Michael is joined by Dr Tanveer Ahmed, psychiatrist & author of ‘Fragile Nation’, about smartphones part in the worsening mental health of young people during the pandemic lockdowns.

Dr Ahmed writes, ‘Self-harm and anxiety disorders among adolescents have already been increasing across the Western world.  Just as the pandemic was speeding up historical trends such as digitisation, the statistical rise in youth self-harm, eating disorders and substance abuse was ­already occurring.’

‘The combination of smartphones and social media is often raised as a key factor, unique to upcoming generations.  The smartphone represents the apex of delivering information through the exploitation of our lizard brain, namely the co-opting of our biological vulnerabilities by consumer products.  This feature is known as evolutionary mismatch, much like how our tastebuds evolved in a time of calorie scarcity.’

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