A specialized iPhone app was used to block internet access, recording any time that the feature was disabled.

In numbers, nearly all the participants — 91 percent — improved on at least one of the three outcomes, while around three-quarters reported better mental health by the end.

The findings even suggest that the intervention had a stronger effect on depression symptoms than antidepressants, and was roughly on par with cognitive behavioral therapy.

What’s driving all this? Ward suggests that the simplest explanation is that the experiment forced participants to spend more time doing fulfilling things in the real world.

  • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    2 days ago

    I often feel like I don’t have time for my many hobbies, then I realize I’ve just spent 3 hours on lemmy or reddit.

      • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        16 hours ago

        OTOH my friend and I spent most of the weekend making this for his new apartment. The opening fits his little TV, so when he isn’t watching a show he can play fire videos on it.

          • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            16 hours ago

            It’s rectangles of 2-inch solid foam insulation glued onto a plywood frame. We carved the stones with knives and smoothed the edges with the side of a soldering iron. Then we pressed the surface of a big rock all over it for texture, and painted it with mod podge to seal it. Next will paint it gray and do some dry-brushing with black, brown and rust to give the rocks some variety. The “mantle” on top is an already varnished pine board salvaged from built-in bunk beds I made for my kids back in the day.

            • techt@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              16 hours ago

              Very resourceful, I love it. If you remember, I’d be interested in seeing the finished product, but either way I hope it turns out great! Nice job making the time for something like this!

      • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        21 hours ago

        We need to get off the internet. Or at least off lemmy. Probably better to get off the internet more often, otherwise we’ll just find something else :/