The TikTok habit is challenging to break

When high school senior Savannah Kalata wakes up in the morning, the first thing she does is turn off her alarm. The second thing he does is open TikTok.

“It’s kind of like that quick fix,” said Ms. Kalata, 18, who lives in Minnesota. “I can’t take my eyes off it.”

She said Ms. Kalata spends about two and a half hours a day on TikTok. He watches movies while eating, walking on the treadmill, and lying in bed before going to sleep. “Sometimes I feel like my phone can control me,” she said. “I don’t even necessarily want to exploit TikTok. It’s a habit that’s challenging to break.“

Ms. Kalata may have to quit cool turkey.

On Friday, the Supreme Court backed a federal bill that would effectively ban the popular app in the United States. The decision means the app could be blocked as early as Sunday. It’s not yet clear how this could affect TikTok’s roughly 170 million U.S. users. However, it may soon become tough, if not impossible, for users to scroll at will.

“I WILL NOT SURVIVE, I WILL HAVE FUN,” wrote one of the wa users video caption. “How will I ever laugh again?” wrote another.

Not all TikTok “withdrawal” videos are stern. But some users, like Ms. Kalata, say they really feel addicted, and some experts who study social media exploit say that may be true to some extent.

“TikTok is actually a very good example of addictive design,” said Dr. Isaac Vaghefi, an assistant professor at the Baruch College Zicklin School of Business who studies social media. He listed several features that keep users coming back for more: an endless feed of content, tiny videos that grab attention, and a highly effective, personalized “For You” algorithm.

TikTok says its app has several features to assist users manage screen time, including scheduled screen breaks and daily screen time limits.

“Everything on my For You is pretty much everything I want to watch,” said Brandon Gapultos, an accountant in Glendora, California. Gapultos, 29, spends more than two and a half hours a day on TikTok, he said: often viewing daily posts about other people’s work lives.

Movies “give me something to relate to,” he said, “and assist me get through the day.”

Breaking the TikTok habit

“Social media addiction” is not a formal medical diagnosis. But experts generally agree that some people develop “problematic exploit of social media,” said Dr. Marc Potenza, a professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine who specializes in addiction. Scientists don’t fully understand why this happens, but some research suggests that using social media activates parts of the brain that respond to pleasant experiences, the so-called reward path.

Dr. Potenza said there are some telltale signs that your TikTok habit may be problematic — if, for example, you prioritize using the app over eating, sleeping or working, or if you feel compelled to have the app open all day. He added that some people may feel upset or want to watch videos when they don’t have access to them.

Another red flag is “loss of control” over how long you exploit the app, said Dr. Michael Tsappis, co-director of the Interactive Media and Internet Disorders Clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Lisi German, 17, a high school student at Ladera Ranch in California, says she spends at least an hour and a half on TikTok every day. Ms. German, who suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, found that the urge to scroll through apps made it even more tough for her to manage her time and complete her homework. Sometimes, she said, she feels like she’s only been on TikTok for 10 minutes, but soon she realizes an hour has passed.

Research suggests that people with mental health conditions such as ADHD, anxiety and depression may be more likely to overuse social media, Dr. Tsappis says, but everyone is susceptible to problematic exploit.

For millions of TikTok users in the United States, losing access can lead to feelings of anxiety or irritability as they adjust to life without the app they frequently exploit, according to Dr. Anna Lembke, a professor of psychiatry and addiction medicine at Stanford University School. Medicine. But experts say the ban could also provide an opportunity for people to re-examine the role of social media in their lives.

Mrs. Kalata, who is approx 31,000 followers on the platform, he did just that. She won’t try to take her followers elsewhere – it would be best if she retired from social media entirely.

“But since I’m already so obsessed with TikTok,” she said, “I think it’s going to be tough.”