Is Phone Addiction a Serious Problem?
When the phone companies themselves start posting about cell phone addiction you know it's becoming a problem. I recently came across a post on the Verizon website titled “What is cell phone addiction and how can you prevent it?”
The article states that Americans spend an average of 5.4 hours on their phones each day. This figure, while an average, still appears alarmingly high. Recently, I began requesting clients to share their average screen time as part of evaluating their current issues. In my clinical practice, I am observing patterns and trends related to increased screen time and its potential impacts on various aspects of mental health and well-being.
People are generally reporting spending 8 hours or more per day on their screens, with activities such as texting, using Snapchat, scrolling through TikTok and Instagram, and watching videos being predominant. In response to this trend, I've implemented behavioral experiments with certain clients. This involves setting restrictions on specific apps and establishing designated times for phone use, aimed at reducing screen time and fostering healthier habits.
Research findings have established a correlation between increased screen time and negative mental health outcomes such as depression and suicidal behavior among adolescents. Specifically, a nonlinear dose-response relationship has been identified between depressive symptoms and overall screen time in children aged 5 to 18 who spend more than two hours per day using digital media. Since more than 2 hours of daily screen time is associated with a myriad of adverse consequences I am attempting to first decrease to 4 hours prior to cutting that in half.
In addition, Children in 2011 were estimated to sleep, on average, one hour less per night when compared with children of the early 20th century. I can assume that number may have risen over the previous 13 years.
According to the Common Sense Media report, which surveyed 1,000 parents and their children, 68% of teens admit to bringing their devices into bed, with nearly a third of them falling asleep while their phones are still with them. The study found that 36% of teens wake up and check their mobile device at least once a night for a reason other than checking the time. Of those teens, a little more than half say it's because they received a notification or they just wanted to look at social media.
There's also a lot of phone use right before and after sleep. Forty percent of teens said they use their mobile device within five minutes of going to sleep, and 32% said they check their phone within five minutes of waking up.
Teens aren't alone in their phone attachments. Parents in the study also admitted to keeping their phones in their beds, with nearly half reporting that they feel addicted to them.
When limits and restrictions are imposed on screen time, clients initially report experiencing anxiety and a strong urge to check their phones. They describe feeling discomfort in their bodies and struggling to tolerate the emotions that arise. Many acknowledge their low tolerance for boredom and the difficulty in focusing on non-stimulating tasks. Their minds frequently drift back to their phones, craving social media updates, responding to texts, or checking emails. Many younger clients also express experiencing FOMO (fear of missing out) during this period.
Could the symptoms described be likened to those of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? The contentious debate persists: Is ADHD genuinely a mysterious, genetically predisposed brain condition that sabotages sustained focus? Or is it merely a reflection of how the brain naturally operates?
Attentional processes have evolved as a fundamental survival mechanism, finely tuned to prioritize the most relevant or intriguing stimuli in our environment. This adaptive trait allowed our ancestors to efficiently allocate mental resources to potential threats, food sources, and opportunities for social interaction. However, in the modern digital age, screens and social media platforms bombard us with a constant stream of captivating content designed to grab and hold our attention. This flood of stimuli conditions our brains to seek out novelty and excitement, making it increasingly challenging to focus on mundane or less stimulating tasks. Consequently, our attention becomes fragmented, and we struggle to concentrate on tasks that don't offer the same level of instant gratification, potentially impacting productivity and overall well-being.
Speaking truth has become an act of rebellion. Consider this: Rather than labeling individuals with ADHD or an Anxiety Disorder and prescribing potentially harmful pharmaceuticals, why not explore the real challenges they face and assist in finding genuine solutions? This approach embodies effective mental healthcare, addressing root issues rather than masking symptoms with dangerous drugs.
Phone and social media dependence? Solve the problem.
Poor diet and sedentary life style? Solve the problem.
Poor quality sleep or sleep related problems? Solve the problem.
Feeling socially isolated and lonely? Solve the problem.
Struggling with self discipline, structure and completion of tasks? Solve the problem.
Struggling to get out of your head, worrying or ruminating about the past? Solve the problem.
You get it: conventional mental healthcare falls short in addressing real-life challenges. Instead, it peddles the myth of inherent brain dysfunction and offers false hopes of easy fixes.
