From doom scrolling to digital detox: how a phone addict switched off
PETALING JAYA:
At the height of the pandemic, 15-year-old Liew Li Xuan spent up to eight hours a day glued to her phone. A harmless distraction soon spiralled into a form of digital addiction.
Endlessly scrolling through Instagram feeds and TikTok videos, accompanied by arguments with her parents over screen time, became a regular part of her life.
“I even quarrelled with my parents just over use of the smartphone,” she said. “It got so bad, my father had to step in: he changed the WiFi password and even confiscated my phone.”
Li Xuan said it was a wake-up call. “I realised I had to take control of my life.”
Taking control meant setting up LifeUp Malaysia in November 2023 with her younger brother Liew Yu Wei, then 14. LifeUp is a…
