Increasing technology use from two hours per day to five hours per day nearly triples suicidal ideation, from 25% to 71%. And, most crucially, it is the time spent on the device, not the content, that matters most

“I’m not interested in preserving the status quo. I want to overthrow it.”

Niccolò Machiavelli, 1531

THE DATA

From 2007 to 2014, hospital admissions among teenagers in Ontario, Canada for any reason other than mental distress decreased by 14% .

From 2008 to 2015, suicide among children in the U.S. increased by 185%, or almost tripled, from .66% to 1.82%. In the journal Pediatrics, first author Gregory Plemmons described the near-tripling of suicide as "almost doubled ". I have exposed their duplicity by using what was known in the old days as “fact checking”.

Greg goes on to say “increases were noted in girls (average annual increase 0.14 percentage points [95% CI 0.13 to 0.15]) and boys (average annual increase 0.10 percentage points [95% CI 0.09 to 0.11]), but were higherfor girls.”

From 2008 to 2015, suicide increases among girls in the U.S. were 40% greater than they were among boys there during that same time period (.14 vs. .10).

First author Gregory Plemmons omitted the percentage increase, and replaced it with the only-general “higher for girls.”

From 2009 to 2014, hospital admissions for girls in Canada who had attempted suicide increased by 110%, or more than doubled.

From 2012 to 2018, the number of young people in the U.S. who used social media multiple times per day increased by 112%, or more than doubled , from 33% to 70%.

From 2012 to 2018, the number of young people in the U.S. with a smartphone more than doubled.

From 2013 to 2017, the proportion of teenagers in Ontario, Canada with moderate to serious mental distress increased by 63%, from 24% to 39%.

From 2013 to 2017, the percentage of Ontario, Canada’s teenagers who spent 5 or more hours a day on social media increased by 82%, or nearly doubled, from 11% to 20%.

From 2013 to 2015, the percentage of Ontario, Canada’s teenagers who spent 5 or more hours a day on social media increased by 45%, from 11% to 16%.

From 2013 to 2015, the proportion of teenagers in Ontario, Canada with moderate to serious mental distress increased by 42% , from 24% to 34%.

From 2014 to 2015, the proportion of teenagers in Ontario, Canada with moderate to serious mental distress increased by 15% , from 34% to 39%.

First author Elia Abi-Jaoude, MSc M.D. attributed the increases to “cyberbullying” and “social media content”.

That’s a bald-faced lie. Given that they’re an M.D. publishing an article on technology-driven suicide in a prestigious medical journal, they know quite well that increasing technology use from two hours per day to five hours per day increases suicidal ideation by 184%, or almost three times, from 25% to 71%. And, most crucially, it is the time spent on the device, not the content, that matters most.

Elia Abi-Jaoude, MSc, M.D. is using conscious deception while maintaining the firmness of purpose that goes with complete honesty.

In 2014, the prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury among Candadian girls was 279% higher, or almost quadruple what it was among boys there (14.2% vs. 3.8%).

First author Katholiki Georgiades, PhD didn’t offer any suggestion as to why that might be the case. That’s an example of a prominent Scientist using the propaganda technique known as “stonewalling” in a prestigious Scientific journal.

In 2014, the increase in suicide among Canadian girls was 88% greater, or almost double what it was among boys, there (8.1% vs. 4.3%).

First author Katholiki Georgiades, PhD withheld that percentage, and described the margin only-generally as “substantially higher”. That’s an example of a prominent Scientist in a lofty Scientific journal using the propaganda technique known as “compartmentalization”.

“Substantial”, now, there’s a positive word! “His pay increase was substantial”.

From 2015 to 2017,the percentage of Ontario, Canada’s teenagers who spent 5 or more hours a day on social media increased by 25%, from 16% to 20%.

In 2020, suicide was the second leading cause of death for Canadian youth.

In 2021, Chinese college students who used their smartphones for five hours or more a day had a rate of suicidal ideation 260% greater, or heading toward quadruple that of those using their phones less than five hours per day.

THE ARTICLES

In 2020, the Canadian Medical Association Journal published “Smartphones, social media use and youth mental health”.

Where first author Elia Abi-Jaoude, MSc M.D. wrote the title of the scholarly article about technology-driven suicide in a completely general way, in which the reader cannot tell how the use of smartphones and social media among youths impacts their only-generally-referenced “mental health”. Where the word “suicide” was walked back to the only-general “mental health”.

They know that, since sixty to seventy percent of readers only read the headlines, this technique goes a long way toward “compartmentalizing” the scope of the technology-driven increase in suicide that I’m documenting here.

The article goes on to say “Evidence from a variety of cross-sectional, longitudinal and empirical studies implicate smartphone and social media use in the increase in mental distress, self-injurious behaviour and suicidality among youth; there is a dose–response relationship, and the effects appear to be greatestamong girls.”

Where “appear to be” casts doubt on the cold, scientifically-proven fact that the effects are greatest among girls, albeit by some unspecified amount.

The article continues: “Social media can affect adolescents’ self-view and interpersonal relationships through social comparison and negative interactions, including cyberbullying; moreover, social media content often involves normalization and even promotion of self-harm and suicidality among youth.”

Here, first author Elia Abi-Jaoude, MSc M.D. played the ruse that it was the subject matter being studied on the internet, the content that mattered.

Since they’re an M.D. who writes about the subject in the loftiest journals in the land, they know full well that the rate of suicidal ideation increases with hours of technology use, from 25% at two hours a day, up to 71% at five hours a day, and that it is the time spent on the device, not the content that matters most.

Elia Abi-Jaoude, MSc, M.D. is using conscious deception while maintaining the firmness of purpose that goes with complete honesty.

The article goes on to say “In Ontario, the proportion of teenagers reporting moderate to serious mental distress increased from 24% in 2013, to 34% in 2015 and to 39% in 2017,1 with parallel increases in health service utilization. Inpatient hospital admissions of children and adolescents for mental health reasons increased substantially across Canada between 2007 and 2014, while admissions for other medical conditions in this age group decreased by 14%.2”

Lotta smoke in there, lotta fog being blown. The only-general “increased” is use to hide the far more impactful percentage increase that I was forced to do the math to learn.

From 2013 to 2017, the proportion of teenagers in Ontario, Canada with moderate to serious mental distress increased by 63%, from 24% to 39%.

From 2013 to 2015, the proportion of teenagers in Ontario, Canada with moderate to serious mental distress increased by 42% , from 24% to 34%.

From 2013 to 2016, a 1-standard-deviation increase in “likes”, links clicked, or updating one’s own Facebook status was associated with a decrease of 5%-8% of a standard deviation in self-reported mental health.

From 2014 to 2015, the proportion of teenagers in Ontario, Canada with moderate to serious mental distress increased by 15%, from 34% to 39%.

From 2007 to 2014, hospital admissions among teenagers in Ontario, Canada for any reason other than mental distress decreased by 14%.

I had to click the external link to get only-generally-referenced “parallel increase” in what first author Elia Abi-Jaoiude, MSc, M.D. used Mil-speak to define as "health service utilization", to avoid saying “hospitalizations for suicide attempts”.

In 2016, the medical journal Health-Q published “Care for Children and Youth with Mental Disorders in Canada”.

Where first author Geoff Paltser wrote the title in a way where you can’t get any idea that it’s about technology-driven suicide, or even that it’s about suicide. That’s what the only-general “mental disorders” is meant to cover up.

They know that, since sixty to seventy percent of readers only read the headlines, this technique goes a long way toward “compartmentalizing” the scope of the technology-driven increase in suicide that I’m documenting here.

The punchline? The Google Scholar link to the National Institute of Health website says “No abstract available”, and, as a bonus, it’s the only available source for the study, which documents, er, “parallel increases in health service utilization”. That’s an example of a propaganda technique known as a “News Blackout”.

The CMAJ article continues: “Between 2009 and 2014, admissions to hospital for intentional self-harm increased by 110% in Canadian girls.3 Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for Canadian youth.4”

From 2009 to 2014, hospital admissions for girls in Canada who had attempted suicide increased by 110%, or more than doubled.

In 2020, suicide was the second leading cause of death for Canadian youth.

The CMAJ article continues: “A recent analysis of survey data found the 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation, attempts and nonsuicidal self-injury to be 8.1%, 4.3% and 8.8%, respectively, among adolescents aged 14 to 17 years, with all rates being higher in girls.5”

Can you see how there’s no delineation of what the numbers mean, or how they relate to one another? That’s an example of a prestigious Scientist using the propaganda technique known as “compartmentalization” in a lofty medical journal.

So, I had to click the link to first author Katholiki Georgiades, PhD’s “Correlates of Youth Suicidal Ideation and Attempts: Evidence from the 2014 Ontario Child Health Study” to learn, specifically, that, in 2014, the increase in suicide among Canadian girls was 88% greater, or almost double what it was among boys, there (8.1% vs. 4.3%).

First author Katholiki Georgiades, PhD withheld that percentage, and described the margin only-generally as “substantially higher”. That’s an example of a prominent Scientist in a lofty Scientific journal using the propaganda technique known as “compartmentalization”.

“Substantial”, now, there’s a positive word! “His pay increase was substantial”.

I had to dig way down into Katholiki’s study to learn: “Overall, the 12-month prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury in the present study was 8.8%, with rates 4 times higher among females (14.2%) compared with males (3.8%) (data not shown).”

In 2014, the prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury among Canadian girls was 279% higher, or almost quadruple what it was among boys there (14.2% vs. 3.8%).

First author Katholiki Georgiades, PhD didn’t offer any suggestion as to why that might be the case. That’s an example of a prominent Scientist using the propaganda technique known as “stonewalling” in a prestigious Scientific journal.

The CMAJ article continues: “Similarly, administrative data in the United States show that presentations to hospital for suicidal ideation or attempts among children and adolescents almost doubled between 2008 and 2015, with the highest increase for adolescent girls.6”

Where, despite holding a Master’s of Science degree and a Medical Doctorate, first author Elia Abi-Jaoude somehow managed to omit the percentage increases, replacing them instead with the general “almost doubled” and the even-more-general “the highest increase.”

