17/02/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17oQ2M7nqq/
A 16-year-old boy and his mum went to see their GP, Dr Rangan Chatterjee, on a busy Monday afternoon.
That weekend, the boy had been at A&E after an attempt at self-harm, and in his notes the hospital doctor had recommended the teenager be prescribed antidepressants.
“I thought: ‘Wait a minute, I can’t just start a 16-year-old on antidepressants,’” says Chatterjee.
He wanted to understand what was going on in the boy’s life.
They talked for a while, and Chatterjee asked him about his screen use, which turned out to be high.
“I said: ‘I think your screen use, particularly in the evenings, might be impacting your mental wellbeing.’”
Chatterjee helped the boy and his mother set up a routine where digital devices and social media went off an hour before bed, gradually extending the screen-free period over six weeks.
After two months, he says the boy stopped needing to see him.
A few months after that, his mother wrote Chatterjee a note to say her son had been transformed – he was engaging with his friends and trying new activities. He was, she said, like a different boy from the one who had ended up in hospital.
