Yesterday (October 10th) was World Mental Health Day, a day to raise awareness about mental health issues and promote efforts to support mental health. Research has shown excessive screen time can have a negative impact on mental health and a new study looks into just how much time Americans are spending on screens.
The study of 2-thousand “nationally representative” U.S. adults reveals:
- Americans consume around six hours of content per day, on average.
- That number jumps to nearly seven hours daily for Gen Z.
- That leaves the average American feeling like they lose three days a month to content consumption.
- That adds up to 36 days a year that we lose to scrolling, streaming and bingeing.
- But it’s even more for younger Americans, as Gen Z feels like they lose closer to five days a month.
- That can leave people feeling guilty, as the average person gets a content consumption-related pang of guilt three times a month.
- Study participants who rated their mental health as “very poor” consume more content, nearly six days a month, but 19% of those who self-report their mental health as “very poor” say they lose 15 or more days a month.
- Those with “very poor” mental health also feel guilty the most, an average of seven times a month.
- But those with excellent and good mental health lose the least amount of days, just 2.7 on average.
- A lot of people are aware their screen time use may be excessive, as 42% feel like they consume “too much” media and 36% admit their mood is “often” negatively affected by something they see on social media.
- That number is higher for Gen Z, 66% of them feel that way.
Source: Talker