Short detox reverses attention loss

A two‑week reduction in smartphone internet access (turning the phone into a call/text‑only device) halved daily online time and produced measurable improvements in sustained attention and mental health in a 467‑person study published in PNAS Nexus. Effects were large enough to be framed as equivalent to reversing roughly ten years of age‑related attention decline, and some benefits persisted after the detox ended. — If replicable, short, practical device‑level interventions could become a scalable public‑health tool and a policy lever in debates about youth screen time, workplace device rules, and platform responsibility.