I’ve always wanted to try and live “tech free,” that was, until I was forced to. As I stood in shock staring at my shattered phone screen, I try tapping and swiping but half of the screen will just not work. Even though the only thing broken was a rectangular object I held in my hand, I felt like my life was ruined.
When was the last time you didn’t scroll through your phone right before bed? Or right when you woke up? Nowadays phones are a habit and always in our hands for a source of comfort. In today’s society, there seems to be an endless cycle of liking, scrolling, and posting. Repeat. But constant phone usage for teens come with mental symptoms and side effects.
About 90% of the world population uses mobile phones and the time spent on them keeps increasing according to brookhaven.com. Collectively, people in the world check their smartphones eight billion times a day. Knowing that teens with developing brains are a part of that number, it can seem dangerous. Smartphones have an addictive quality that can lead to anxiety and mood disorders. Using a smartphone excessively in daily life can often cause irritability and uneasiness if it is not with you.
”There are a lot of problems with sleep disruption due to the use of phones before bed and during the night. Sleep problems only increase the symptoms of anxiety and depression,” said Dr. Miller from Pediatric associates in Coralville. Constant use of a phone creates anxiety when the phone is not with you, and installs a fear of missing out on something.
¨Most of the time I'm on my phone on social media like Snapchat and Instagram. Those are the main forms of communication I use,¨ weighed in CCA student, Marcus Emmel (’19). Teens have discovered phones to be the prominent source of communication between people, hindering contact in real life.
According to time.com, teens who used their phones for five or more hours a day, 48% had a suicide related outcome. Collective research explained that teens who used social media daily were 13% more likely to have high levels of depressive symptoms.
Although technology has created great achievements and has many perks, spending too much time glued to the screen can be very harmful to a teen´s mental health. Next time you go straight to scrolling, think if it's worth the effects.
