A UK expert who treats teens hooked on social media has revealed the most dangerous app and how to spot if your kids are truly addicted. Nick Dunkley, operations manager for UK Addiction Treatment (UKAT), said the increasing numbers of under-18s accessing treatment exhibit the same symptoms as people struggling with addictions to alcohol, drugs, and gambling.

Social Media Addiction Symptoms

Dunkley warned parents that symptoms such as avoiding eye contact, dismissiveness, physical agitation, lack of sleep, worsening eyesight, poor daily hygiene, and lack of attention span could be signs of social media addiction. He said these symptoms are often written off as teenage behavior but can become pronounced.

The UK government has announced it will ban under-16s from accessing a range of social media platforms, with the ban coming into force in spring 2027. UKAT said that pre-COVID, in 2019, around one in 10 people treated by them for substance addiction also had a social media dependency, but by 2026, that figure was one in three.

Expert Insights

Dunkley said, ‘To see the acute symptoms, just try to take a phone off a 15-year-old. It’s the lack of eye contact, struggling to engage in face-to-face conversations, physical agitation, and their eyes darting to where their phones are.’ He added that the lack of sleep from doom-scrolling, headaches, worsening eyesight, decreased attention span, and decreased IQ are all signs of addiction.

Dunkley predicts the ban will be accepted by everyone within a few months, and the young people will ‘move on and forget quick.’ He suggested that parents and schools should support the young people through the withdrawal process, which may include mood changes, agitation, and arguments.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.