The truth to “digital detoxing”: Is my phone making me depressed?
Coach Lauren is about to head out on a 10-day digital detox. For me, that means 1. zero internet-based phone use and zero notification-answering. I’m keeping my phones in a signal-blocking bag for the entire 10 day period with one hour to catch up on only the most critical messages scheduled.
So, this got me thinking. Is there any RCT data (Randomized Control Trial) proving digital detoxes actually work?
The answer: Yes — there is randomized controlled trial (RCT) data on digital detoxing, and the results are interesting. The important distinction to make is that researchers have studied both complete or near-complete abstinence from smartphones and more limited interventions, such as blocking social media or reducing daily screen time.
If we're talking about a true detox — no phone, minimal screens, for a defined period — the research is still relatively limited. Many studies test a narrower intervention rather than removing all digital technology, and those results tend to be better overall for psychological improvements because they are more practical for daily life, post-detox.
The key questions are whether a detox improves mental health, sleep, attention, stress, or overall well-being, and how long the benefits last after normal phone use resumes.
The short version
Reducing smartphone or social media use can improve well-being and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Bloocking mobile internet for two weeks improved attention span.
Complete abstinence does not perform as well as reduced attention in the long term for health benefits.
Sleep: Evidence is mixed; a digital detox does not consistently improve sleep.
Potential benefits of a digital detox:
Improved mental well-being and life satisfaction
Reduced anxiety and depressive symptoms
Better sustained attention and focus
Increased physical activity
More time for in-person social interaction and offline activities
Potential improvements in sleep (evidence is mixed)
Healthier long-term smartphone habits
The strongest evidence currently supports improvements in mental well-being and attention.
The most relevant RCTs for digital detoxing
1. Blocking mobile internet for two weeks (2025)
A randomized trial tested what happened when participants lost access to mobile internet on their smartphones for two weeks. They could still use their phones for basic functions, but not for constant internet access.
Findings: Improvements in subjective well-being, mental health, and objectively measured sustained attention. The researchers reported that the attention improvement was comparable to the difference associated with being 10 years younger.
Caveat: This was a specific intervention in internet access, not a trial of removing all phones and screens. The striking comparisons should be interpreted as a criticism of the current state of the internet and its effects on our cognitive ability, not a literal reversal in age.
Study: Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being. PNAS Nexus, 2025.
2. Complete smartphone abstinence vs. a one-hour reduction (2023)
This randomized experimental study included 619 participants divided into three groups:
Stop using smartphones for seven days.
Reduce smartphone use by one hour daily.
Continue usual use.
Findings: Both interventions improved several measures, including depressive and anxiety symptoms, life satisfaction, and physical activity. Notably, the reduction group generally showed stronger or more persistent effects over the four-month follow-up than the complete-abstinence group.
Why it matters: Total abstinence was not necessary to obtain benefits, and a sustainable reduction may have been more effective over time.
Study: Brailovskaia et al., Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 2023.
3. One week without social media (2022)
In an RCT of 154 adults, participants either stopped using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok for a week or continued as usual.
Findings: The detox group showed statistically significant improvements in well-being, depression symptoms, and anxiety symptoms after one week.
Limitation: the trial did not establish how long the improvements lasted. I might assume the improvements would not last when participants returned to social media, arguing against being on these platforms altogether.
Study: Lambert et al., Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 2022.
What does the overall evidence say?
A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis examined 10 studies involving 4,674 participants to assess social-media abstinence and outcomes including positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction. The authors noted that earlier studies had produced inconsistent results.
The takeaway from this is that the statistically-significant data, overall, is compelling but not conclusive. The self-report and the more qualitative analysis is MUCH stronger.
Research Review: Lemahieu, L., Vander Zwalmen, Y., Mennes, M., Koster, E. H. W., Vanden Abeele, M. M. P., & Poels, K. (2025). The effects of social media abstinence on affective well-being and life satisfaction: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Scientific Reports.
So, what's the ideal detox duration?
We don't yet have strong evidence establishing an optimal duration. The fact that benefits have appeared in studies lasting seven days and two weeks makes those reasonable durations to investigate, but it doesn't prove that seven or 14 days is optimal.
The following is my full plan for my 10-day fast:
10 Days of Digital Detoxing
I'm putting this into practice myself with a 10-day experiment of my very own: my phone goes into a signal-blocking bag, while TV and other “incidental screen time” is still allowed. I’m still going to be watching my NFL!!
The goal isn't to eliminate all screens, but to remove the constant stream of notifications, messages, and easy access to scrolling that can pull my attention away from real life.
Here's what I'm hoping to get out of it:
Less notification anxiety: Reduce the anticipation and stress associated with receiving notifications and feeling compelled to respond.
Less compulsive checking: Break the habit of repeatedly checking my phone to see if something new has come in.
Less mindless scrolling: Reduce the automatic urge to grab my phone whenever there's a quiet moment, a little boredom, or nothing else demanding my attention.
Less impulse spending: Reduce the temptation to browse shopping apps and make unnecessary purchases.
Better connection with my husband: Be more engaged and present with each other during our trip, without a phone competing for our attention.
More presence overall: Spend less time mentally anticipating the next notification and more time actually experiencing what's happening around me.
I'm treating this as a personal experiment, not a claim that 10 days without mobile connectivity will magically change my brain. The research suggests that reducing digital access may improve attention and well-being, although results vary across studies.
At the end of the 10 days, I'll be interested to see which changes I actually notice—and whether any of them stick when my phone comes back into regular use.
The bottom line: There is credible experimental evidence that reducing digital access can improve some aspects of mental health and well-being, with particularly interesting recent findings on attention.