Why your phone is making you sad
Summary
TLDRThis video delves into the science behind our phone addiction, explaining how smartphones trigger dopamine release, leading to compulsive behavior and potential mental health issues like depression and anxiety. It explores the impact of constant digital stimulation on our attention spans and offers three evidence-based strategies to curb phone usage: chronological binding, physical binding, and categorical binding, emphasizing the importance of self-regulation in our tech-driven lives.
Takeaways
- 📱 Smartphones have drastically increased in use, with 91% of adults accessing the internet from their phones, compared to just 20% 15 years ago.
- 🕒 The average adult now spends 11 hours per day interacting with media, with a significant portion of this time on their phones.
- 🔒 71% of people never turn off their phones, indicating a high level of dependency on these devices.
- 🤳 31% of individuals admit to not being able to control their phone use, suggesting a compulsive behavior pattern.
- 👨👧 Parents are not immune to this trend, with 17.3% spending more time on their phones than with their children.
- 🧠 Our brains are not adapted to handle the constant stimulation from devices, which can lead to negative psychological effects.
- 💊 Dopamine, the 'feel-good' neurotransmitter, plays a crucial role in motivation and reward, and smartphones can artificially stimulate its release.
- 📊 High dopamine release from activities like eating chocolate or sex can be mimicked by the instant gratification provided by smartphones.
- 🔄 The constant dopamine hits from phones can lead to a decrease in the excitement of everyday life and an increase in malaise or depression.
- 📉 Studies have shown that increased phone use is linked to a decrease in attention spans and an inability to delay gratification.
- 🚫 The addictive nature of phones is being recognized, with questions about cravings, mood impact, tolerance, withdrawal, and relapse indicating potential phone addiction.
- 🛠️ There are strategies to combat phone addiction, such as chronological binding, physical binding, and categorical binding, which aim to rewire our brains and regain control over phone use.
Q & A
What was the percentage of people accessing the internet from their phone 15 years ago?
-Fifteen years ago, only 20 percent of people accessed the internet from their phone.
What percentage of adults now access the internet from their phone?
-Now, it's up to 91 percent of adults who access the internet from their phone.
How many hours per day do adults spend interacting with media?
-Adults spend 11 hours per day interacting with media.
What percentage of people never turn off their phone?
-71 percent of people never turn off their phone.
What percentage of people admit to not being able to control their phone use?
-31 percent of people admit to not being able to control their phone use.
What percentage of parents spend more time on their phone than with their children?
-17.3 percent of parents spend more time on their phone than with their children.
What is the role of dopamine in motivation and addiction?
-Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a major role in motivating behavior and is involved in the reward system of the brain, which can lead to addiction when constantly stimulated, as with smartphone use.
How does smartphone use affect dopamine pathways in the brain?
-Smartphone use strengthens the mesocortical, mesolimbic, and nigrostriatal pathways in the brain through a process called long-term potentiation, as these pathways are activated when anticipating and experiencing rewards.
What impact does constant dopamine release from smartphone use have on our daily life?
-Constant dopamine release from smartphone use can make the novel aspects of our daily life less exciting and lead to a state of malaise, depression, and decreased attention spans.
How does the pursuit of constant pleasure from smartphone use affect our ability to delay gratification?
-The pursuit of constant pleasure can lead to anhedonia, the inability to feel pleasure of any kind, and make it harder for us to focus and delay gratification.
What are the potential negative effects of high levels of screen interaction on young people?
-Young people who spend seven hours or more a day interacting with screens are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety than those who use screens more moderately.
What are the three main tips to decrease phone use and gain back control of your life?
-The three main tips are chronological binding (restricting phone use to narrow units of time), physical binding (making it harder to access certain apps or the phone itself), and categorical binding (making the phone less stimulating and meaningful).
How can the concept of neuroplasticity be applied to decrease phone addiction?
-Neuroplasticity allows us to rewire our brains; by applying the tips mentioned, we can change our brain pathways and reduce phone addiction.
What are some physical binding techniques mentioned to reduce phone use?
-Some physical binding techniques include logging out of trigger apps and giving your password to a friend, turning off the phone at night and placing it in a drawer, and having deviceless meals with family or roommates.
How can categorical binding help in reducing phone use?
-Categorical binding involves making the phone less appealing by using it only for essential tasks like texting and emails, putting it on grayscale mode, and deleting unnecessary or time-wasting apps.
What is the potential impact of smartphone use on our bodies according to the script?
-The script suggests that smartphone use could be causing physical changes such as hunching and nearsightedness.
Outlines
📱 Smartphone Addiction and Its Impact on the Brain
This paragraph discusses the alarming increase in smartphone usage and its effects on the human brain. It highlights how the constant engagement with phones releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward, which can lead to addiction. The overuse of smartphones is linked to boredom, sadness, and an inability to focus, as well as a decrease in attention spans and an increased likelihood of mental health issues like depression and anxiety. The paragraph also explains the science behind why our brains are not evolved to handle the constant stimulation from devices and how this can result in a compulsive need to check phones, even at the expense of personal relationships and well-being.
