Spending 5 hours a day on social media? The expert's alarming warning
A study conducted among half a million teenagers found a worrying link between prolonged use of social media and depressive symptoms. Professor Gil Zalsman explains how screens affect the brain and what parents can do to protect their children. "The brain is a muscle, and if you don't train it, it atrophies."
Research data revealed in the podcast "The Biology of Emotions" by "All in" presents the heavy mental price of screen time, at a time when many parents are trying to fight their children's daily use of smartphones.
Professor Gil Zalsman, director of the Geha Mental Health Center and chairman of the National Council for Suicide Prevention, warns against the dangerous turning point in social media usage. The alarming figure is based on a massive study conducted in the United States among about half a million teenagers. According to him:
"If you reach five hours or more a day on social media, the chance that you will have suicidal and depressive symptoms is 50%."
"The brain is a muscle - it can atrophy"
Zalsman explains that the reason for the growing mental distress lies not only in the endless social comparison to a sparkling and fake lifestyle on the networks, but in a deep physiological change in the way our brain processes human communication. When we communicate in two dimensions or through text, we lose a lot of vital information.
"When we sit opposite each other, we gain facial expressions, body language, and tonality," explains Prof. Zalsman. "Whereas with prolonged use of the networks, the areas in the brain responsible for decoding faces and identifying emotions begin to atrophy. The brain is a muscle, and if you don't train it, it atrophies."
The mechanism of mental pain and the importance of the question
During the conversation, Professor Zalsman emphasized the misconception regarding the mechanism of mental distress. According to him, mental pain is so unbearable that a person on the edge is blocked to external stimuli:
"If you tell him that he has children and his wife loves him, he does not hear it at all. The mental pain is so unbearable that he simply seeks to end the suffering."
He also addressed the fear of parents to ask directly about suicidal thoughts, for fear of "putting ideas into their heads," and stated that this is a serious mistake. The very act of asking does not carry any risk; on the contrary, it brings immediate relief and can save lives. When a person confesses, a huge burden is lifted because they are no longer alone in their distress.
What can parents do?
At the end of his remarks, Prof. Zalsman emphasizes that the solution is not complete disconnection or confiscation of devices, which might only increase adolescent rebellion, but active involvement and the creation of flexible boundaries.
For middle school-aged children, he recommends that parents be present in the digital space, explain the risks of revealing photos or offensive comments, and maintain an open channel of communication. "You need to knock on the door and be there. Allow them separation and a certain rebellion, but maintain boundaries that are not made of concrete - but of rubber."
