By Don Valentine
Put your phone down for a second and pay attention to your surroundings one day. You will notice an amazing mass of people on their phone in a grocery store, fast food restaurant or gas station hooked like an Opiod addict to their phone.
In a recent Forbes they starkly commented Alice Walton “Interestingly, phone addiction and social media addiction are closely intertwined, especially for younger people, who probably aren’t playing chess on their phones or even talking on them—they’re on social media. And according to a growing number of studies, it’s looking more and more like this pastime is addictive. Even more concerning is the fact that this addiction is linked to some serious mental health risks.”
Take a look at your own lifestyle. Do you spend more time on the phone than interacting in face to face conversation? Dr. David Greenfield, an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, said in the Business Insider “an attachment to your smartphone is similar to other addictions in that it involves a dysregulation of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that regulates the brain’s reward center, meaning that it motivates people to do things they think they will be rewarded for doing.”
“Every time you get a notification from your phone, there’s a little elevation in dopamine that says you might have something that’s compelling, whether that’s a text message from someone you like, an email, or anything,” Greenfield said to Business Insider.”
