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Understanding Screen Addiction

Screen addiction occurs when a person finds it difficult to stop using screens — such as smartphones, tablets, or computers—even when it affects daily life.

It is more than just being glued to the phone; it disrupts routines, learning, responsibilities, and relationships, and can harm both body and mind. For children, this addiction can be particularly challenging.

Whether they are gaming, scrolling through social media, or constantly checking notifications, these habits can quickly dominate their lives.

For parents, it is especially worrying—whether your child is absorbed in Fortnite, endlessly scrolling TikTok, or replying to Snapchat messages, these behaviours can lead to issues like anxiety, poor sleep, decreased family bonding, and social isolation.

Types of Screen Addiction

Smart Phone

As smartphone use rises among young children, it’s essential to be aware of the risks.

Gaming

With 83% of 16-24-year-olds gaming online, it’s important to recognise the signs of addiction.

Social Media

Children aged 5 to 15 are now spending an average of 5 hours and 24 minutes per day on social media

Why Do We Get Addicted to Screens?

Screens can be addictive because they keep our brains constantly wired, creating a cycle of craving the next update.

For children, this can be especially tough, as it can interfere with their development, shorten their attention spans, and affect their social skills.

As a parent or caregiver, it is important to recognise that too much screen time can lead to these challenges, making it harder for your child to manage impulses and connect with others in the real world.

During the pandemic, these issues were heightened. With schools transitioning online and social interactions largely limited to digital platforms, children experienced unprecedented levels of screen time.

This increase has been linked to various adverse effects, such as heightened anxiety, disrupted sleep patterns, and difficulties with in-person social interactions.
The isolation and extended screen exposure during this period have compounded these challenges, making it even more important for parents and caregivers to address and manage screen use effectively.

“Working with the team at Rebel Therapies has been life changing. The relationship with my daughter has improved since understanding how to be in control of our screens.”

Laura, Southampton, UK

What are the Symptoms of Screen Addiction?

If you or someone you know is dealing with screen addiction, recognising the signs is the first step toward finding balance.

Symptoms to look out for include:

– Spending more and more time on devices

– Struggling to limit device usage and losing track of time on the device

– Ignoring family and friends to spend more time online

– Neglecting personal hygiene or appearance

– Declining work or school performance

– Reacting with anger when criticised about screen time

– Losing interest in hobbies or activities once enjoyed

– Letting device use interfere with other responsibilities

– Feeling anxious when unable to access technology

– Sacrificing sleep to stay online

It is essential to set clear boundaries, engage in offline activities, and seek support to mitigate the long-term effects of screen addiction on health and well-being.

Sign Up for Our Courses

As part of our commitment to supporting those facing difficulties with screens, we run two courses to help you understand and manage online patterns.

Join us for a free online event with our Combat Screen Harm and Addiction Masterclass to start addressing the negative impacts of excessive screen use. Our expert instructors will provide valuable strategies to help you and your loved ones build healthier screen habits.

This masterclass is ideal if you are concerned about the effects of screen time on yourself, your children, or your friends, and will equip you with practical tools to manage and reduce screen time effectively.

For a deeper dive, our Combat Screen Addiction course spans five weeks and is tailored for parents, guardians, teachers, and caregivers. It offers comprehensive support to help you make conscious decisions about screen use, including managing gaming and social media addiction.

To explore how we can help you manage your child’s screen time effectively, get in touch with us today and start making a positive difference.

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FAQ's

Screen addiction can significantly impact the developing brain, particularly in children and adolescents.

Studies have shown that excessive screen time can negatively affect executive functioning, sensorimotor development, and academic outcomes. Early exposure to screens is linked to lower cognitive abilities and reduced academic performance later on.

Additionally, screen time can hinder language development by reducing the quantity and quality of interactions between children and caregivers. 

Excessive screen use is also associated with social-emotional problems such as obesity, sleep disturbances, depression, and anxiety. It can impair emotional comprehension, promote aggressive behaviour, and hinder social and emotional competence.

In the UK, there are few official guidelines on screen time, but general recommendations can help guide you:

  • Under 2 years old: It is advised to have zero screen time, except for video chatting with family or friends.
  • 2-5 years old: Limit screen time to no more than one hour per day, and ensure it’s done while co-viewing with a parent or sibling.
  • 5-17 years old: Generally, it’s recommended to keep screen time to no more than two hours per day, aside from time spent on homework.
  • For children aged 8-12: screen time often includes gaming, with average consumption estimated at nearly 2 hours a day, which aligns with the NHS’s upper limit for this group.

If you’re concerned about your child’s screen time and want to address it effectively, consider signing up for Rebel Therapies’ Combat Screen Addiction course.

This 5-part program is designed to help parents and guardians understand and manage screen addiction.

Additionally, if you’re looking for more of an overview, we also offer a free Combat Screen Harm and Addiction Masterclass.

Recognised by the World Health Organisation as a mental health condition, gaming addiction is one of the fastest-growing online addictions.

It can lead to symptoms similar to substance addiction, including mood swings, cravings, and tolerance, with young people being particularly susceptible due to the engaging nature of games and their developmental stage.

It often arises when a child uses gaming as a coping mechanism to escape emotional stress, making it difficult for them to establish healthy boundaries.

