By suggesting that social media “addiction” might be treated as a disease (Report, 18 March), MPs risk doing society a grave disservice. Conceptualising this disorder as a disease suggests the origin of the problem lies within people. As Professor Mike Oliver (who died earlier this month) advocated, we should treat disabling phenomena as products of society, not as a problem of individuals. As the MPs’ report acknowledges, tech companies have a highly significant role in encouraging the use of social media. Young people then become the innocent victims of commercial and social pressures. There is growing evidence of increasing mental ill-health in society, and among young people in particular. Trying to cure or inoculate them from a supposed disease puts the cart before the horse. There is an increasingly urgent need to address the social and economic factors that may be causing the distress without further scapegoating young people themselves.
Dr Simon Gibbs
Reader in educational psychology, Newcastle University
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