Japanese hospital shares a test about social media use

Kurihama Medical and Addiction^*1 Center is a national hospital in Japan. On its website, it shows a short test about social media^*2. The test is called the Social Media Disorder Scale, or SMDS. People can use it to check their own social media use. It shows if a person may have a social media addiction.

The test has nine questions. They ask about how the person has used social media in the past year. The person answers "yes" or "no" to each question.

Eight questions are the same for everyone. The ninth question changes with the person's age. People under 18 are asked about fights with their relatives^*3. People who are 18 or older are asked about fights with a partner^*4, family or friends.

Each "yes" is one point, and each "no" is zero points. Then the person adds up the points. If the total is five points or more, the person may have a social media addiction.

1. *1 addiction: a problem where a person cannot stop doing something, even when it is bad for them
2. *2 social media: websites and apps where people share messages, photos and videos with others
3. *3 relatives: people in your family
4. *4 partner: a husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend