In a stark indictment of our digital age, a new pilot scheme in the North of England claims to have weaned heavy phone users off their devices using an intensive 14-hour-screen therapy programme. The approach, pioneered by the Liverpool Digital Wellness Institute, involves gradually reducing screen time over a two-day period while offering cognitive behavioural support. Early results show a 70% reduction in compulsive checking among participants.
But for many working-class families, the question is not just about willpower: it is about the cost of disconnecting in a world where cheap smartphones are a lifeline. As one participant, a 34-year-old warehouse worker from Bootle, told me: 'I need my phone for the zero-hours contract app. Without it, I don't eat.
' This is the real economy of addiction: a device that both traps and sustains.