Phone addiction is undeniably real, rooted in the very design of our brains. Social media giants invest considerable resources into understanding how to seize your attention, crafting products with addictive qualities. From relentless notifications to precisely tailored reel lengths, every aspect is meticulously designed to ensnare you. Just as food companies engineer products to trigger addictive responses in the brain and drug entities develop substances to induce desirable reactions, the digital arena follows suit. It's a battleground where the quest for attention reigns supreme, with addiction looming as a tangible consequence.
Remember… the sicker we are the richer they are.
RESIST
Great Topic!! I have struggled with what I identify as phone addiction for awhile now. I have tried multiple strategies from deleting social media accounts and getting a "Dumb" Phone designed for kids and teens, to keeping the phone upstairs out of my reach over the weekend (not exactly helpful in efforts to reach me!). It has been hard. Groups I want to be part of only use certain social media platforms, my work mandates the use of an authentication app to log in. I feel like not having a smart phone is not realistic, though I am happier without it. What I would like is a basic version that allows limited usage, like Audible and Spotify, has a nice camera, and a navigation app like google maps so I can find a gas station, or get to my friends house. All the rest, including the browser can get off my phone! My husband spends way too much time scrolling Reddit. I have talked to him about it but he gets defensive and I don't want to fight, but I HATE how rather than sit in the car with me and talk, he scrolls. We at least agree that our kids will not be getting a smart phone until they are legal adults and buy there own. They can get a dumb phone, hopefully the cameras get better! I was at a swimming class the other day and a mother was sitting there with a boy of maybe three who was watching a video on a tablet AND tapping on a phone, when she went to move the tablet he had a borderline meltdown over it. I don't know how people think this is good, normal, or ok!
I think we need to stop calling things addictions phones included. We should not be made to feel bad for using our phones as much as we need, to cope and get through life. Now having said that, our life needs to be a balance of structure and novelty. Stability and consistency and chaos.
If your life is always on your phone, you are going to begin to have your world slowly close in around you. But if you are always on the go it becomes a pleasure again and can expand your ideas and connect you with others in a way that can be really good.
Continuing to sound the alarm and point out problems may be an acknowledgment of the problem but it does not solve it. Drastically taking a phone away is cruel and unsettling just like anything that provides comfort. Just like anything , tapering and offering freedom and choice is the answer.
All of my children are on their phones a lot. I am on my phone a lot. I was never on my phone when I was a kid but then again there were no phones.
We got our kids I pods touches when they were 6,4,2, because we were coming back from Germany after being stationed there. The thought of that flight without some form of entertainment was frightening. I was an exhausted parent and my husband has never been the best with kids.
My kids are bright and confident, social and kind human beings and they want to be. At times one of my children has started to show signs that he is forgetting his true core self and begins to show signs of discontent, anger and selfishness. I don’t blame the phone or the internet there is nothing I can or necessarily should do about those. What I do blame is myself.
I am to blame because I allowed myself to disconnect too long from my son. Well this is something I have full power to change. This is what it looks like.
“Hi son, I have been noticing that you have started to become impatient with me and the family lately. Can you tell me what is going on?”
Usually it is about a friend group online or else he is completely unaware that he has been acting this way.
If it is about a friend we talk about communication or taking a break from abusive relationships. I remind him about how much his family loves him and plan something to do together either just the two of us or as a family.
If he does not know why he is behaving this way we go through the basic necessities for living a happy life. Are you sleeping constantly and sufficiently? What have you been eating lately? When was the last time you went outside and talked to people in person? What is the last time you did something physical to get your heart pumping? These are not unfamiliar questions to him and honesty most of us have to be reminded of them from time to time because we function so much in auto pilot.
When we look at the solutions or what we know is good for us it becomes obvious what we need to focus on. We know all these things are good for us because we have experienced them in the past and we have discussed how good they made us feel in the moments we feel them. It is kind of like feeling and acknowledging the good and getting in the habit of doing this. Once we reflect on the good we felt in the past, then not only is my son reengaged and willingly to try something new but sometimes even eager to get planing and going.
Looking at problems and giving more names to problems is not the solution. Causing more trauma and distrust among parents and children by ripping phones away, especially if the parent is not willing to completely give up theirs causes, more harm. It is through communication and offering reflection and love along with collaboration and one on one time that solves these types of problems.
If families have issues with phones the phones are not the issue. The real issue is a lack of listening, empathy, communication, energy and creativity. These are all skills that can be taught and as a society and families we must learn or relearn them.