Digital Madness: How Big Tech Is Driving Our Mental Health Pandemic—and the Ancient Prescription for Sanity
Suicide and self-harm are complex and never caused by one factor alone. Problematic screen use, cyberbullying, harmful content, and online exploitation may increase risk or intensify existing distress. If someone is in immediate danger or emotional crisis in the United States, call or text 988.
Outside the U.S.? Find your local helpline at findahelpline.com.
Digital Madness is Nicholas Kardaras's 2022 follow-up to Glow Kids, arguing that constant social-media and device use has grown mismatched with human psychology in ways he associates with rising anxiety, depression, and polarized, black-and-white thinking. Kardaras frames depression as unusually common in heavily digitized societies compared with less digitally connected communities, and describes platforms' reward-driven design as associated with compulsive use and with physical-health concerns such as sedentary behavior. He also discusses how influencer culture and algorithmic amplification can spread psychiatric symptoms and self-harm-related contagion among followers, echoing broader social-contagion research. TechKids Foundation notes that suicide and self-harm are never attributable to any single factor. The book's proposed response centers on building individual psychological resilience — through purpose, physical activity, and critical thinking — alongside calls for platform-design and antitrust-style regulatory scrutiny.
Kardaras, Nicholas. Digital Madness: How Big Tech Is Driving Our Mental Health Pandemic—and the Ancient Prescription for Sanity. St. Martin's Press, September 13, 2022.