expert on Diary of a CEO

Dr Anna Lembke is Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. She is the author of bestselling books such as, ‘Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence’.

Science

Limiting social media use decreases depression, anxiety, and fear of missing out in youth with emotional distress: A randomized controlled trial.

Although many youth may not be harmed by heavy SMU, distressed youth may be particularly vulnerable. The aim of this study was to experimentally examine the effects of reducing SMU on smartphones on symptoms of depression, anxiety, fear of missing out (FoMO), and sleep in youth with emotional distress. Compared to the control group, the intervention group showed significantly greater reductions in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and FoMO, and greater increases in sleep.

News

Calls for government to lift social media age limit to 16

A group of online safety advocates have banded together, to call on the government to lift the social media age limit to 16 years old in New Zealand.

Article