According to the survey, the average American feels like they lose three days per month while consuming online content. The poll of 2,000 Americans revealed that 36 days of our year are lost to scrolling, streaming, and bingeing content. It's even worse for younger people. Gen Z Americans feel like they lose closer to five days per month.

The comprehensive study on media consumption trends by Talker Research also revealed that excessive content consumption can result in feelings of guilt, with the average respondent having three pangs of guilt per month. On average, Americans consume about six hours of content per day, with Gen Z Americans consuming closer to seven.

In honor of World Mental Health Day, the data split respondents based on their self-reported mental health and found that poor mental health and media consumption appear to have an uncomfortable connection.

Those with "very poor" mental health lose nearly six days per month to content consumption, while 19% of those who say their mental health is "very poor" estimate that they lose 15 or more days per month. In comparison, those with excellent and good mental health lose the fewest days (2.7).

This also aligned with feelings of guilt. Those with"very poor" mental health feel guilty most often — roughly seven times per month. Nearly half of those polled (42%) admit they feel like they consume "too much" media, and 36% say their mood is "often" negatively affected by something they see on social media.

Gen Z Americans were the most likely to feel like they consumed too much media, with 66% agreeing with that sentiment. Interestingly, those with "very poor" mental health were also found to be the most likely to use TikTok regularly (38%) and the most likely to report being "very likely" to be on their phone while watching something on television (46%).