Christopher Nolan's adaptation of The Odyssey, featuring a star-studded cast, tells the epic tale of Odysseus, who embarks on a ten-year journey to return home.
I am a professor of public health who studies health behaviors and the gap between intentions and outcomes. I became interested in this self-care paradox recently, after I suffered from a concussion. I was prescribed two months of strictly screen-free cognitive rest-no television, email, Zooming, social media, streaming, or texting. The benefits were almost immediate, and they surprised me. I slept better, had a longer attention span, and had a newfound sense of mental quiet.
A recent Washington Post piece pulled together what a lot of us have been describing for years: the "brain rot" feeling isn't just slang. Researchers are linking heavy social media use and rapid-fire content to measurable changes in attention and memory, and the way it shows up day-to-day can look a lot like anxiety.
