In an unconventional attempt to break his phone addiction, journalist Rhik Samadder decided to spend an entire week glued to his phone, hoping aversion therapy would cure him. The experiment came after a series of personal crises, including complications from surgery, financial ruin, depression, and a breakup, which left him reliant on his phone for everything from groceries to social interaction.
Samadder's first day involved seven hours of scrolling through Instagram reels, Reddit videos, and YouTube. He found himself hypnotised by a GIF of Grace Jones hula-hooping and confused by Korean mukbang videos. The experience quickly felt overwhelming, with his brain unable to relax and a growing sense of discomfort.
He signed up to Quora's daily newsletter, which bombarded him with bizarre questions such as whether Mike Tyson could beat a Cape buffalo, and why humans need to wipe after pooing. He also joined Threads, which he described as 'Twitter without the engagement', and found himself losing four hours on TikTok watching fridge restocking and pimple popping videos.
By the end of the week, Samadder reported feeling trapped, with his breath stuck in his upper chest and a 'squirming formation' of thoughts he couldn't pin down. He craved human interaction, and at a book event, he compared screen time stats with an editor who had spent four and a half hours on WhatsApp. Samadder's screen time was six hours.
