How to quit social media, and where iboga fits

How it works, in motion

Four stages, one meter of how good everyday life feels: the small lift of a like or a new video, the flatness that follows, the pause the iboga night may open, and what matters after. Press play, or tap a stage.

A like, a message or a new video gives a small lift.
It arrives at random, which is why you keep checking.
Ordinary moments start to feel flat, so you reach for the phone.
The feed never ends, so there is no natural place to stop.
After the iboga night, guests often describe distance from the pull.
An opening, not an end point. The work continues after.
Then you fill the gap the scrolling was covering.
Often low mood, loneliness or the fear of missing out. Around the fire, you look at it.

A simplified picture of how a habit can change everyday feeling, not a measurement. No study has tested iboga or ibogaine for social media or smartphone use; ibogaine research covers substance use disorders. The third stage describes what guests report, the fourth the tradition's understanding, not a medical claim. Social media addiction prevalence · Surgeon General's advisory.

What iboga does for the body

What we have seen since 2012. We have welcomed more than 7,677 guests since 2012. Many came for a substance, and many also brought a phone they could not put down. What they describe after the ceremony is less a chemical change than a step back: the reflex to check loosens for a while, and they can see what it was doing for them.

This is our experience, not a clinical trial. No study has tested iboga or ibogaine for social media or smartphone use, so we pair the ceremony with therapy and three months of follow-up.

What the research covers. Ibogaine has been studied in substance use disorders, mostly in small open-label studies. Anything we say about screens is by analogy, and analogy is not evidence of an effect on screen use.
Days away from the feed. The retreat gives you something most people never get at home: several days without the phone in your hand, in a structure built for looking at habits. Guests often say the first quiet morning is when they notice how loud the feed had been.
The mechanism. Ibogaine and its long-lived metabolite noribogaine act on the serotonin transporter, on opioid and NMDA receptors, and in animal research on growth factors such as GDNF. Read How iboga works.

It is an opening, not an end point. The phone will still be there when you get home, so the plan needs to be ready: notifications off, apps moved or deleted, a charger outside the bedroom, a therapist if your mood has been low.

What the ritual does for the soul

The Bwiti tradition of Gabon does not begin with the habit. It begins with the person. A dependence, in this reading, means that some part of the self has gone without care for a long time, and the habit has settled into the space it left.

Social media has its own face in this light. It promises company without risk, a look at other lives, a way out of a heavy moment. The scroll often sits where rest, boredom or real conversation used to be. In the night, guests describe seeing the pattern from outside: the comparison that made them feel smaller, the fear of being left out, the low mood the feed was keeping at arm's length.

The ritual gives that seeing a frame. The nganga, initiated in the Missoko lineage, opens the space and keeps it protected. At the fire talk you say your intention aloud, in front of the fire and the others. The medicine is given in steps, and each person is watched. Through the night the ngombi harp and the mongongo mouth bow guide the traveler, and the practitioner's clearings and protections help release what has been carried too long. At dawn the ceremony is closed. In the life review the next day, what came up is put into words and given its place, along with how you want to live with the phone at home. Belief is not required. Telling the truth helps.

One night, one life (1 min 18): the loop, the fire, the roots, and the ninety days after. Real photographs of our center and ceremony; the silhouette, roots and data are drawn. The ninety-day curves are illustrative.

The program, step by step

Social media does not need a medical detox, so most guests join one of our standard psycho-spiritual programs; the psychologist helps you decide which fits. See programs and cost. If alcohol or other substances are part of the picture, the physician may recommend the detox program instead.

Discovery call and screening. The honest picture: how many hours, which apps, when it is worst, your mood and sleep, every medication. Then the medical screening.
Preparation before travel. A phone plan for home: notifications off, the hardest apps deleted or limited, any medication changes planned with your doctor.
Arrival. Rest, food, vitals, the first fire talk without medicine.
Ceremonies. At night, with the practitioner pacing the doses and the medical team present.
Processing and integration. The life review, time with the psychologist, a plan for the mornings, the late nights and the moments you used to reach for the feed.
Three months after. Four integration calls through the months when the old reflex returns. A night lost to scrolling is information, not failure; call.

ScreeningMedical checks, medications, mood

before travel

A phone planNotifications off, the hardest apps removed

before the first dose

CeremoniesThe practitioner and the medical team in the palapa

the nights

Processing and integrationLife review, the psychologist, a plan for the mornings and late nights

days between

Three months afterFour integration calls as the old reflex returns

at home

applicationarrivaldepartureday 90

The phone plan is ready before the medicine. The months after carry you through the season when the reflex to check comes back.

Social media and iboga: safety

With no substance to stop, safety is about your body, your medicines, your mood.

