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Tech addiction traps young in 'digital rabbit hole where they can't function'

Jun 2026 🇮🇪 Newstalk

In this June 2026 interview on Newstalk's Moncrieff radio show, Nicholas Kardaras discusses what he calls a digital rabbit hole pattern, in which heavy device and social-media use leaves some young people unable to function well across school, work, or relationships. He describes his clinical approach to problematic technology use, including extended unplugged periods paired with traditional psychotherapy, and frames constant device use as functioning for some people as an anxiety-relieving habit that can become an unhealthy crutch. He references Irish survey findings that most respondents want to spend less time on their phones despite checking them immediately on waking, and discusses rising attention-related diagnoses over the past decade that he associates with heavier screen exposure. TechKids Foundation includes this interview as an example of Kardaras's clinical framing reaching an international broadcast audience.

66% of surveyed Irish people want to spend less time on their phones

Kardaras discussed a cited Deloitte survey finding that 66% of Irish respondents wanted to reduce their phone use — the interview's own cited figure, not independently verified by TechKids.

~70% check their phone immediately on waking

The same cited survey found about 70% of respondents check their phone first thing in the morning, discussed in the interview as evidence of habitual device use.

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CITATION

Wilson, James. "Tech addiction traps young in 'digital rabbit hole where they can't function.'" Newstalk (Moncrieff), June 2, 2026. https://www.newstalk.com/news/tech-addiction-2264556

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