Signal Gen Z Digital Fatigue: 47% Rate Mental Health Fair or Poor; 68% Take Social Media Breaks

Summary

Some 47% of Gen Z respondents (ages 14-29) rated their mental health as fair or poor, and 68% reported taking deliberate breaks from social media for mental health reasons. Gen Z's average total daily screen time across all devices is 9 hours, including 6 hours 27 minutes of phone use alone, 323% above expert recommendations and 35% higher than the global average of 6 hours 40 minutes across all demographics; 50.4% of teenagers spend four or more hours on screens on weekdays excluding schoolwork. On mental health, 46% report a formal diagnosis and 37% believe they have an undiagnosed condition, for a combined 83% either diagnosed or suspecting untreated struggles, while 40% report feeling stressed or anxious most or all of the time and 42% are currently in therapy, up 22% since 2022. On social media specifically, average daily consumption is 2.5 hours, 51% report doomscrolling regularly (versus 46% of Millennials), 78% feel addicted to their phone or social media, and 91% of young women report social media negatively affects their mental health; in the workplace, 86% of Gen Z workers report burnout and 35% say they feel depressed at work, versus a 20% average.