Scrolling to Recovery: One Student's Journey through Digital Addiction

Editor's note: Jonah's story is part of a larger conversation about digital use and student well-being during National Mental Health Awareness Month, as a new support group takes shape on campus.

For U of A grad student Jonah Lesh, it started with a Wii in middle school — innocent enough. Then came an iPod, an iPad and eventually the internet. YouTube. Online gaming. And more.

By the time he transitioned to Xbox and began voice-chatting with players online, something had shifted.

"The social environment became me alone in my room, talking to people online, no face-to-face connection," Jonah said. "I think that was detrimental."

What followed were years of escalating screen use rooted in more than habit. Growing up in an emotionally difficult home environment, Jonah found that technology offered an escape from processing his feelings.

"It was just a habit I fell into to manage my emotional state," he said. "I used video games to distract myself from emotions I didn't know how to express or feel or process with another person."

At the peak of his use during his undergraduate years, his day was consumed by screens. He'd wake at noon, grab his phone for short-form video and Reddit, then migrate to his computer for hours of gaming with his online friend group. This continued until 3 a.m., when he'd finally fall asleep mid-scroll. There was no silence, no stillness and no moments of sitting with his own emotions.

What made it harder to recognize as a problem was that his environment reinforced it.

"It felt completely normalized," Jonah said. "I'm surrounded by other addicts, so there's not really much second-guessing. This was just how I was living my life."

His lowest point came during the Covid-19 pandemic. A broken ankle confined him to his residence hall room, with meals delivered to his door. His physical and mental health deteriorated rapidly.

"Suicidal ideation, depressed, super anxious," he said. "Sitting for 12 to 14 hours a day, not moving at all."

Change began slowly with awareness. In early 2025, Jonah began attending meetings at the Razorback Recovery Community on campus. There, he found a space where connection, rather than isolation, was central.

That sense of connection is intentional, according to Razorback Recovery Program Coordinator Isabel Taylor. "The opposite of addiction is connection," she said.

Support on Campus

At Razorback Recovery, a peer-led, student-centered program within Substance Education, Assessment & Recovery (SEAR), students navigating addiction can access support through individual and group care, prevention efforts and recovery resources.

The program offers weekly support meetings and workshops in the Razorback Recovery Lounge on the second floor of the Pat Walker Health Center, along with campus-wide social events such as Wooo Pig Sober Tailgates. All are designed to reduce isolation, which staff identify as a critical factor in the recovery process.

When students reach out to Razorback Recovery with concerns about digital addiction or technology overuse, they are connected to SEAR resources that address both substance-related and process addictions, Taylor said. 

During a clinical intake, SEAR counselors conduct assessments and, when appropriate, formally evaluate for addiction. Students may also be paired with peer mentors who bring lived experience and are invited to participate in group meetings and sober social events.

At Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS), which provides on-campus mental health assessment and therapeutic services, unhealthy internet and technology use has emerged as one of several growing concerns among students, according to Assistant Director Kenneth Harris, LPC-S, LADAC, ADC.

As demand for support grows, CAPS clinicians engage in ongoing education to stay current on emerging trends and best practices. A key focus is connecting students to psychoeducational resources that build emotional regulation skills and awareness of how technology use affects well-being.

"When students begin to recognize unhealthy patterns, that's when they are encouraged to seek support - whether through mental health services or trusted personal networks like family and friends," Harris said.

Jonah and Razorback Recovery Coordinator Isabel Taylor at a digital-addiction support meeting for students. The peer-led group’s approach is simple, Taylor said: “The opposite of addiction is connection.”

Reclaiming Presence

Digital addiction presents unique challenges. Unlike substance misuse, technology is unavoidable in academic life, and excessive use is often normalized — even encouraged — by peers. Behavioral addictions can be harder to recognize and more difficult to find targeted support for.

"The normalization of tech use is really the most damning factor," Jonah said. "It's not stigmatized like, say, smoking a cigarette."

That normalization is also driving more students to seek help - and shaping how support shows up on campus. At Razorback Recovery, Taylor said more students are seeking support for problematic digital use, and Jonah has become a central part of that work.

As a certified peer educator, he now serves as both an advocate and mentor for students navigating technology addiction. Earlier this spring, he began leading Being Present in the Digital Age, a new weekly support group that meets Mondays at 5:30 p.m. in the Razorback Recovery Lounge on the second floor of the health center.

Each session begins with meditation, then moves into discussion about technology use, presence and coping strategies.

"I want this to be a space for people who are using screens as their main way of coping," Jonah said. "Anyone who is interested in reducing their tech use - or just being more present in their lives."

Recovery, Jonah and program staff emphasize, extends beyond cutting back on screen time. It involves developing new coping mechanisms, addressing underlying emotional challenges and rebuilding personal connections and community.

Jonah experienced that shift firsthand. He began intentionally building silence into his daily routine: avoiding his phone first thing in the morning, driving without distractions and walking without headphones.

Meditation has become a cornerstone of his recovery.

"You're slowly getting comfortable with silence," he said. "Not escaping those emotions that suck to feel."

His recovery is ongoing. The urges remain, but Jonah is learning to sit with them rather than reach for a screen.

"The tech use is just the tip of the iceberg," he said. "I'm still learning. But there's a lot to learn."