The heart. Iboga affects heart rhythm, so every guest is screened first; read how we protect your heart.
Medications. Tell us about every medicine, especially ADHD stimulants, antidepressants or antipsychotics, which can interact with iboga. Never stop one on your own; the physician plans any change with your prescribing doctor.
Mood, anxiety and ADHD. These often travel with heavy scrolling. Tell us about your mood, including any thoughts of ending your life, now or in the past.
Alcohol and other drugs. Heavy drinking or benzodiazepines change the plan and need medical care first.

Guests must be 18 or over. Read Safety and medical protocol.

Who it is for

Adults who have tried to cut back many times, whose scrolling now comes before sleep, work or the people they love, and who want to understand what the habit does for them, not only block it. It is not for anyone whose medical screening cannot be cleared, anyone in benzodiazepine withdrawal, anyone in an acute suicidal crisis, which needs care at home first, or anyone sent against their will. Teenagers cannot attend; their care starts with a doctor, a therapist or the school counselor. The discovery call is where this is decided, kindly and without judgment.

Why scrolling is so hard to stop

Social media addiction is not an official diagnosis: it is not in the DSM-5-TR or the WHO's ICD-11. Researchers call it problematic social media use. The apps are built to keep you there. Likes and messages arrive unpredictably, a pattern that strongly sustains habits. Infinite scroll and autoplay remove the natural places to stop, while notifications pull your attention back.

Then there is what the feed does for you. It offers a look at other lives, a fear of missing out, a quick escape from a low mood. None of this is a lack of willpower. It is a design meeting a need, so the first step is an honest look at which need.

TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts

Use is near universal for the young. In 2023 the US Surgeon General reported that up to 95 percent of teens aged 13 to 17 use social media, and more than a third use it "almost constantly." Teens average 8 hours 39 minutes a day of entertainment screen media, according to the Common Sense Media census of 2021.

A Pew Research Center survey of 1,458 US teens, fielded in September and October 2025, asked which apps they use almost constantly:

TikTok. 21 percent of teens, the highest share of any app. The feed is a stream of short videos with no natural end: infinite scroll in its purest form.
Instagram. 12 percent. Here the pull is often social comparison as much as video: other people's bodies, holidays, friendships.
YouTube and YouTube Shorts. 17 percent for YouTube as a whole; Pew gives no separate figure for Shorts. Autoplay is what keeps one clip running into the next.

Snapchat came in at 12 percent too. The courts are now involved. In October 2023, 41 states plus the District of Columbia sued Meta, alleging harmful design; in October 2024, 14 attorneys general sued TikTok. In March 2026 a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube negligent, awarding about $6 million; appeals are planned. These are allegations and legal outcomes, not scientific findings.

How to quit social media

Start small and specific. Set a daily limit for each app you struggle with: in a randomized trial of 143 students, limiting Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to 10 minutes a day each for three weeks reduced loneliness and depression. Turn off notifications. Delete the hardest app from your phone, or move it off the home screen. Charge the phone outside the bedroom, so the last hour and the first hour of the day are yours. Grayscale mode and app blockers have only small studies behind them, but they are low risk, so try them. Tell one person what you are doing. If your mood has been low, or you feel anxious when you put the phone down, see a therapist: cognitive behavioral therapy for problematic internet and smartphone use is promising in small trials.

What stopping feels like

Because social media addiction is not an official diagnosis, there is no defined withdrawal syndrome or proven timeline. What people describe is ordinary, though it can still be hard: the hand reaching for the phone by itself, boredom, a fear of missing something.

What cutting back on social media can feel like over time
When	What people often describe
The first days	Reaching for the phone by reflex, in the queue, in bed, in every pause. Restlessness, a fear of missing messages or news.
The first weeks	Boredom where the feed used to be. Urges come in waves, often at night or after a hard day. Some people notice their mood more, because nothing is covering it.
The first months	For many people the pull comes less often, though stress, loneliness or a sleepless night can bring it back. A long night of scrolling is common; it is information, not failure.
Later	There is no fixed date. What changes is the space the habit filled: sleep, attention, time with people. Some people delete their accounts; others aim for a level they can live with.

If shame or low mood ever turns into thoughts of ending your life, call or text 988 in the United States or Canada, or go to an emergency room.

What works without iboga

The evidence is still young, but a few things have support. The strongest is the simplest: time limits. Full breaks, or a "digital detox," have mixed results across studies. Cognitive behavioral therapy is promising, though no large trial has settled it.

Set limits. Ten minutes a day per app, in the trial above, was enough to lower loneliness and depression in three weeks. Use your phone's own screen time settings.
Add friction. Notifications off, grayscale on, apps deleted or blocked, the phone out of the bedroom. Small studies only, but low risk.
Find a therapist. Look for CBT, with someone who takes the habit seriously without shaming you. Treat any ADHD, anxiety or depression alongside it.
Tell one person. A partner, a friend or a doctor who knows what you are trying makes the evenings easier to hold.

