Short Detox Reverses Attention Decline

A two‑week reduction in smartphone/social‑media access, enforced via a blocking app, produced measurable improvements in sustained attention and mental health in a 467‑person PNAS Nexus study — the attention gains equaled roughly a decade of age‑related decline and mood improvements rivaled standard treatments. Even partial or imperfect adherence yielded benefits, and many participants reported effects that lasted beyond the intervention. — If short, time‑limited device restrictions reliably restore attention and reduce depression/anxiety, policy and institutional practices (schools, workplaces, platform design, clinical recommendations) should pivot from indefinite bans or alarmism toward pragmatic, evidence‑based detox interventions.