Our Addiction to Exaggeration: How it is Harming Us, and The Way Back

By Deniece Smith, Founder of Our Mettaverse

In our fast-moving digital world, it seems every headline, post, and video is designed to do one thing: exaggerate. Social media platforms thrive on sensationalism—on making the loudest claims, the biggest promises, and the most alarming warnings. They are built to magnify, not to moderate. And while exaggeration may capture attention, it leaves behind something far more troubling: minds that are fragile, restless, and overwhelmed.

We are now facing the highest rates of mental health struggles in children that have ever been recorded. Behind every statistic is a young person who feels the ground beneath them slipping—confused, overstimulated, and often alone.

"Too often, adults cannot step away long enough to be the steady hands children need."

But let’s not pretend this is only a children’s crisis. Adults of all ages are deeply entangled in the same web. Behind those suffering children are adults who are on their phone.

We are tethered to our phones, pulled by the endless scroll, hypnotized by pings and likes. Too often, adults cannot step away long enough to be the steady hands children need. If we cannot regulate our own digital addictions, how can we possibly guide the next generation to healthier shores?

This is where responsibility lands. Teachers, counselors, parents—and simply kind and decent human beings—are called to step in. In Buddhism, there is a beautiful teaching: to practice being each other’s parent. It means showing up with care, guidance, and patience, even when someone is not your child. If we can extend that principle—by putting down our phones, looking each other in the eyes, and listening with our full presence—we create connection again.

Connection is medicine. Eye contact is medicine. It soothes the nervous system, strengthens resilience, and reminds us we are not alone. It ignites the tool that allows us to see into each other's experience, read each other's face and resonate with each other's limbic system.**

The path forward is not complicated, though it requires courage: adults must take responsibility for their own social media use. By breaking our digital addictions, we free ourselves to notice the children around us. When we do, we will not only help the children find their way back to health, but also rediscover the deep human bonds that tend to everyone’s mental well-being.

*Social Media and Youth Mental Health

**The Reasons You Don't Vibe With Everyone You Meet

Our Mettaverse is a community coming together through loving-kindness to share our common humanity. Every part of everyone belongs here. Please email us if you'd like to join us on this beautiful journey back to connection.