There is no government helpline for social media. The SAMHSA National Helpline (1-800-662-HELP, 4357) is free, open 24/7, and can refer you to local mental health care. The NAMI HelpLine (1-800-950-NAMI, 6264) offers information and support; it is not a crisis line. In Canada, dial 2-1-1. Young people in Canada can reach Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868. In the United States, the Crisis Text Line answers when you text HOME to 741741.

Questions people ask

Is social media addiction a real diagnosis?

No. It is not in the DSM-5-TR or the WHO's ICD-11, which lists only gaming disorder among screen behaviors. Researchers study it as problematic social media use, often with the six-question Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale. The struggle is still real: if you keep failing to cut back, or it is hurting your sleep, mood or relationships, it deserves help.

How do I quit social media?

Set a daily limit for each app, turn off notifications, delete the hardest app or move it off the home screen, then keep the phone out of the bedroom. Tell one person what you are doing. If your mood suffers when you cut back, or the habit keeps returning, see a therapist; cognitive behavioral therapy is promising in small trials.

How do I stop scrolling at night?

Charge the phone outside the bedroom. Use an ordinary alarm clock if you need one. Night is when the feed pulls hardest, because you are tired, alone, with nothing to stop you. Putting distance between the bed and the phone removes the choice at the moment you are least able to make it.

How much social media is too much?

There is no official cutoff. For teenagers, the US Surgeon General flags more than three hours a day: in cohort data cited in the 2023 advisory, teens above that level faced double the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms. That is an association, not proof of cause. For adults, the better test is control: can you stop when you decide to?

How common is social media addiction?

It depends on the cutoff. A 2021 meta-analysis of 63 samples from 32 nations, with 34,798 people, found 5 percent with strict criteria, 13 percent with severe cutoffs and 25 percent with moderate ones. The spread shows how much the number depends on where researchers draw the line.

Does a digital detox work?

Results are mixed. A 2022 systematic review found that full breaks from the phone helped some people, while other studies found no benefit. Limits seem easier to keep: in one randomized trial, 10 minutes a day per app for three weeks reduced loneliness and depression. A short break can still be a useful way to see your habit clearly.

Does grayscale mode help?

Possibly a little. Small studies suggest modest drops in use when the screen is gray, but the evidence is weak. It costs nothing to try, so it is worth adding to the other steps: notifications off, apps deleted, the phone out of the bedroom.

Is TikTok more addictive than Instagram or YouTube?

No study we rely on ranks them. What we know is how teens use them: in a 2025 Pew survey, 21 percent of US teens said they use TikTok almost constantly, against 17 percent for YouTube, 12 percent for Instagram, 12 percent for Snapchat. All of them use the same tools to keep you watching: unpredictable rewards, infinite scroll, autoplay.

Does social media cause depression?

That is still debated among researchers. Heavy use is associated with depression and anxiety symptoms, especially in teens, but association is not proof of cause, and leading researchers disagree on how much social media explains. What is clear is that if your mood is low, it deserves care of its own.

Is Meta being sued over addictive design?

Yes. In October 2023, 41 states plus the District of Columbia sued Meta, alleging harmful design; 14 attorneys general sued TikTok in October 2024. In March 2026 a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube negligent, awarding about $6 million, with appeals planned. Meta settled the first school district bellwether case in 2026. These are allegations and legal outcomes, not scientific findings.

Which states ban phones in schools?

Kansas became the 33rd state with a K-12 phone ban in March 2026, according to Ballotpedia. Counts differ by definition: a July 2026 JAMA Pediatrics study counted 42 jurisdictions, including DC, with statewide K-12 phone restrictions. Evidence on how these bans affect students is early and mixed.

Does therapy help with social media addiction?

It can. Cognitive behavioral therapy for problematic internet and smartphone use has shown promise in small trials, though no large trial has settled it. A good therapist will also look at what often sits underneath: ADHD, anxiety, depression, loneliness. Treating those can make the habit much easier to change.

Can my teenager come to the retreat?

No. Our retreats are for adults, 18 and over. For a teenager, start with their doctor, a therapist or the school counselor. The SAMHSA National Helpline (1-800-662-HELP, 4357) can point to local care. In Canada, Kids Help Phone is at 1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868.

Does iboga work for social media addiction?

No study has tested it. Ibogaine research covers substance use disorders, so anything we say about social media is by analogy. We offer the retreat as a supervised opening alongside therapy: days away from the phone, a night that looks at what the scrolling was covering, three months of support. It is not a treatment for screen use.