How many hours a day do you spend on a device, scrolling and tapping on different apps? You don’t have to answer now, just keep going reading this article. We’ve got warned big time by scientists who explain how screen time might be harmful to your health. A recent study has found that addiction to your phone and its apps is real and may have a variety of detrimental repercussions on your health. Is it really that bad, like we can’t actually figure out how much screen time is bad time?
According to research by Dr. Eric Lim and his co-authors, using a phone causes a dopamine reaction, which can lead to a significant addiction. The dread of being without or unable to use a mobile phone, often known as nomophobia, was discovered to have a clear association with phone addiction. And there’s more. Every day, dopamine also tricks us into using our devices, and that’s when problems might start to materialize.
Dr. Lim talked to Medical Xpress and explained:
It becomes a vicious cycle where the more we are plugged in, the more we need these apps to provide ever-novel content to keep us hooked to the dopamine they provide.
Moreover, he emphasized how this has sparked an “attention economy” in which businesses are physically competing for your attention in order to make money when you might be more effective. Can you imagine that?!
Here are some discoveries made by huge companies worldwide:
- A study conducted by Virgin Mobile revealed that 427 percent more messages and alerts are being sent to and received by billions of smartphone users than there were ten years ago
- Google Trends shows an increase in “mobile phone addiction” searches
- According to the Addiction Center, these users also send 278 percent more text messages
Are you addicted to your device?