This issue is of utmost importance today, as impaired mental health is a leading cause of illness, disability, and social exclusion, while authentic conversation, closeness, and connection are vital resources for its stability.<\/b><\/p>\n
For this reason, with the support of the marketing agency McCann Belgrade, EXIT and UNICEF aim to highlight the immense significance of in-person contact for mental health, particularly among young people in this digital age. The first phase of the campaign, titled \u201cLife Is Live,\u201d focuses on digital addiction and urgently draws attention to its alarming scale. Although technology makes our daily lives and communication much easier, the line between its beneficial and harmful use is increasingly thin.<\/b><\/p>\n
It is estimated that billions of people worldwide suffer from digital addiction and that it now surpasses all other forms of addiction combined. Currently, about 6.8 billion mobile phones are in use worldwide, and data shows that over 65% of the global population exhibits signs of nomophobia \u2014 addiction to these devices! The current estimate of the average time spent in front of mobile, computer, and TV screens amounts to an astounding 20 years of one\u2019s life, while the average mobile phone user touches their device 2,617 times a day!<\/b><\/p>\n
Statistics indicate that a typical adult spends around <\/span>eight hours and 45 minutes a day in front of a screen and that more than half of mobile phone owners never switch off their phones \u2013 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cA true story lasts a lifetime\u201d <\/b>is the slogan for the campaign\u2019s first phase. Its goal is to highlight all those irreplaceable moments we spend with our loved ones and by ourselves, which make life <\/span>authentic, and can only be truly experienced in person<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n On the other hand, excessive screen time, using of social media, watching various forms of content, and playing video games, is associated with numerous mental health issues and disorders. Digital identity and the virtual world seem to have become more important than real life, especially among younger people.<\/b><\/p>\n