Software that gives you rapid positive feedback to ideate negative and anxious behavior is going to reinforce the behavior. And being in a state of continual anxiety and pessimism is mental illness.

When you treat mental illness with therapy you do the exact opposite - positive reinforce avoiding negative ideation, and positively reinforce positive ideation.

Have seen people fiddle with depression meds and fail to reach resolution… but what worked was uninstalling Twitter, Insta and Tik Tok. One of my colleagues was borderline suicidal and got off of those repeated negative stimuli and is now very happy and on very limited meds.

The problem is the stuff that is paranoid about social issues and constant doom and gloom as well as social comparisons that make you feel bad. You’d avoid people like that IRL and yet people compulsively seek it online.

As a parent I’m never letting minor kids on those platforms, and I’ll tell any adult I know well to get off.

Digital fentanyl is absurd. But it’s really bad for you, especially if you are lower self esteem or are still maturing as a person (particularly 10-15, but under 30 in general)