I recommend reading the article Fearing I was addicted, I quit my smartphone for two weeks to see if I’d have a better life by Samantha Edwards in the Globe and Mail.
Some highlights that have valuable info:
Early in the summer, the author started worrying about her relationship with her cellphone. In the 12 or so years she had used a smartphone, she had become dependent on it in ways that felt unhealthy.
The author describes her use of the phone over time. In a regular week, she spent the equivalent of a part-time job staring at her phone, clocking between three and five hours a day of screen time.
According to Statistics Canada, which puts the Canadian average at 3-5 hours a day of screen time, the author says that she’s a pretty typical smartphone user. US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has said social media platforms should have warning labels, like cigarettes. Tech startups and traditional phone manufacturers are releasing “Dumbphones.”
The re-evaluation of the author’s use arrived against a backdrop of increasing backlash to smartphones and their addictive appendage, social media.
Why smartphones are being banned in the classroom is described. There is increased anxiety and depression as well as suicide ideation linked to social media. The question is do the machines need to be part of peoples’ lives? As the result of an experience, the author compares the smartphone to a map on a journey.
A study from the University of Toronto Mississauga did a survey of 423 participants aged 18 to 90 across 195 countries. The findings from one-third of the people from around the world are shown.
The Smartphone Addiction Scale, first created in 2013, describes questions asked.
Although there’s debate over whether phone overuse should officially be recognized as an addiction, it’s not included in the American Psychiatric Association’s official manual of mental disorders …. The reason it should be is related to other over used addictions.
Expert Jay Olson, the lead author of the Toronto study, says that although this type of use is more habitual it may not be so bad as the word “addiction” implies. Results from experiments are described including some studies that have shown group chats are associated with greater happiness and well-being among families and friends.
