Digital addiction, whether with respect to a mobile phone, tablet or other electronic device, creates the same brain connections as opiates, also generating loneliness, isolation and depression, concludes a study carried out by scientists from San Francisco State University ( USA) and collected by the journal NeuroRegulation.
Smartphones are a key part of most people’s lives, allowing us to stay connected and informed at all times. The downside is that many of us are also addicted to the sounds, vibrations and other alerts of our devices, unable to ignore new emails, texts and images.
Now, new research led by Erik Peper and Richard Harvey reveals that excessive use of smartphones is similar to any other type of substance abuse .
“The addiction to the behavior of the use of smartphones begins to form neurological connections in the brain in a similar way to how people who take oxycodone for pain relief, for example,” Peper explained.
On top of that, social media addiction can have a negative effect on social connection. In a survey of 135 students from the state of San Francisco, Peper and Harvey found that students who used their phones more frequently reported higher levels of isolation, loneliness and anxiety.
They believe loneliness is partly a consequence of replacing face-to-face interaction with a form of communication where body language and other cues cannot be interpreted. They also found that those same students multitasked almost constantly while studying, watching other media, eating, or attending classes. This constant activity leaves little time for bodies and minds to relax and regenerate, and it also leads to “semi-tasks”, that is, when we start doing two or more tasks at the same time, but it actually spreads half than it should be compared to concentrating on one task at a time.
Experts warn that digital addiction is not our fault, but the tech industry’s desire to increase corporate profits. “More eyes, more clicks, more money,” says Peper. Push notifications, vibrations, and other alerts on our phones and computers make us feel compelled to look at them by activating the same neural pathways in our brains that once alerted us to impending danger, such as an attack from a tiger or other large predator. “But now we are kidnapped by those same mechanisms that once protected us and allowed us to survive, by the most trivial information ,” he clarifies.
Not everything is negative. In the same way that we can train ourselves to eat less sugar, for example, we can also take charge and train to be less addicted to our devices.
Change the pattern of technology use
The first step is to recognize that tech companies are manipulating our innate biological responses to danger. Ideally, turn off push notifications , only reply to email and social media at specific times to focus on important tasks.
One of Peper’s students claims that when he goes out with friends, they all put their phones in the center of the table, and whoever touches them first pays for drinks. “We have to be creative and approach technology in a different way that still incorporates the skills we need but does not take us away from the real life experience,” says Hinkle.
Reference: Digital Addiction: Increased Loneliness, Anxiety, and Depression. Erik Peper and Richard Harvey. NeuroRegulation, Vol 5, No 1 (2018). DOI: 10.15540 / nr.5.1.3
