Smartphone Addiction: How and Why

Smartphone Addiction: How and Why

As someone who grew up during the rapid rise of smartphones, I’ve seen what kind of impact they’ve had on us as people. It can’t be understated how useful and important they are- from talking to our friends and loved ones, keeping touch with work, having a GPS, a calculator, etcetera, it would be easier to list things a phone can’t do at this point.

That being said, there becomes a point where phones might be a bit too useful. Lately in my age group (college aged), many have acknowledged how phone addiction has had an impact on our social skills, attention span, and productivity. This is something I’ve definitely struggled with as well, which is why I’ve decided to write this investigative piece about it.

Dopamine

Dopamine is one of the chemicals our brain uses for a variety of different things, with the reward system being the most well known. In a sense, it what tells our monkey brain “u did a gud job hunting that mammoth” and lets us feel accomplished. It drives many of the things we do. However, doing something you enjoy too often, i.e. watching YouTube in one hand with Ben and Jerry’s in the other, sort of burns out your dopamine receptors. A neurologist or psychiatrist would probably be able to explain it better than me, but essentially, too much of anything is bad. Bhumija Sharma, Pradeep Kumar and Preeti Sharma write in their article SmartphoneIs It: “Behavior Addiction or Substance Use Disorder”: A Review to Find Chemistry Behind about how addictions can still be addictions without chemicals, so to speak. They noted things such as those with a higher Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale score were more likely to use their phones while driving, for example. In general, excessive phone use can burn us out.

 

Social Media and its Problems

                Social media is huge, and the majority of the time, it’s accessed on our phones. In my age group, EVERYONE has some form of social media, whether it’s Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Discord, Reddit, take your pick. It serves a variety of purposes, from seeing what your friends are up to, or finding funny memes to share. However, social media can certainly fill your mind with negativity. There’s a new concept called “doomscrolling” in which someone seeks out and consumes negative news. I’ve been on Instagram before looking at funny things and suddenly I’m finding all sorts of sad things about how the climate is collapsing and homelessness is on the rise. In addition, there’s also how social media distorts reality. Have you ever looked at someone’s page and thought to yourself, “wow, my life is incredibly boring compared to theirs?” Many women have also had body dysmorphia due to exposure to social media. Lastly, misinformation is rife on many platforms. From COVID denialism to Holocaust denialism, I’ve seen it all on social media. A ton of phony information, intentional or not, can be found and that obviously has an adverse impact on our society. It’s even a primary recruiting tool for terrorism. Some notorious criminals had been introduced to their ideas through social media. In Jacob Amedie’s article The Impact of Social Media on Society he concludes that “despite the positive benefit of rapid information sharing, social media enables people to create false identities and superficial connections, causes depression and is a primary recruiting tool of criminals and terrorists.” But what would our phones be without social media?

 

Impact on Communication Skills

 

First and foremost, phones serve the purpose to communicate- whether it’s making plans with friends or calling 911 when the boogeyman shows up at your front door. However, there’s the well-known problem of how phones may distort or social skills or alter our priorities. Many people who are social media shutterbugs may feel more disconnected from others when using social media for a variety of reasons. One reason is the whole “they left me on read, they must not care.” Instant gratification is going to be a double-edged sword- there could be a million reasons someone left you on read or didn’t open their message. Maybe they’re legitimately busy. Maybe they just didn’t know what to say. Then, on the other hand, have you ever been out getting lunch with a friend, and they just use their phone for a decent amount of the time? How Smartphones Are Killing Conversation is an interesting article that delves into how phones are impacting our face to face social skills. It points out interesting unsaid rules we’ve developed about smartphone usage such as  the “three-person rule— that three people have to have their heads up before anyone feels it’s safe to put their head down to text.” In short, constant smartphone availability has had a perceivable impact on in person social dynamics, often for the worse.

 

A Potential Solution

                I’m not writing this page from a holier-than-thou perspective- I am %100 addicted to my phone. I don’t think there is a super easy solution here. Many other addictions have clear cut ways of addressing. Nicotine? Quit, it’ll suck for a few days and you’ll miss the sensation. But phones are everywhere in our lives and have filled in so many niches. You basically need one to effectively be a part of society these days. A solution I’m trying is to live more in the moment. I’m tired, but not tired enough to sleep? I’ll turn on the lamp and try to read a book. I’m out at lunch with a friend and there’s some awkward silence? I’ll start a goofy conversation like “what was the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?” Some people have taken it so far as to buy flip phones for the bare minimum functionality of a cell phone without all the bells and whistles that can make it addictive. One last interesting article I found is called 7 Reasons to Break Your Smartphone Addiction. It states that quitting excessive smartphone use can lead to less anxiety and stress, more mental clarity, deeper connections with others, more mindfulness, more gratitude, and a healthier body. These go in line with the many points I talked about here, so if you end up deciding it’s time to make a change, keep these reasons in mind for good motivation.