Additionally, negative experiences within gaming, such as harmful interactions or disparaging messages, can further impact a child’s mental health.

Social media addiction in children is characterised by an uncontrollable urge to use social media platforms, despite its adverse effects on their daily lives.

This addiction can interfere with essential activities, such as spending time with family, finishing homework, sleeping, and participating in physical activities.

The compulsive behaviour is fuelled by the dopamine released with each interaction, such as receiving likes or messages, which fosters a cycle of dependency and makes it difficult for children to manage their screen time effectively.

Get in Touch

Petra Salva OBE

Petra Salva began her career in youth and community work after graduating with a BA Hons in Community and Youth Studies in Lancaster. Since then, she has accumulated 30 successful years’ experience working with young people and adults. She is best known for her work and contribution working in the third sector in the UK and abroad. Specifically leading and designing projects within Homeless charities and influencing the Government, local authorities, and the London Mayors Office around national and local rough sleeping strategies and has significant experience in leadership roles and managing large scale change.

She has been at the forefront of developing services that directly support some of the most destitute people in our society and in 2019 she was awarded an OBE for her years of contribution and impact in this field.

Petra is passionate about helping people and organisations to grow and develop their skills and aspirations. She is a qualified coach and mentor with many years of experience in delivering training and working one to one or in groups.

Martin Watson

Martin is an experienced accredited psychodynamic psychotherapist with many years of working with and helping adults. Martin believes in creating a safe space and a trusting relationship can help us think and explore together the reasons you might be looking for help and counselling. He has worked with many ranges of anxiety, depression, trauma, and loss. He has a gentle, sensitive approach and would welcome meeting you to see if he can help you too.

Martin is a fully qualified psychodynamic psychotherapist accredited with the BPC (British Psychoanalytic Council). He offers individual therapy to adults and young people. He is also a registered member of the BACP (MBACP).

He has been offering individual therapy and counselling for many years in both private practise and within organisations. He is currently working with the Counselling Foundation and has previously worked at Mind in Barnet for many years. Martin also worked as part of the Grief Encounter adult bereavement counselling team.

Richard Bell

Richard is an experienced mentor and executive coach with a record of accomplishment of working with large corporate organisations supporting key career transitions and continuous professional development. Richard also mentors technology entrepreneurs and is the co-founder of a software start-up company.

Transition Coaching is a key focus, supporting clients who are new to company, function or corporate title.  Supporting senior promotion candidates through the selection and evaluation processes and then guiding them to establish senior peer-to-peer relationships, personal gravitas and cross-functional teamworking.

Richard’s style of coaching is both supportive and challenging. He is passionate about working with the “whole person” and believes that career transitions are only a single aspect of an individual’s current situation. Exploration of any “limiting beliefs” and utilisation of creative coaching techniques help visualise the target state.

Shabazz Nelson

Shabazz has over two decades of working as a behavioural change specialist and coach to hundreds of academic and private clients. His unique style of engaging, enquiring, determining goals, and activating real change and success, has changed the lives of each of his clients. 

He helps clients experience empowerment when resolving current issues, creating coping strategies, and acknowledges client talents and gifts, encouraging them to find new and innovative ways to utilize them.

Shabazz works relationally with his clients, allowing for a development of understanding and alliance, which creates the structure and safety for clients to be themselves and access their true self. Clients are then free to create new goals and strategies for success, but with a wholly positive regard for themselves.

Melanie Shah

Releasing Emotion, Building Resilience, Uncovering Joy 

Melanie has dedicated the last decade delivering to her clients as a therapist, mentor and coach.

Melanie offers a bespoke mix of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as Tapping, combined with NLP, Hypnotherapy and Life Coaching. She delivers individualised therapy and coaching to an international clientele with varying ages, cultures, and requirements.  

Melanie has helped with a range of presentations including trauma, anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, physical pain, phobias and addictions, relationships, and self-esteem.  The value of this kind of therapy is that it can be applied widely and have rapid, measurable results.

Her work as an integrative therapist draws upon her various academic and informal learning, across countries and cultures, and across various professional and personal roles.  In her experience within private practice, she has honed her techniques in creating a solution-based, individualised service for each client to explore their perceived inner and outer world with safety and curiosity. 

Melanie encourages her clients to try the cutting-edge therapy that she offers. The work with her clients has the potential to be very empowering.

Munur Shah

Munur has dedicated the past few years in researching the impact of screens and their addictive nature on the unsuspecting world population.  His knowledge and expertise in this area has naturally directed him to create a programme to help understand and combat the problems screen addiction poses.

An experienced mentor and coach, Munur is passionate about ‘awakening’ your senses to how organisations create applications with their number one requirement and desire being capturing your attention at any cost.

Screen addiction is an ever-increasing problem and now at an epic scale, especially among teens and young children. Anxiety, stress, loneliness, bullying, harassment (mental and physical), polarisation, misinformation, racism, sexism, hate, self-harm, and suicide are some of the by-products of screen addiction.

As parents and guardians, now is the time to take responsible action to help your children take back control of their lives, rebuild relationships, and create a positive, happier, healthier lifestyle.

Over the past few years, he has spent his time helping parents and their children overcome their addiction to screens.

Munur has created this programme using his experience alongside in-depth research to help parents coach their children to take back control of their time, and their lives.