🔒 Strategies to Combat Phone Addiction
The second paragraph delves into the signs of phone addiction, such as cravings, mood swings related to phone use, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, and relapse behaviors. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing these signs to understand the depth of one's phone dependency. The paragraph then offers three evidence-based tips to reduce phone usage: chronological binding, which involves restricting phone use to specific time units; physical binding, where one limits access to certain apps or the phone itself through physical means; and categorical binding, which suggests making the phone less appealing or meaningful by using it only for essential tasks. The summary underscores the need for a collective effort to manage phone usage and the potential for individual strategies to vary based on personal experiences and effectiveness.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Internet Access
💡Media Interaction
💡Dopamine
💡Long-term Potentiation
💡Neurotransmitter
💡Addiction
💡Neuroplasticity
💡Social Media
💡Anhedonia
💡Cortisol
💡Chronological Binding
💡Physical Binding
💡Categorical Binding
Highlights
15 years ago, only 20% of people accessed the internet from their phones, now it's up to 91%.
Adults spend 11 hours per day interacting with media.
71% of people never turn off their phone.
31% of people admit to not being able to control their phone use.
17.3% of parents spend more time on their phone than with their children.
The science behind our compulsive addiction to phones is concerning.
Dopamine plays a major role in motivation and reward in the brain.
Smartphones provide an unlimited supply of dopamine and stimuli.
Constant dopamine hits from phones can make daily life less exciting.
Phones are decreasing our attention spans and ability to delay gratification.
High screen time is linked to depression, anxiety, and reduced well-being.
Phones are associated with anxiety and a negative impact on face-to-face communication.
Increased social media use is linked to social comparison and fear of missing out.
Apps are designed to provide dopamine hits, creating compulsive checking behavior.
Dopamine measures are used to assess the addictive potential of substances, including phones.
Addiction is defined as the continued consumption of a substance or behavior despite harm.
Five key questions to determine if you are addicted to your phone.
Neuroplasticity allows us to rewire our brains to change phone use habits.
Top three scientifically backed tips to decrease phone use and regain control.
Chronological binding can help avoid compulsive phone consumption.
Physical binding techniques can limit access to trigger apps.
Categorical binding involves making the phone less stimulating and meaningful.
The need for self-regulation in phone use due to the lack of external controls.
Transcripts
just 15 years ago only 20 percent of
people access the internet from their
phone now it's up to 91 percent adults
spend 11 hours per day interacting with
media 71 of people never turn off their
phone 31 of people admit to not being
able to control their phone use and 17.3
percent of parents spend more time on
their phone than with their children our
brains have not evolved to deal with
these devices the science behind why we
are also compulsively addicted to our
phones is freaking scary so today first
up we're going to explain the new
research about how your phone is
changing your brain why it's making you
more bored sad unable to focus and why
you can't go anywhere without it then
we'll try to figure out if you are
actually addicted to your phone
clinically and at the end of the episode
go over the top three best research back
tips to decrease phone use and gain back
control of your life first up what your
phone's doing to your brain we've all
heard of the neurotransmitter dopamine
as that feel good reward chemical in
your brain but it also plays a major
role in motivating Behavior genetically
engineered mice unable to make dopamine
will not even seek out food and starve
to death when the food is placed just
inches from their mouths dopamine is
therefore important in our motivation to
do evolutionarily beneficial behaviors
like have sex eat food or have good
social interactions with people also to
be clear High dopamine substances don't
actually have dopamine in them but they
trigger the release of dopamine in your
brain chocolate for example increases
the basal dopamine of a rat in a box by
55 and sex by 100 and there are three
main Pathways in your brain that involve
the neurotransmitter dopamine they're
called the mesocortical mesolimbic
nigrostriato pathways these become
activated when anticipating and
experiencing rewards and the thing is
that every time you get a notification
laugh at a funny Tick Tock video or get
a follower on Instagram these neuronal
processes in your brain become stronger
through a process called long-term
potentiation smartphones give us an
unlimited supply of dopamine and stimuli
to be specific Pathways in our brain
therefore these Pathways in our brain
are getting stronger we now watch
hundreds of pieces of content on Tick
Tock in a few minutes you scroll through
Twitter seeing memes images jokes at
record speed or you interact with large
group of friends in group chats or on
Instagram DMS all of those things are
releasing dopamine in those brain
Pathways making them stronger and you're
getting these feelings without ever
having to like leave the house all you
have to do is be on your phone to get
that neurological impact and it has been
found that this could be leading to a
sad malaise and depression with life
rats in a diverse novel stimulating
environment have a proliferation of
dopamine release compared to those who
are in their same old lab cage but if
those same rats are pre-treated with a
dopamine stimulant before entering this
enriched novel environment they fail to
show the synaptic changes that happens
with the novel stimulating environment
