Phone Addiction: Fact or Fable?

Fact.

Just can’t seem to quit scrolling? Mom and Dad constantly griping about how much you’re on your phone? You’re not alone. Phone addiction is real, and it’s time we have an honest conversation about it.

Study after study is being released regarding the harmful affects our phone usage can have if we’re not careful. 

So what’s the core of the problem? A cell phone isn’t bad in itself – it can be a great tool for education, communication, and even entertainment! But if the phone isn’t the problem, all we’re left with is . . . the user?

Well, sort of. Yes, in that phone usage is completely dependent upon the user. In other words, how much you choose to use your phone is entirely your choice (unless you have amazing parents who place limits on your screen time!). However, social media innovators are working around the clock to find ways to keep you on your phone longer, ultimately compromising your free will.

Compromising my free will? Sounds a bit extreme, no? It might, but this is much more serious than our world likes to think! Yes, we’re talking about legitimate addiction here.

Merriam Webster defines addiction as “a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects.” That’s a mouthful, but put simply, phone addiction might look like constantly checking your phone, spending hours a day on it, or feeling the need to have it with you at all times.

Now let’s take a second and step into the shoes of the innovators behind our phones, apps, and social media platforms. This is their product; their livelihood. Their success directly correlates with our phone usage. In other words, their goal is to get their customers to use their phones, apps, platforms, and products, as much as possible! To check our phones constantly, spend hours a day on it, and feel the need to have it with us at all times. Sound familiar?

It’s a tough pill to swallow, but the sobering truth is that most of these innovators are more concerned about their success than with our well-being. If we are addicted to our phones, their business is thriving!

Let’s dig a little deeper. How do they go about trying to addict us? If we know the creators’ tactics, we can be on guard against their ploys to keep us hooked! To start off, we need to get acquainted with our little friend called dopamine. Dopamine is frequently referred to as the “feel good hormone,” and is released as a sort of reward when we do something positive. Ace a test, score a goal, nail a solo . . . stuff like that. When dopamine is released, we feel good, and we therefore want to repeat that action! It’s a neat way in which our body motivates us to do good things.

This is powerful! Imagine how powerful it would be if this dopamine could be released when we are using our phones! Well, no surprise here, that’s exactly what is happening. Another like. A new follow request. A comment here. A notification there. Man, that’s a good feeling, and it’s all thanks to dopamine! 

However, it is precisely this dopamine – a good thing twisted and turned against us – that causes phone addiction. Yet rather than addiction to the perceived ‘goods’ themselves (i.e. likes, follows, level-ups, notifications, etc.), our brains start to release dopamine in response to the mere pursuit of them. Just keep scrolling, the NEXT post might be hilarious, a can’t-miss life update, or perhaps change your outlook on the world! Oh, and if you post THAT picture, you could get even more likes than last time! Maybe you should try commenting on HIS photo, that might get him to follow you! And on it goes. 

We become addicted to the pursuit of what might make us happy, rather than happiness itself. This explains the emptiness that so often accompanies hours of phone-binging.

And that’s not all. As our screen time adds up, our ability to concentrate drops. Scrolling through post after post and switching from app to app actually trains our brain to desire constant novelty, in turn inhibiting our ability to focus. Whether it’s working on a project, reading a novel, or simply maintaining an in-person conversation, phone addiction has been proven to decrease our ability to be fully present. And with loss of focus comes a proven loss of productivity. Yikes.

By this point, there’s a huge chance you’ve built up a tolerance, meaning you need to use your phone more and more (and MORE) to keep getting that same dopamine hit. All of a sudden, you’re entrenched in addiction, maybe without even knowing it! But don’t worry, there IS a way to return to virtuous phone-usage. So let’s talk practicals, shall we?

1. Monitor your screen time. Set a daily goal, and strive to drop that number by 15-30 minutes a day. Set a long-term goal, too. In a perfect world, how much of your life do you want to spend on your phone each day? One to three hours could be a good goal. The key is to keep dropping the number little by little, day by day!
2. Set time-limits on apps. Your screen time will tell you which apps you use the most – these are the apps to start with! For example, limit yourself to just 15 minutes a day on Instagram, 10 on Snapchat, and as for TikTok . . . do you really need to waste your time on TikTok? (Bottom line: know yourself and challenge yourself!”)
3. Social distance. Don’t have your phone near you when working on homework or projects, when spending time with family or friends, or when you go to bed. These can be tempting times to pull out your phone, so simply remove the temptation! And I don’t mean put it on silent and put the screen face-down. I mean put it in an entirely different room. Out of sight out of mind! Buy a watch or alarm clock if you need to.
4. Take a break. Every once in a while (I recommend at least once a month), take a phone-cation. Don’t use it for an entire day, or even a full weekend. This will test your relationship with your phone – who is really in control? It can also be a kind of “reset” button to ground yourself in the real world and get yourself back on the right track.
5. Stick to it. This isn’t going to be easy! Like any addiction, withdrawal is to be expected. Your brain will try to make every excuse to throw in the towel and go back to your old ways. It’s not that big of a deal. Just a few minutes! Don’t listen. Virtue is just around the corner!

Our world is desperately in need of modern-day Saints! Those who can remind the world what life is all about; that in the end, life isn’t about this world. Our phones can either be a valuable tool on our path to sanctity, or a stumbling block. Which will it be? It is quite literally in your hands.