It is typical of addictions that they are ineffective at solving the problems that make us seek them — so IMO it wouldn't be surprising if an urge for autonomy

It is typical of addictions that they are ineffective at solving the problems that make us seek them — so IMO it wouldn't be surprising if an urge for autonomy leads to scrolling which doesn't actually satisfy that urge. Note that the article a couple of paragraphs later mentions gamblers and occasional “winning” that is in the long term losing. But I think a solution, or at least an experiment to test the hypothesis, is suggested by your reaction ("When scrolling I feel powerless, no autonomy") which is itself a desire for more autonomy: what happens if we instead cultivate the opposite value, less autonomy/freedom and more service/subordination/allegiance (to the job or sleep routine or whatever)? If the theory of the article is right, then a desire for autonomy leads to distraction which, being unsatisfying, only intensifies that desire. So cultivating the opposite (telling oneself "What I need right now is actually not autonomy, but fidelity to higher goals" or whatever) may curb the hunger for autonomy more effectively than our ineffective distraction does?