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Your Checkup: Health Conversations for Motivated Patients
Ever leave the doctor’s office more confused than when you walked in? Your Checkup: Health Conversations for Motivated Patients is your health ally in a world full of fast appointments and even faster Google searches. Each week, a board certified family medicine physician and a pediatric nurse sit down to answer the questions your doctor didn’t have time to.
From understanding diabetes and depression to navigating obesity, high blood pressure, and everyday wellness—we make complex health topics simple, human, and actually useful. Whether you’re managing a condition, supporting a loved one, or just curious about your body, this podcast helps you get smart about your health without needing a medical degree.
Because better understanding leads to better care—and you deserve both.
Your Checkup: Health Conversations for Motivated Patients
80: Screen time, Social Media & Mental Health
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Screen time impacts our mental health in significant ways, with research suggesting particular risks for teens who spend more than three hours daily on social media.
• Higher social media usage linked to increased rates of depression, anxiety, and stress
• Teens more vulnerable to negative mental health effects than adults
• Using social media to escape negative feelings raises mental health risks
• Limiting social media to 30 minutes per day can lower depression and anxiety
• Open conversations about online experiences help teens develop healthy digital habits
• Unrealistic images and constant comparisons on social media harm self-worth
• Adults experience similar but less pronounced negative effects from excessive screen time
• Maintaining real-life relationships outside digital spaces provides important balance
• Screen time isn't benign—moderation is key to protecting mental wellbeing
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References
1. Associations Between Time Spent Using Social Media and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among US Youth. Riehm KE, Feder KA, Tormohlen KN, et al. JAMA Psychiatry. 2019;76(12):1266-1273. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2325.
2. Impact of Social Media Use on Mental Health Within Adolescent and Student Populations During COVID-19 Pandemic: Review. Draženović M, Vukušić Rukavina T, Machala Poplašen L. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023;20(4):3392. doi:10.3390/ijerph20043392.
3. Annual Research Review: Adolescent Mental Health in the Digital Age: Facts, Fears, and Future Directions. Odgers CL, Jensen MR. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines. 2020;61(3):336-348. doi:10.1111/jcpp.13190.
4. Addictive Screen Use Trajectories and Suicidal Behaviors, Suicidal Ideation, and Mental Health in US Youths. Xiao Y, Meng Y, Brown TT, Keyes KM, Mann JJ. JAMA. 2025;:2835481. doi:10.1001/jama.2025.7829.
5. Exploring the Relationship Between Social Media Use and Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Narrative Review. Saleem N, Young P, Yousuf S. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking. 2024;27(11):771-797. doi:10.1089/cyber.2023.0456.
6. Adolescents' Interactive Electronic Device Use, Sleep and Mental Health: A Systematic Review of Prospective Studies. Dibben GO, Martin A, Shore CB, et al. Journal of Sleep Research. 2023;32(5):e13899. doi:10.1111/jsr.13899.
7. Relationship Between Depression and the Use of Mobile Technologies and Social Media Among Adolescents: Umbrella Review. Arias-de la Torre J, Puigdomenech E, García X, et al. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2020;22(8):e16388. doi:10.2196/16388.
Production and Content: Edward Delesky, MD & Nicole Aruffo, RN
Artwork: Olivia Pawlowski
Hi, welcome to your checkup. We are the Patient Education Podcast, where we bring conversations from the doctor's office to your ears. On this podcast, we try to bring medicine closer to its patients. I'm Ed Delesky, a family medicine doctor in the Philadelphia area. And I'm Nicole Arufo. I'm a nurse. And we are so excited you were able to join us here again today. I'm devastated. We've got a hot mic because I just painstakingly watched. It was the end of a great weekend, and this is a tough way. It's a rough sports day. Um I watched this slow, painful collapse come to fruition for my New York Mets.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I mean, you know, the sky is blue, the grass is green, the Mets lost.
SPEAKER_00:I don't know. I think this hurts. This is embarrassing. Is well, I I don't play for them, so I can't be so embarrassed, but they like this this hurts. Maybe it doesn't hurt as much as 2015 when they lost lost in the World Series. Um last year I kind of expected them to lose. No one expected them to be there. This year, they had expectations. I'm baseball stinks.
SPEAKER_03:I've been trying to tell you that, bro.
