Dr. Jonathan Haidt: How Smartphones & Social Media Impact Mental Health & the Realistic Solutions

In this episode, my guest is Dr. Jonathan Haidt, PhD, professor of social psychology at New York University and bestselling author on how technology and culture impact the psychology and health of kids, teens, and adults. We discuss the dramatic rise of suicide, depression, and anxiety as a result of replacing a play-based childhood with smartphones, social media, and video games.

He explains how a screen-filled childhood leads to challenges in psychological development that negatively impact learning, resilience, identity, cooperation, and conflict resolution — all of which are crucial skills for future adult relationships and career success. We also discuss how phones and social media impact boys and girls differently and the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of how smartphones alter basic brain plasticity and function.

Dr. Haidt explains his four recommendations for healthier smartphone use in kids, and we discuss how to restore childhood independence and play in the current generation.

This is an important topic for everyone, young or old, parents and teachers, students and families, to be aware of in order to understand the potential mental health toll of smartphone use and to apply tools to foster skill-building and reestablish healthy norms for our kids.

Journal Articles

• Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence (Perspectives in psychology)
• A Sensitive Period for the Incorporation of a Cultural Meaning System: A Study of Japanese Children Growing Up in the United States (Ethos)

Books

• Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated: The Collapse and Revival of American Community
• The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time
• Biophilia
• Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History
• Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life

Other Resources

• I Know My First Name is Steven (show)
• A Teacher Did All He Could to Keep Kids Off Phones. He’s Quitting in Frustration. (The Wall Street Journal)
• Dacher Keltner (On Being episode)
• Let Grow
• The Anxious Generation
• Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) bill

Huberman Lab Episodes Mentioned

• Biological Influences On Sex, Sex Differences & Preferences
• Dr. Anna Lembke: Understanding & Treating Addiction

Peopled Mentioned

• Jeff Lichtman: professor of molecular and cellular biology, Harvard University
• Jean Twenge: author, professor of psychology, San Diego State University
• Steve Jobs: cofounder of Apple Computer Inc.
• Simon Baron-Cohen: professor of developmental psychopathology, University of Cambridge
• Sigmund Freud: founder of psychoanalysis
• Jocko Willink: retired Navy SEAL, author
• Matthew MacDougall: head neurosurgeon at Neuralink
• Edward Chang: professor of neuroscience, University of California San Francisco
• Michael Merzenich: professor emeritus of otolaryngology, University of California San Francisco
• Marshall McLuhan: philosopher, media theory