In 2016, the short-form video app TikTok was launched. Today, it is the most popular website in the world, with over a billion users. TikTok provides users with an unending stream of videos modified to every user. Each TikTok captures the user by giving them a dopamine release to keep them engaged.  During COVID, apps such as TikTok grew in popularity due to their ability to solve our boredom and isolation. However, even with the end of quarantine, we are still glued to our phones. Our generation’s dopamine addiction and newly increasing escapism has created a culture where we continually distract ourselves from our real lives—inhibiting our development as human beings.

Dopamine is the “feel good” hormone released from the brain when one experiences pleasure, while escapism is the tendency to seek distraction and relief from one’s current reality. Gen Z—born 1995-2015—often struggles with maintaining a healthy balance in life, specifically in our intake of dopamine and urge to lean towards escapism. Spending hours on video platforms has become a common occurrence, and many teenagers have built up a high degree of dependency on technology. How much will it take before we lose sight of life’s purpose?

People of all ages spend time on social media, so why is our generation affected by these phenomena so deeply? Two reasons stand out: Gen Z’s attachment to digital technology and the impact of COVID-19. This generation, also known as “the internet generation,” grew up with modern technology—a luxury previous generations never had. This inseparability between technology and our lives has created widespread dopamine addiction and attention deficiency. COVID-19 exacerbated our dependency on the internet to gain dopamine, as it eliminated most sources of happiness. Like a crutch being used even after healing, we still chose to gain dopamine primarily through technology. This heavy usage of technology to provide short-term gratification has led to increased academic and social pressure for zoomers, which then leads to a corresponding increase in tech usage due to our generation’s escapist tendency. As time goes on, this cycle will only increase in severity, trapping zoomers in a loop of increasing dissatisfaction.

So, why do we feel the need to escape? One clear leading cause is the high participation in dopamine-inducing activities and the lack of time for other activities which results from it. Ergo, our method of escape from our issues causes even more issues. The cycle behaves like an addiction, in which one gains dopamine to distract oneself or escape from reality, has a period of happiness, then falls into a period of recession and wants even more dopamine through technology. The loss of time experienced from this cycle can create added anxiety, irritability, and insomnia, adding to stress and a greater need to escape. Our generation is trapped within a cycle of dopamine addiction and extreme escapism, preventing us from remaining in touch with our lives and endangering our future. However, not all hope is lost: by acknowledging our issues, we’re one step away from our screens and one step towards a brighter future.