SPEAKER_00:Baseball stinks a lot, and now I think that Pete Alonzo might not be a met anymore.
SPEAKER_03:And can we talk about him for a sec? Yeah, because it came to my attention about 12 minutes ago that Pete Alonzo is a white guy with blonde hair.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. He's about as white as they come.
SPEAKER_03:I feel like if you told me he was like a Latino of some flavor, that would be more believable. No. Like Pete Alonzo. I have this like kind of like thin tan, like, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:When he he like hit a the biggest home run of his career last season, and you definitely knew and saw who he was.
SPEAKER_03:Oh no, I had no idea what I was looking at on the TV or paying attention.
SPEAKER_00:Fair.
SPEAKER_03:To be honest.
SPEAKER_00:Oh my god. No, it's just devastating. And like I I'm trying to come up with words because this is something where people listen to our words, and I am just mortified. And now it's late September, and all of the dedicated they just started off so hot. They started off so well, and then they just stopped, and then they just started losing all the games, and they're like one of the worst teams in baseball. And it was just overnight, and it just everything that went wrong could go wrong, and then they would come back and they would make it seem like they were gonna be back, and they get paid so much money to be so bad. And I don't know, and then if it doesn't make any matters worse, like I know we live in Philly, and I know people probably like whatever Malik Neighbors, wide receiver, probably like star, up and coming wide receiver, New York Giants, probably towards ACL. It yeah, they won today, but like, oh my god. That's fine. No one cares about the Giants. I know they don't. I know they don't, but still, like it just adds insult to injury, and it just I'm so sorry you're going through this. No, I am. It like really, really hits me hard. I'll hope I wake up tomorrow. Yeah, I'm not even like I don't even watch baseball if the Mets are or not. I I love football. I love me some basketball. Basketball's the worst. But like, would you rather basketball or baseball if you had to pick?
unknown:Oh man.
SPEAKER_03:Probably basketball. Baseball is so boring, and it's like so slow. Like, I feel like I'm watching something in slow motion, and then like every once in a while, someone will like run fast or like throw a ball really fast back and forth, and like that's it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it is you really have to be in it. Like, I mean, today I was hanging on every single pitch, and it's unhealthy for me, probably, but you know, I the average fan. I think we've talked about this before. The average fan and baseball don't really go that well together. Oh man, it's just he can't even get into the tournament.
SPEAKER_03:It's just well, maybe next year.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, that's what yeah, yeah, maybe next year. Well, um, why don't we try to appeal to a greater audience? And um what thank God is hurt so much. Can you tell us? I need to like sit here and relax for a second. Can you tell us a little bit about what we're watching?
SPEAKER_03:Are you okay?
SPEAKER_00:I'm this I I wanted to do this because I feel like it's obviously not a sports podcast. We have a good episode lined up for you guys today. But I like take my mind off of it. What's the spooky show we're watching?
SPEAKER_03:Uh we're watching a spooky show because it's getting into spooky season.
SPEAKER_00:I also don't do well with these.
SPEAKER_03:I love scary things. It's not even that scary.
SPEAKER_00:Give me Hubie Halloween. Um like I can't I can't I look I'm devastated with the sports, and now we're watching this creepy show.
SPEAKER_03:We're gonna watch another creepy one after this, too. Um we're watching the what is it called? Bly Manor, the haunting of Bly Manor or something of that elk.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um it's like haunting of Hill Hell, Hill House-esque. Love isn't it? From you. I don't know that girl's actual name.
SPEAKER_00:Me neither. The band Nick Lady.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, we had to pick up a funny song for the haunting of Hill House because Eddie was so scared.
SPEAKER_00:I coped with scariness so she this freak pops up on the screen, and I'm like, oh, there she is. The band Nick Lady.