So, I had to click yet another link, to Gregory Plemmons’ “Hospitalization for Suicide Ideation or Attempt: 2008-2015”, published in the Scientific journal “Pediatrics” in 2015, to learn “Annual percentage of all visits for SI and SA almost doubled, increasing from 0.66% in 2008 to 1.82% in 2015”.

I’ll say it plainly for you: from 2008 to 2015, suicide among children in the U.S. increased by 185%, or almost tripled, from .66% to 1.82%. In the journal Pediatrics, first author Gregory Plemmons described the near-tripling of suicide as “almost doubled”. I have exposed his duplicity by using what was known in the old days as “fact checking”.

Greg goes on to say “increases were noted in girls (average annual increase 0.14 percentage points [95% CI 0.13 to 0.15]) and boys (average annual increase 0.10 percentage points [95% CI 0.09 to 0.11]), but were higher for girls.”

Did you notice that first author Gregory Plemmons omitted the percentage increase, and replaced it with the only-general “higher for girls”? That’s an example of a prominent Scientist using the propaganda technique known as “compartmentalization” in a prestigious Scientific journal.

So, I had to do the math to learn that, from 2008 to 2015, suicide increases among girls in the U.S. were 40% greater than they were among boys there during that same time period (.14 vs. .10).

The CMAJ article continues: “At the same time, social media use has increased markedly. In the US, the proportion of young people between the ages of 13 and 17 years who have a smartphone has reached 89%, more than doubling over a 6-year period; moreover, 70% of teenagers use social media multiple times per day, up from a third of teens in 2012.10”

Because there is, in fact, a Great Big Conspiracy, the Google Scholar link is dead, and I couldn’t find any other examples of the study. That’s an example of the propaganda technique known as a “News Blackout”.

From 2012 to 2018, the number of young people in the U.S. who used social media multiple times per day increased by 112%, or more than doubled , from 33% to 70%.

From 2012 to 2018, the number of young people in the U.S. with a smartphone more than doubled.

The CMAJ article continues: “The percentage of Ontario’s teenagers who reported spending 5 or more hours a day on social media increased from 11% in 2013, to 16% in 2015 and to 20% in 2017.1”

Where, despite holding a Master’s of Science degree and a Medical Doctorate, first author Elia Abi-Jaoude somehow managed to omit the percentage increases, replacing them instead with the general “increased”.

So, I had to do the math to learn that, from 2013 to 2017, the percentage of Ontario, Canada’s teenagers who spent 5 or more hours a day on social media increased by 82%, or nearly doubled, from 11% to 20%.

And, from 2013 to 2015, the percentage of Ontario, Canada’s teenagers who spent 5 or more hours a day on social media increased by 45%, from 11% to 16%.

And, lastly, from 2015 to 2017, the percentage of Ontario, Canada’s teenagers who spent 5 or more hours a day on social media increased by 25% , from 16% to 20%.

I’m sure you recall that 71% of those who use their smartphones five hours or more a day want to kill themselves.

The CMAJ article continues: “One study of repeat survey data from 2013, 2014 and 2015 associated the extent of self-reported use of Facebook with subsequent poor self-reported mental health and life satisfaction.19”

In 2017, the American Journal of Epidemiology published “Association of Facebook Use With Compromised Well-Being: A Longitudinal Study”.

Where first author Holly B. Shakya used the general, Mil-speak “compromised well-being” in place of the specific “suicidal ideation”.

I had to read the article to learn that, from 2013 to 2016, “a 1-standard-deviation increase in “likes clicked” (clicking “like” on someone else’s content), “links clicked” (clicking a link to another site or article), or “status updates” (updating one’s own Facebook status) was associated with a decrease of 5%-8% of a standard deviation in self-reported mental health.”

The CMAJ article continues: “Several cross-sectional studies have shown that high proportions of youth appear to be addicted to their smartphones,22,23”.

Where, despite holding a Master’s of Science degree and a Medical Doctorate, first author Elia Abi-Jaoude somehow managed to omit the percentage increases, replacing them instead with the general “almost doubled” and the even-more-general “the highest increase.”

In 2021, the journal Front Public Health published “Suicidal Ideation Is Associated With Excessive Smartphone Use Among Chinese College Students”.

First author Qiuping Huang said “The prevalence of suicidal ideation (“Yes” response) in the past year among Chinese college students was 7.5%. In binary logistic regression analysis, suicidal ideation was significantly correlated with less subjective social support (OR: 2.49, p = 0.049), lower utilization of social support (OR: 13.28, p = 0.012), more depressive symptoms (OR:4.96, p = 0.005), and more than 5 h of daily smartphone use (OR: 2.60, p = 0.025).”

Did you notice how, despite the fact that the subject of the article is smarthphone-driven suicide, how, in journalistic parlance, first author Qiuping Huang “buried” smartphone use to the last of the three examples, despite the fact that it is larger than the “less substantive social support” of the first example?

I’ll state it plainly for you: In 2021, Chinese college students who used their smartphones for five hours or more a day had a rate of suicidal ideation 260% greater, or heading toward quadruple that of those who did not.

Jeff Miller, Honolulu, HI, June 3, 2022

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