I've been in plenty of situations where everyone is shifting uncomfortably in their seats, waiting for the perfect opportunity to pull out their phones to text someone, Snapchat, or check other social media. This should sound familiar to you, as an observer and/or someone guilty of this habit. It happens all around us. Our phones are our lifelines.
Maybe it is the psychology major inside of me, but it occurred to me that technology and internet over-usage is not actually a DSM-5 recognized disorder. What that means it isn't clinically recognized as a mental issue by health professionals and researchers.
When I found this out, my mind was blown. Our society is consumed by technology use whether it is video gaming, text messaging, email/IMing, v/blogging, television, or sexual preoccupations. While there are many useful aspects of technology, the hours we spend using it are detrimental if we are reducing other daily activities to do so.
When I go out, my friends and I put our phones away in order to focus on each other, and if you think about it, that's kind of sad. I have a cousin who just turned three, and I witnessed him trying to swipe his finger across a magazine to move to the next page. It is insane how involved everyone is with the latest technology.
Unfortunately, recent studies have shown that the same area of the brain that lights up for substance addiction also lights up for internet addiction, which potentially makes internet usage fall on the same scale as drug and alcohol use. Isn't that concerning?
Our phones are ideally important for purposes of contact and constant communication, but maybe not necessary to check every five minutes of our lives. Carpel tunnel and withdrawal are real consequences of overuse and should be taken seriously. We only get to live our lives once, so next time you reach out for that remote or phone, ask yourself if you really need to or if there something else you could be doing.