SPEAKER_03:No, all I like seriously love scary movies so much, but I gotta say, like, if our kids one day start to like talk to these imaginary friends like in their closet, like we're sending we're selling the house. No, yeah, absolutely not, or we're sending the kid back. We'll drop it off at the hospital.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, oh my god. Yeah, I no, this little girl is freaky. She is, she's spooky. I can't, it's mysterious, and I like the mystery component because like I can't. I you probably have it figured out already. I can't figure out what's going on. Um, and like the spookiness is it comes in the moments, right? There's the looming music, there's the dark, shadowy scenes, and it's confusing. So like, what the heck is this? We got a couple big realizations in these like last recent episodes. Yeah. Give me Hubie Halloween, though. I oh my god, I would much prefer watching that guy do his thing. And then for dinner, you made oh gosh, yeah. I I mean I you personally love this, and you love when you make it, but I love it. It's uh you made a homemade Caesar dressing and you made chicken cutlets and you chop them up with some salad, I guess like what leafy? Is that uh it's romaine. Romaine.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, chicken Caesar wraps is what he's getting at.
SPEAKER_00:That's what I'm trying to say. It was a chicken Caesar wrap, and it was delicious.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. We get and you have to make the dressing like thick. There are a couple different ways to make a Caesar. But I've been making it because we kind of like it thick when we do like a chicken Caesar wrap. Sounded like watery and liquidy, you know?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:But and usually if you're doing like a more of a thick dressing, the recipe will call for mayo, which uh Yeah, I think everyone knows you're not a mayo girl.
SPEAKER_00:I hate oh my god, it also not a regular salad dressing girl, hence we're making our own, which is delicious.
SPEAKER_03:Mayo is the devil's condiment. Um but isn't Aoli a devil's condiment. Besides that, um, it's not the healthiest. So I've been making it with um fat-free Greek yogurt because you like to just eat condiments as if they are like a side dish. And I cannot sit and watch you eat like one whole cup of a mayo-based condiment.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's a problem. They're just so tasty.
SPEAKER_03:So it's just like Greek yogurt and it's healthy, so it's so tasty.
SPEAKER_00:I I I think I came across a guy recently and he like said something about like a weird, a weird thing he was. Oh yeah, this guy was like, oh yeah, so you know, I'm like, oh, what do you eat during the day? And he's like, yada yada yada. Yeah, when I'm making dinner, I take like a shot of olive oil. Is that cool? And I was like, my my brother in Christ, why are you doing that? And then I thought, you'd be the pot killing calling the kettle black.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Like you, I I drink your condiments that you make. Like the usually got this like lemon-based dressing, salad dressing on the counter, and I I walk by it and I think about drinking it every time. I'm just like, hmm, that is gonna taste good. I'm just like, let me do it. Or let me go to the yeah, and do this yogurt. Like, let me just take a spoonful. Helps the medicine go down. No, it's so good. Wow. Yeah. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_02:I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly.
SPEAKER_01:No, it's not easy to tell you goodbye. Take a chance. Take a change and break go away. That was beautiful. Thank you. Bray Go away.
SPEAKER_00:I love these t-shirts.
SPEAKER_03:Just put your white one in the wash.
SPEAKER_00:Really? No, these like these Abercrombie shirts are great. No free advertisements, but I love them. You just need like a standard t-shirt every once in a while. You just need something to throw on and wear around the house.
SPEAKER_03:Dress it up or dress it down.
SPEAKER_00:You bet. Put on some socks, put on some shorts, put on some jeans. T-shirt's versatile. It's a good t-shirt. It's a plain black t-shirt.
SPEAKER_03:I think you have four of them now in that same one.
SPEAKER_00:I do. I've got cream. I've got or tan, if you will. I've got brown.
SPEAKER_03:I think the tan one is a different style. The black one, the brown, red, and now there's a white one. The red. Yeah, they're all the same.
SPEAKER_00:I'm a big fan. I like it. I like it. And I'm also looking forward to the brownies that you made. That was a surprise.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I was hopeful that like um I was I was hopeful that you would have something special made, and you certainly came through. I love your brownies. They're addicting.
SPEAKER_03:So I only made a half a batch.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that you don't pull any punches on. You're not like, ooh, it makes something like healthy in this way. Like, no, we are full in there. Swimwear brownie. They are so good.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, they are good.
SPEAKER_00:Is it dark chocolate? Are there dark dark chocolate features to this one?
SPEAKER_03:Uh I don't think so. I think it was just cocoa powder.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. You know, I did recently have this uh French toast, and it had like a sweet cream cheese on top. Um whipped cream. And that was delicious.
SPEAKER_03:Was it like a cream cheese frosting esque?
