In The Candy House, the allure of social media, with its illusions of security, comfort and happiness are frequently described in terms similar to those related to addiction. Egan presents characters who struggle with substance abuse and deal with their isolation by withdrawing into the social media platform Own Your Unconscious.

While social media addiction is listed as a condition warranting further study in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders — used by those in the field of psychology to diagnose mental health conditions — there have been multiple studies documenting the addictive potential of these platforms. The main chemical component in the brain behind addiction is dopamine, which is secreted from nerve tracts within the brain upon receipt of rewarding experiences of any kind — making it so that people can be addicted to a variety of different things beyond just drugs, such as food, gambling or sex.

At the same time, the brain's ...