Smartphones are an integral part of most people’s lives, allowing us to stay connected and updated at all times. The downside of that convenience is that many of us are also addicted to the constant alerts from our devices, unable to ignore new messages and images.
A new study, published in the journal ‘NeuroRegulation’, tells us why this is happening and what we must do about it. Researchers from San Francisco State University, Professor of Health Education Erik Peper and Associate Professor of Health Education Richard Harvey, have observed that overuse of smart phones is just like any other type of substance abuse.
“The behavioural addiction of smartphone use begins forming neurological connections in the brain in ways similar to how opioid addiction is experienced by people taking Oxycontin for pain relief – gradually,” explains Peper.
What’s more, addiction to social media technology may actually have a negative effect on social connection. In a survey of 135 San Francisco State students, Peper and Harvey found that students who used their phones the most reported higher levels of feeling isolated, lonely, depressed and anxious. The researchers believe the loneliness is partly a consequence of replacing face-to-face interaction with a form of communication where body language and other signals cannot be interpreted. They also found that those same students almost constantly multitasked while studying, watching other media, eating or attending class. This constant activity allows little time for bodies and minds to relax and regenerate, and also results in ‘semi-tasking’, where people do two or more tasks at the same time – but half as well as they would have if focused on one task at a time.
But digital addiction is not our fault. It’s a result of the tech industry’s desire to increase corporate profits. “More eyeballs, more clicks, more money,” says Peper. Push notifications, vibrations and other alerts on our phones and computers make us feel compelled to look at them by triggering the same neural pathways in our brains that once alerted us to imminent danger, such as an attack by a tiger or other large predator. “But now we are hijacked by those same mechanisms that once protected us and allowed us to survive – for the most trivial pieces of information,” he adds.
But just as we can train ourselves to eat less sugar, for example, we can take charge and train ourselves to be less addicted to our phones and computers. The first step is recognising that tech companies are manipulating our innate biological responses to danger. The researchers suggest turning off push notifications, only responding to email and social media at specific times and scheduling periods with no interruptions to focus on important tasks. You could also stop using headphones while out walking and be more aware of your surroundings. When out with friends, make a pact to put your phones in the centre of the table, and the first one to touch theirs picks up the tab for all!