Buzzzzzz! Your phone vibrates on the end of your desk and you immediately pick it up to check the notification. It’s a reel from your friend on Instagram, a funny cat video. You smile softly, give it a like and lean back on your chair, starting yet another session of endless scrolling.
In this digital age, smartphones have become an integral part of our lives. The number of smartphones globally is expected to reach 7.1 billion by 2024, highlighting their widespread use and influence.
According to a study conducted by Psychology Today, 94% of participants felt troubled or bored when they didn’t have their phone with them. About 70% said they felt depressed, panicked and helpless when their phone was lost or misplaced. It is evident that many of us have become deeply intertwined with our digital lives, to the point where we sometimes imagine our phones vibrating in our pockets, even when they’re not there.
When you got your first smartphone, you were probably really excited and did things that made you feel good. Think: calling and texting your friends, playing online games, watching funny memes on Instagram. These activities all cause dopamine to be released.
What’s dopamine? Also known as the ‘feel good’ or ‘happy’ hormone, dopamine is a neurotransmitter that’s an important part of your brain’s reward system, giving you feelings of pleasure and motivation. It’s associated with memory, learning, mood and many other body functions.
Our brains are designed to release dopamine when we do things we need to do to survive, like taking a bite of delicious food, after a workout, or when we have successful social interactions. This reward system motivates us to repeat them.
Each time you do something that prompts a release of dopamine, your brain starts to notice it as a pattern. Soon enough, your brain begins to associate ‘smartphone’ with dopamine. And since your brain naturally craves easy hits of dopamine, it starts to crave your phone. This is what keeps us checking our phones all the time.
Because most social media platforms are free, they rely on income from advertisers to make a profit. In other words, these apps are designed to grab your attention by taking advantage of the dopamine reward system.
When we believe that a reward is to be given at random and that there is little cost involved in checking for it, we will likely check it frequently. If you pay attention, you may find yourself reaching for your phone every time you feel bored, purely out of habit. Programmers work very hard behind the screens to keep you doing just that.
Being addicted to smartphones may seem like a trivial problem compared to other addictions like using drugs or overconsumption of alcohol. However, researchers are finding that smartphone addiction has a more significant impact than we know. Even though these pocket-sized devices are merged into all aspects of our lives, we should not neglect the way our phones impact our health.
Some of these effects include higher depression rates, suicide risks, poor attention spans, productivity decrease, neck pain and sleep issues. These issues are particularly alarming among young adults and teenagers, who are major consumers of social media content.
However, at an appropriate amount, smartphones and social media can have positive effects, including the increased identity formation, opportunities, and access to information and entertainment.
In today’s world, smartphones and social media platforms aren’t going away anytime soon, so it’s up to us to decide how much time we want to spend on them. Doing things like disabling notifications, keeping your display in black and white, and limiting screen time can help to reduce your phone’s grab on you. So the next time you have the urge to check your phone, ask yourself, “Is this really worth my time?”.
References
- Cleveland Clinic. (2022, March 23). Dopamine. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22581-dopamine
- GGTU. (n.d.). Youth, Smartphones and Social Media Use. Gambling, Gaming and Technology Use (GGTU). https://kmb.camh.ca/ggtu/knowledge-translation/youth-smartphones-and-social-media-use
- Haynes, T. (2018, May 1). Dopamine, smartphones & you: A battle for your time. Science in the News; Harvard University. https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/dopamine-smartphones-battle-time/
- Taylor, I. (2024, February 4). How to finally break free from your smartphone addiction. BBC Science Focus Magazine. https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/dopamine-fasting-smartphone-addiction
- Team Lemonade. (n.d.). Why You Can’t Stop Looking at Your Phone. Lemonade Blog. https://www.lemonade.com/blog/psychology-behind-phone-addiction/
- University Urgent Care. (2021, September 29). Why are we addicted to our phones? University Urgent Care. https://universityurgent.care/why-are-we-addicted-to-our-phones/
