Digital Addiction Increases Loneliness and Depression
Smartphones are an integral part of most people's lives, allowing us to stay connected and in-the-know at all times. The downside of that convenience is that many of us are also addicted to the constant pings, chimes, vibrations and other alerts from our devices, unable to ignore new emails, texts and images.
Study: published in NeuroRegulation, San Francisco State University
By: Professor of Health Education Erik Peper and Associate Professor of Health Education Richard Harvey
They argue that the overuse of smartphones 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," Peper explained.
In addition to this, addiction to social media technology may actually have a negative effect on social connection. Of 135 students in San Francisco that were surveyed, Peper and Harvey found that students who used their phones the most reported higher levels of feeling isolated, lonely, depressed and anxious. They 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. The survey also found that the students continuously multitasked while studying, watching other media, eating or attending class. This constant activity allows little time for bodies and minds to relax and regenerate, says Peper, 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.
Digital Addiction
Digital addiction is not necessarily our fault but a result of the tech industry's desire to increase corporate profits. "More eyeballs, more clicks, more money," said Peper. Notifications and 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," Peper said.
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 recognizing that tech companies are manipulating our innate biological responses to danger. Peper suggests 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.