SPEAKER_00:Kind of, but it was like um less frosting and more like whipped. Um normally when I go out to breakfast, I get I like reach for the savory, but this time I was like, no, I need I need something. I need like a sweet treat. I needed a sweet treat in the form of breakfast, like a dessert. So that was that was delicious. Yeah. All right. Did you remember it? All right. Well, let's get to it. So, what are we gonna talk about today, Nick?
SPEAKER_03:Today we're gonna talk about some screen time and mental health.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so it turns out we have like about seven sources here for our data and evidence, and it's something everyone thinks about, I think, but needs more study. But we're gonna start the conversation here today. Do you know how much time you spent on your phone today? And was it more than you meant to? But most teens and adults, I think everyone would agree, use smartphones and social media every single day. Am I right or wrong?
SPEAKER_03:Oh, yeah, every single day. I mean, my screen time's high because I like use it at work, but I'm also scrolling on TikTok for hours, I'm pretty sure, a day.
SPEAKER_00:Right, right, right. Exactly. So, what we know is that these technologies can have both positive and maybe some negative effects on mental health. And so we invite you on this journey today while we kind of weave our way through what each of those are for different populations of people and what we should think about. So, as our um resident pediatric wonderkin extraordinaire. Oh my god. Tell us what you think, or tell us what we know a little bit about screen time and social media in preteens, adolescence.
SPEAKER_03:Well, we do know that spending more than three hours per day on social media is unfortunately linked to higher rates of depression, anxiety, stress, or even suicidal thoughts or behaviors.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's rough. And it's um, so we got three sources here. Um, the sources are in the show notes if you're interested. And that's a lot. Um, three hours is also not a very large threshold to cross, I think.
SPEAKER_03:Mm-mm. Yeah, it's really easy to get there, I think.
SPEAKER_00:I think so too. And also, like, I think our lived experience when we were teens is different than what's out there right now.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Like, I don't remember having a smartphone until way later. And I feel like they are much more commonplace earlier now. Not to like shake my fist and be like, get off my lawn back in my day. So, what we also know is that no, there's the three-hour mark right there, but we also know that addictive or problematic use and use that kind of looks like a feeling like unable to stop, or using the device late at night. Or this one is a this one's a big one. I think I noticed this a lot, is using them to escape negative feelings raises these risks that you said, like depression, anxiety, stress, etc. That uh the other two are obvious, and like you can look at someone and say, like, oh, the lights on in the room, or like you can ask them, you can look at the data on the phone and see like someone's on the phone late at night. But to use it to like escape a feeling, I could see how that could be a really subtle, tough to measure thing that can really like I mean, it I it's like a coping mechanism, but it might not be a good one. So while we're talking about other risks and negative things, it we also find that this leads to poor sleep, opportunities for cyberbullying, really like undue comparisons. Comparison is the thief of joy, and it's rampant on social media, so that in itself is probably unhealthy. And seeing unrealistic images online can also make all of these problems worse, which also doesn't surprise me. I, you know, when you are you're like succumbed to the thoughts of every other person who's like ever come around, right? And like you're comparing yourself to them in likely edited photos in what is probably an impossible way or impossible threshold to hit. So, I mean, we listed a lot of things that can make social media problematic for teens. We know it's worse in teens than it is for adults, and we're gonna talk about that too. But I mean, there are some benefits, right? We know there are some possible benefits, right? Like you learn a ton on social media, so do I so does everyone.
SPEAKER_03:Oh my gosh, I learned so much on social media. Everything great I've ever learned came from social media.
SPEAKER_00:Right. That's a benefit. I'm just kidding. Well, no, that's like, but that's a huge benefit, right? Or like people feel connected, you stay connected with friends, you see what they're doing. That's a huge way, huge benefit, um, especially in times of isolation. So that's a huge benefit. Or it can connect people who need support in different groups. Like I've seen countless support groups also fraught with peril, but like people who need help and like finding like-minded communities which can be therapeutic for people. So there are some benefits. It seems like the list of benefits is like a lot less than the studied negative things, but you know, that's sort of where we're at. So then it comes to like what may help in this, because it seems like most things landing in the middle somewhere is probably the best way to go. And are there certain things, or like if a if a parent is thinking about a teen, what certain things can they do to talk about like healthy internet use and healthy device use?
