Hello everyone who tuned in to this week of the burn out club. Your host Angelia will be talking about a digital detox and how this can help college students mental health. Through 3 interviews with UNM college students, hear their different perspectives and experiences with digital detoxing

Welcome to the burnout club. I’m your host, Angelia Aragon. This podcast is about college students and their pursuits of mental health. Each week, we’ll meet college students and learn about what they’re going through and what they’re turning to for help. 

This week, we’re talking about something called “digital detox,” a trending mental health tool that includes “A set time period of time for an individual to stay away from the devices and social media sites that have become such an integral part of life.”

Many college students are on their phone for 7 hours a day. They are not realizing how much screen time is affecting their focus and stress. I interviewed 3 University of New Mexico students and they realized maybe they should take a step back from technology. 

 Doom Scrolling is obsessively scrolling through social media or news feed to consume distressing. Has become a natural habit for college students but it’s shown to affect mental health and focus in school. Some college students are realizing digital detoxing might be helpful.

Here’s our first student. 

“Hi, my name is Sophia Garcia. I’m on my phone all the time. I probably would say maybe five to six hours a day.”

Sophia’s not alone in spending that much time on her phone.  She says she notices that spending too much time on her phone affects her energy. 

”I would say I feel a lot more tired after using my phone all day, because, like, I procrastinate a lot by using my phone all the time, and I feel like I don’t get much done throughout my day.”

After we spoke, Sophia said she’s considering trying a digital detox. We’ll keep you updated on how that goes for her! 

Let’s hear what another college student has to say, who has a different approach to being on his phone. 

“Hi my name is Arath Vargas. I try to be on it less than five hours a day. I use my screen time timer to kind of keep it under that, just because of the amount of homework I have.”

A screentime timer is a tool on your phone to monitor, limit and manage the amount of time spent on your digital device. 

Arath said taking time away from his phone helped with his mental health. 

“ I was able to focus a lot more on individual-like  things, doing one thing at a time, taking a little more time on it, my stress, I’d say it helped me stress on the important things.”

While Arath didn’t detox completely, stepping away here and there helped him shift his energy to things that matter. 

And now our last student.

“My name is Kyla Romero. I usually spend maybe three to four hours a day, which is much different from when I was a teenager.”

  Kyla hasn’t detoxed exactly, but she says she has put down her phone for an extended period of time.  

“Not on purpose? No, I have gone on vacation where there’s like, no internet, and at that point I was like, What’s the point? So I just didn’t use my phone.”

I asked Kyla what taking a break did for her mental health 

“I probably felt more in the moment, like grounded. I was more aware of my surroundings because I wasn’t, you know, nose deep in a phone, but yeah, other than that, I mean maybe less stress.” 

Kyla’s experience shows being offline helps you feel grounded and can help you be more present with things that are happening around you. 

Phones are a big part of our day to day but taking a few breaks can help you with your mental health, shift your focus and help you have a better balance with reality and screen time. I know it did for me. 

My experience with digital detoxing has helped me be less anxious. I decided to delete instagram because of the constant comparison and unnecessary stress. I always manage my time now being on my phone because of how it helps me connect with real life. 

Have you ever tried a digital detox? Let me know!!

And join the burn out club next week when we’ll dive into the topic of Real life vs Online life.