There are many things I appreciate about modern technology.

As a mental health advocate, I’ve seen firsthand how online communities can connect people, reduce isolation and provide access to support that might otherwise be unavailable.

But there is also something many of us miss about growing up before algorithms.

I grew up before smartphones, social media feeds and personalised recommendation systems existed. Back then, when the school day ended, there was a genuine opportunity to disconnect. My friendships developed face-to-face. My hobbies were private. There was less pressure to document every experience or compare my life to thousands of others.

Most importantly, there were moments of quiet. Looking back, I don’t think we appreciated how valuable those moments were.

As someone who later experienced Anorexia Nervosa, alongside Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and as a survivor of attempted suicide, I often think about how difficult recovery would have been if I had carried a device capable of feeding me endless comparisons in my pocket 24 hours a day.

Recovery requires space. Space to challenge unhelpful thoughts. Space to reconnect with yourself. Space to discover who you are beyond your illness.

Today’s young people are growing up in an environment where algorithms are designed to keep attention for as long as possible. The more we engage with a piece of content, the more similar content we’re likely to see.

This means that somebody searching for fitness advice, meal ideas, or wellbeing tips can quickly find themselves surrounded by increasingly narrow and potentially harmful messages.

Another thing we seem to have lost is the ability to simply be bored. Boredom once encouraged creativity, reflection and imagination. Now many of us instinctively reach for our phones at the first sign of downtime.

As someone who now spends much of my time speaking about mental health and suicide prevention, I often remind people that wellbeing isn’t only about what we consume physically. It’s also about what we consume mentally and emotionally.

We carefully think about the food we put into our bodies. Perhaps we should also think more carefully about the content we put into our minds.

Sometimes digital wellbeing isn’t about finding the perfect app or setting.

Sometimes it’s about remembering that it’s okay to log off.