Can’t Put the Phone Down? Smartphone Addiction Could be Changing Your Brain

Mehak Mehmi, Reporter|April 24, 2019

What are the effects of smartphones on the brain? Given the definition of smartphones today, it is a question of interest. For healthcare practitioners, mental health professionals, educators, parents, and anyone who happens to use a smartphone on a regular basis.

Research

Researchers who have asked participants to go without their phones for various periods of time have found that breaking the technology habit. Even for a relatively short time, can be extremely difficult. Walk into any public venue and you will probably find people using their phones for a diversity of purposes. From conducting business calls to checking their email to updating their Twitter. Our phones have become a complicated part of our lives.

Data

50% of teens feel they are addicted to their mobile devices.

69% of parents and 78% of teens check their devices at least hourly.

72% of teens feel the need to immediately respond to texts, social networking messages, and other notifications.

The majority of parents (66%) feel their teens spend too much time on their mobile devices.

36% of parents feel they argue with their child on a daily basis about device use.

54% of children felt that their parents checked their devices too often.

The majority of parents (52%) very often or occasionally try to cut down the amount of time they spend on devices.

Effects

The fear of not being able to use your cell phone or other smart devices. Cell phone addiction is on the rise. New research suggests that some of us are relying on our phones instead of our brains—and it isn’t good. Smartphones can make us physically lazy. People who generally go with their guts when making decisions are more prone to rely on their phones’ search engines than their own brain power. Logical thinkers who naturally leaned toward more logical thinking, however, used their phones to search for answers less often than natural thinkers.