Screening tools

The social media / scrolling self-check, explained

Updated 2026-07-16 · Grounded in: U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory: Social Media and Youth Mental Health (2023) · APA Health Advisory on Social Media Use in Adolescence (2023) · Meta-analysis of RCTs: reducing social media use decreases depression symptoms (2025) · BSMAS cut-off and components-model criteria studies

Unlike alcohol or gambling, problematic social media use is not an official diagnosis - it isn't listed in the DSM-5 or ICD-11. What exists instead is a well-studied research construct: over the last decade, researchers built and validated screens such as the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale and the Social Media Disorder Scale to measure when scrolling stops being a pastime and starts working against a person's sleep, work and relationships.

These screens share a common backbone: a set of criteria adapted from how clinicians think about behavioral addictions - preoccupation, tolerance, restlessness when cut off, failed attempts to cut down, displacement of sleep and hobbies, interference with work, hiding the extent of use, scrolling to escape bad feelings, and conflict with people close to you. Our check-in asks about the same nine territories in our own plain words, over the last twelve months.

How the scoring works

Each of the nine criteria you endorse counts as one point. In the research literature, endorsing about five or more is the level often described as disordered use; our check-in reads results in general terms rather than hard labels: zero to one criterion is generally read as low, two to four as a moderate pattern worth early support, five to six as a high pattern, and seven or more as a level where talking to a professional is the honest next step.

Two extra questions carry no points but matter more than any score: whether you check your phone while driving (the one part of this pattern that can hurt you today), and whether feeds regularly leave you feeling bad about your body - a documented effect of comparison-heavy feeds that deserves its own kind of care.

What a result actually means

A social media screen estimates how much of your attention the feeds currently hold and what it's costing - it cannot diagnose anything, and 'social media addiction' is not a recognized medical condition. What the result CAN do is make a fuzzy feeling concrete: most people who take one already suspect the answer, and seeing the pattern named makes it workable.

The goal that follows is different from other patterns too: nobody needs to quit the internet. The evidence base - including randomised trials where people capped feeds at about thirty minutes a day - points to reduction: a daily amount you choose on purpose, protected sleep, and friction between you and the reflex.

Taking it privately

You can run through the same nine territories in our free three-minute check-in - private, no account needed to see your result. It reads your answers the way the research scales were designed to be read, flags the safety items, and turns the result into a concrete first step the same day.

Honest limits

A screening tool estimates how risky a pattern looks — it cannot diagnose anyone. Only a qualified clinician can do that, with a real conversation.
Scores describe the recent past you reported. They don't define you, and they change when the pattern changes.
An honest result needs honest answers, and it's normal for the first attempt to soften things. The tool works best as a private conversation with yourself.

Take it privately — no name, no account

The free check-in uses the real, validated questions described above. About three minutes, a plain-words result, and a first step that fits it — including an honest pointer to professional care when that's the right answer.

Start the free check-in

Common questions

Is social media addiction a real diagnosis?

No - it is not listed in the DSM-5 or ICD-11 (gaming disorder is, but social media use is not). It is a research construct with validated screening scales. That doesn't make the pattern less real; it means the honest language is 'problematic use', not a diagnosis.

How many criteria are 'too many'?

In the research literature, endorsing five or more of the nine criteria is the level often described as disordered use. But even two to four is a pattern worth taking seriously - that earlier range is exactly where small changes work best.

Do I have to quit social media?

No - and the evidence doesn't ask you to. Randomised trials found that reducing use, often to a daily budget of around thirty minutes, improved mood and sleep within weeks. The goal is a daily amount you choose on purpose, not abstinence.

Why does the check-in ask about driving?

Because checking a phone while driving is the one part of this pattern that can cause physical harm today. It doesn't change your score - it changes what advice you see first.

Why does it ask how feeds make me feel about my body?

Comparison-heavy feeds are a documented driver of body-image distress. If that's part of your picture, the result includes support for that side specifically - including a gentle pointer to our eating check-in if food thoughts have started to feel heavy too.

How much screen time is 'normal'?

There is no medical cutoff, and raw hours matter less than what the time displaces. Someone who scrolls two hours instead of sleeping loses more than someone who scrolls three on a train. That's why the screen asks about sleep, work and relationships rather than judging a number.

The Mansio is a private wellness, education, and behaviour-change support tool. It is not a medical device, not therapy, and not a substitute for professional medical or mental-health care. If you're in crisis, call your local emergency number — crisis help is always free and never requires an account.