She lost 12 friends to suicide. Now she's challenging people to give up social media for a month.

• Twelve of Madeline Freeman's classmates died by suicide when she was in high school.
• She saw a connection, supported by research, between social-media use and depression.

Editor's note: this article mentions suicide.

When Madeline Freeman was in high school, 12 of her classmates died by suicide. Though the experience in Freeman's community was extreme, it wasn't isolated. Research has suggested that teen girls who spend lots of time on social media are at increased risk of suicide and that the rate of suicide among teens was at an all-time high even before the pandemic.

Freeman had experienced depression and knew that spending time on Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat tended to make her symptoms worse. She began learning more about social-media companies and eventually came across the documentary "The Social Dilemma," which talks about the way that app developers use psychology to make people feel dependent on their platforms.

"I felt disgusted when I learned how these app developers use our psychology against us to manipulate us to spend as much time as possible on these apps," Freeman told Insider.

After watching the film, Freeman launched No Social Media November, or NoSo November, a campaign encouraging young people to stay off social media for the month and advocating more awareness of social media's effects on mental health.

"We're not living our best, healthier life if we're wasting our time on something that makes us sad," she said.

Raising awareness about social media and mental health

People participating in NoSo November can go all in, meaning they abstain from social media for the month, or half in, meaning they use social media but only for school or work. Freeman is also asking schools to show a video about social media and mental health during the month.

"If you decrease use by one hour, that's one hour every day we have to spend on other activities," Freeman said, emphasizing that people could still connect with friends by texting or calling. Nicole Siegfried, a psychologist, said that is critical.

"Reducing hours on social media can open the door to other experiences that may foster connection, which has been identified as one of the main protective factors against suicidal thinking and behavior," Siegfried said.

Talking to teens about social media

Teens are likely to feel defensive when yet another adult tells them they're spending too much time on their phone, Freeman said.

She suggests parents who want their teens to scale back on social media start by watching "The Social Dilemma" with them - the documentary is entertaining enough that teens will sit through it, and they'll likely learn a bit about how social-media businesses operate.

Bringing up NoSo November and offering to sign up for the challenge with your teens is a nonconfrontational way to bring up social media, Siegfried said.

Changing relationships with social media

It's unrealistic to think that most teens would give up social media. But NoSo November can be a good pause to help reevaluate digital habits.

In much the same way that participating in Dry January can result in less drinking throughout the year, participating in NoSo could remind young people that there are more substantial ways of connecting.

"A social-media break can create a pause to allow teenagers to enhance their relationships and connections in other ways so that social media becomes just one part of their lives and not their entire lives," Siegfried said.

Since launching NoSo November, Freeman has deleted her Twitter and Facebook and the Instagram app. She still uses Snapchat, but not during November.

When the month ends, participants are welcome to redownload the apps, but many might realize they want to change their habits for the long term.