SPEAKER_03:So we can limit social media time for about 30 minutes per day, which will lower the risk of depression and anxiety. Um, definitely getting enough sleep, so not doom scrolling in bed, because that will for a fact make your sleep worse and ruin the next day. Yeah. Getting enough sleep. Um, and having supportive like real life relationships outside of the online world.
SPEAKER_00:This part is like mostly for like parents, I think. Um, because this section's about teens. So like talking openly about online experiences and like including both positive and negative feelings that come out of that. Because I mean, there's a whole world out there that a teen is like exposed to when they're looking at stuff. Like, I mean, there are tools and things like on apps to help limit what people see, but like it's a great big world out there to like start experiencing at such a young age when there's like so much impressionable development to be done. So just being open and communicating about that is probably really important. Um, I've seen this in the office as a thing because like in a lot of pediatric visits, I've been trying to ask about a screen time. And a lot of moms like bring out like visual tools. Like we just talked about our screen time that our phones track in the beginning, but like they bring it out and like, oh, bring out your screen time and show the doctor like how much you used. And I think that brings it to real life. That like visual helps for the kid to see like what they're doing and if that's good, bad, or could use some improvement. I think I feel like everyone can probably use less screen time. And I mean, it's probably a good idea to get ahead of talking with um teens and preteens about unhealthy comparisons that will inevitably happen and sense of self-worth. Because like photos online, like especially with AI and stuff like they're doctored and not not to give bad names to doctors, but like you know, they're not a lot of them aren't real. And you see things that never really existed, or people that don't exist, or people that are like enhanced, or like a lifestyle that's enhanced. Yeah. So like it it's good to get ahead of that stuff to kind of say, like, this is isn't it may look like it's being portrayed to you as real life, but it's not.
SPEAKER_02:It's not. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So that's just a couple thoughts that we're having based on these resources that we kind of looked at for you. So moving the conversation over to adults, we similarly know that higher problematic use of smartphones and social media is also linked to symptoms of depression, anxiety, poor sleep in adults, but the effects are usually smaller than in teens. Of course, these are all population-based studies, large swaths of people, but and it could be different on an individual basis, but it is something that is noticed. And so adults who use social media in a way that feels out of control or interferes with their daily life tend to be more likely to have mental health problems. So that's not to say that they don't have benefits. There are some benefits with social media. They can also help adults stay connected. Everyone's very busy. They can help friends and family stay connected and find support, access helpful information. Look, I love fantasy football. Fantasy football helps me stay connected to some of my closest, oldest friends. As a form of social media in some ways, that's a huge positive. But like we've talked about, there's a lot of negatives that go along with it. So everything in moderation. So, you know, essentially the the things to do, we talked about them already. The things for helping a kid, helping a teen or preteen curb their social media use comes in a similar vein to adults with social media use. And I think the big takeaway from this episode is that it's not benign. And it seems like there is an association, and I think people are trying to look at it more to see how this digital world affects mental health. It's becoming more clear that we should limit it to some degree. But I think we need more. But today we wanted to start the conversation so that we give you something to think about that maybe you can't fly too close to the sun. Like too much of anything is bad at the end of the day. All right, thank you for coming back to another episode of Your Checkup. Hopefully, you were able to learn something for yourself, a loved one, or an iPad kid. Check us out on our Instagram, find us on Threads. You can send us an email, your checkuppod at gmail.com. Go back and listen to our other episodes if you wish. But most importantly, stay healthy, my friends. Until next time, I'm Ed Delesky.
SPEAKER_03:I'm Nicole Rufo.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you and goodbye.
SPEAKER_03:Bye.
SPEAKER_00:This information may provide a brief overview of diagnosis, treatment, and medications. It's not exhaustive and is a tool to help you understand potential options about your health. It doesn't cover all details about conditions, treatments, or medications for a specific person. This is not medical advice or an attempt to substitute medical advice. You should contact a healthcare provider for personalized guidance based on your unique circumstances. We explicitly disclaim any liability relating to the information given or its use. This content doesn't endorse any treatments or medications for a specific patient. Always talk to your healthcare provider for a complete information tailored to you. In short, I'm not your doctor. I am not your nurse. And make sure you go get your own checkup with your own personal doctor.
