A study published in PNAS Nexus recruited 467 participants and asked them to block internet access on their phones for a fortnight.

They could still make calls and send texts, and access the web on laptops or tablets, because researchers noted that phone use is uniquely "compulsive and mindless" in a way that desktop browsing simply is not.

The results were remarkable. Daily screen time dropped from 314 minutes to 161 minutes, and participants reported measurable improvements in mood, sustained attention and mental health.

"The change in objectively measured sustained attention ability is about the same magnitude as ten years of age-related cognitive decline," the authors wrote, effectively suggesting the detox erased a decade of brain damage.

Even partial compliance helped. Georgetown University's associate professor Kostadin Kushlev confirmed that even a few days of reduced use produced genuine benefits.

A Harvard study published in JAMA Network Open reinforced the findings, showing that just one week off smartphones reduced anxiety, depression and insomnia among participants.\

Source:Ndtv