Combating social media addiction with occupational therapy

With the advent of technology, the usage and accessibility of social media platforms have significantly increased. This increase was amplified during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, making social media an integral part of everyday life. We use social media for various reasons, including, but not limited to, communicating with others, maintaining relationships, engaging in self-expression, and connecting with the world. However, excessive social media use can have negative consequences for our mental health (Karim et al., 2020).  

Recent studies have shown that 5.3 billion people worldwide are social media users, including 302 million in the United States; of that global total, 210 million worldwide and an estimated 33 million in the United States are addicted to social media (Hoffman, 2025; Petrosyan, 2024). Social media addiction is characterized by excessive preoccupation with social media platforms. It is driven by an uncontrollable urge to use social media and often leads to devoting a substantial amount of time (more than 3 hours per day) and effort to social media platforms, which can have a harmful effect on meaningful occupations, thus creating occupational imbalance (Miller, 2022). Table 1 delineates potential occupational areas of concern for an individual suffering from social media addiction.  

Table 1. Occupations and Lifestyle Interventions  

Note. Adapted from Eckberg Zylstra et al. (2020), Klavina et al. (2021), Masih & Rajkumar (2019), Merlo & Vela (2021), Ryan et al. (2023), and Sarris et al. (2014). 

Social media usage falls under social participation and leisure activities and Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (OTPF-4; American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2020) supports its construct. It is considered one of today’s most critical occupations. Occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) play an instrumental role in combating social media addiction through lifestyle interventions (see Table 1) because we are adept in facilitating behavior changes and promoting healthier routines. We understand the dynamics among occupations, personal factors, and the environment. Table 2 delineates different assessment tools that can provide insight into problematic use of the internet and client priorities for improving health and well-being.  

Table 2. Tools to Assess Social Media Addiction 

Case Example

Sidney, a 25-year-old woman employed as an engineer in a multinational company, was referred to occupational therapy services by her psychologist after being diagnosed with anxiety disorder exacerbated by social media addiction and a lack of structured routines. Sidney completed the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (Demetrovics et al., 2008), which identified deficits in internet use control. She reported deficits in work performance resulting from a lack of focus that was contributed to by anxiety and increased time spent on the internet. Her occupational profile provided insights into Sidney’ s routines and work structure, noting a work–life imbalance, excessive time spent on social media during leisure time, neglect of social commitments, a lack of sleep, and unhealthy coping mechanisms (e.g., using social media platforms to seek a temporary dopamine boost). Sidney’ s primary goals and outcome measures using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM; Law et al., 2019) were to improve self-regulation and sleep, establish healthier routines, improve work performance and productivity, and enhance leisure participation. At the time of evaluation, her average performance score was 1.6, and her satisfaction score was 3.  

During Sidney’ s sessions, occupational therapy addressed deficits in self-regulation by educating her about healthier coping strategies like mindfulness. occupational therapists implemented cognitive–behavioral techniques, including journaling and scheduling activities, to improve routines. They also helped establish routines using a balance wheel on which Sidney created slivers of time for physical activity, such as running. Further, they educated Sidney on the effect of blue lights emitted from electronic screens on the circadian rhythm and addressed sleep deficits through sleep hygiene techniques. Those techniques included limiting screen time before bedtime, using night shift mode, or using a grayscale screen (available in the accessibility setting on phones)—all of which made social media less alluring—and engaging in a sleep wind-down to reduce activity intensity leading up to bedtime. OTPs also introduced Sidney to focus strategies, including using the Pomodoro Technique screen time to limit application usage, and social media blocking apps to improve work performance and productivity.  

Sidney implemented the strategies, and in 12 weeks she started noticing improvements in her work performance and productivity. With structured routines and reduced distraction from social media, she found herself having time for leisure activities with her friends. Sidney’s coping strategy for anxiety shifted from social media use to guided mindfulness sessions and gardening, which helped her stay grounded. At 12 weeks, occupational therapy reevaluated Sidney’s goals using the COPM. Her average score for performance improved to 7.2, and her score for satisfaction improved to 8, which is statistically significant (a difference of more than 2 points from pre-session to post-session is statistically significant, and this was a positive improvement).  

Lifestyle Interventions are Key 

Social media is a double-edged sword. When overused, it can profoundly affect different dimensions of wellness and occupational balance. However, OTPs’ distinctive skillset in promoting behavior changes through lifestyle interventions can reverse the adverse effects of social media addiction. Further, OTPs can help individuals regain a sense of agency, reinstate occupational balance, and improve overall health and well-being.  

References 

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2020). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (4th ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(Suppl. 2), 7412410010. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74S2001 

Demetrovics, Z., Szeredi, B., & Rózsa, S. (2008). The three-factor model of internet addiction: The development of the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 563–574. https://doi.org/10.3758/brm.40.2.563    

Eckberg Zylstra, S., Erler, K., Nakamura, W., & Kennell, B. (2020). Social media as occupation: Implications for occupational therapy practice. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 8, Article 12. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1670 

Hoffman, K. S. (2025, January 1). Social media addiction statistics: 2024 statistics on addiction to social media. AddictionHelp.com. https://www.addictionhelp.com/social-media-addiction/statistics/  

Karim, F., Oyewande, A. A., Abdalla, L. F., Chaudhry Ehsanullah, R., & Khan, S. (2020). Social media use and its connection to mental health: A systematic review. Cureus, 12, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.8627  

Klavina, A., Veliks, V., Zusa-Rodke, A., Porozovs, J., Aniscenko, A., & Bebrisa-Fedotova, L. (2021). The associations between problematic internet use, healthy lifestyle behaviors and health complaints in adolescents. Frontiers in Education, 6, Article 673563. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.673563  

Law, M., Baptiste, S., Carswell, A., McColl, M. A., Polatajko, H. & Pollock, N. (2019). Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (5th ed., rev.). COPM, Inc.  

Masih, J., & Rajkumar, R. (2019). Internet addiction disorder and mental health in adolescents. Journal of Depression and Anxiety, S13, Article 002. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333162118 

Merlo, G., & Vela, A. (2021). Mental health in lifestyle medicine: A call to action. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 16, 7–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/15598276211013313 

Miller, S. (2022, June 2). The addictiveness of social media: How teens get hooked. Jefferson Health. https://www.jeffersonhealth.org/your-health/living-well/the-addictiveness-of-social-media-how-teens-get-hooked 

Petrosyan, A. (2024, October). Internet and social media users in the world 2024. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/  

Ryan, D., Naughton, M., de Faoite, M., Dowd, T., & Morrissey, A.-M. (2023). An occupation-based lifestyle lecture intervention as part of inpatient addiction recovery treatment: Exploring occupational performance, balance and personal recovery. Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment, 17. https://doi.org/10.1177/11782218231165123 

Sarris, J., O’ Neil, A., Coulson, C., Schweitzer, I., Berk., M. (2014). Lifestyle medicine for depression. BMC Psychiatry, 14, Article 107. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-14-107   

Priya Parekh, OTD, OTR/L, CEAS, CFPS, CGCP, is a Clinical Occupational Therapist at Banner Ocotillo Medical Center in Chandler, AZ. She primarily treats the adult and geriatric population at the hospital, collaborating with patients and their family members to improve their health outcomes and optimize their occupational performance.