because we're having constant dopamine
hits from our phone the novel aspects of
our day-to-day life become less exciting
on top of it new studies have found that
these phones are decreasing our
attention spans making it harder for us
to focus and harder for us to delay
gratification known as delay discounting
people who use their phones more are
more likely to think that the value of a
reward goes down the longer you have to
wait for it the pursuit of constant
pleasure can lead to anhedonia the
inability to feel pleasure of any kind a
study from two years ago found that
young people who spend seven hours or
more a day interacting with their
screens are twice as likely to be
diagnosed with depression or anxiety
than those who use screens more
moderately a 2018 study found that
students who trimmed their use of social
media to 30 minutes a day had
significant improvements in well-being
cell phone use is positively associated
with anxiety and results in negative
association with willingness to engage
in face-to-face communication teens who
spend five hours daily on their mobile
devices are 71 percent more likely to
develop risk factors for suicide
compared to those who only use their
devices for an hour increased Tick-Tock
use has been linked to increased upward
social comparison which is comparing
yourself off to others online who seem
to have better lives than you or a fear
of missing out this can make you want to
check your phone even more as the
short-term addictive dopamine driven
hits create feedback loops that make you
compulsively check for notifications
more and these apps are designed to give
you that dopamine hit so you
compulsively check for them you might
notice that every time you go on
Instagram or Tick Tock there's a new
like notification they'll hold those
likes back so that every time you go on
they show you that someone has
interacted with your page now let's find
out if you are in fact addicted to your
phone researchers use dopamine as a
measure for how addictive a substance
can be and since we now know that your
phone is constantly giving you dopamine
hits this is why researchers and
clinicians are worried about the
addictive potential of your phone
addiction broadly defined as the
continued and compulsive consumption of
a substance or behavior despite its harm
to yourself or others and these next
five questions are important to
understand if you are in fact addicted
to your phone number one do you have
cravings do you want to look at your
phone at the expense of other Act
activities such as talking to your
partner talking to your kids talking to
a barista working out or interacting
with friends salience does your phone
impact your mood are you happier when
you get lots of likes are you sad or
angry if you get less likes on a post
does a picture of someone else trigger
your mood to change for the worse this
is a serious concern because this means
that your phone can be controlling your
life I notice that this can happen to me
I post and I'm looking to see how many
likes it gets I see a photo of someone
else having a really good time and maybe
I'm having a bad day and it makes me
feel worse I'm like okay so I guess I
might be addicted to my tolerance do you
need to spend increasing amounts of time
on your phone this isn't your fault if
this is true because this can happen
because of the neural adaptation of the
dopamine systems in your brain it means
that you need more phone checking more
new apps in order to get the same amount
of pleasure you might have needed before
withdrawal do you feel angry or maybe
you can't focus or you're uneasy when
you don't have access to or are on your
phone this also isn't your your fault
because if you are used to checking your
phone numerous Studies have found that
putting down your phone can trigger the
release of cortisol this hormone can
make you feel stressed therefore to get
rid of this anxious feeling that the
cortisol is giving you you pick up your
phone to see if anything has happened or
changed putting down the phone doesn't
shut off your brain our phone addiction
doesn't stop when we put down our phone
in some cases it can make us more aware
of it and finally relapse do you try to
decrease your phone use and find that
you can't I also relate to this one I
have tried so many different ways to
decrease my phone use and it feels like
I always end up back where I started if
you think that this could be you in any
way you are not alone 78 of people in a
recent poll said they could not live
without their phone but we can change
this our brains have neuroplasticity we
can rewire our brains so these are the
top three scientific backed tips to try
and decrease your phone use to start
there is a lot of varied research about
how long it takes to change these brain
Pathways in your brain some people say a
month some people say three months some
studies say two years so this is a long
process and since we can't fully have
abstinence from our phones it's how we
talk to our family to our kids these
tips are rooted in the fact that you
will have to continue to use your phone
chronological binding rats given
unlimited access to cocaine gradually
increase lever pressing for more cocaine
over time to the point of physical
exhaustion and even death rats who have
access to cocaine for only one hour per
day use steady amounts over time and
don't press the lever for more cocaine
per unit time restricting phone use to
narrow units of time one hour per day
for example may be the key to avoid
compulsive elevating phone consumption
that comes with the unlimited access we
have to our phones this way you can keep
up with your DMs text your friends make
plans and let people know you're putting
your phone away the sign says your brain
can re-adapt and gain better control
this way physical binding if you think
that there are certain trigger apps such
as Instagram or Tick Tock that you want
to not use for a month you log out and
give your password to a friend friend or
family therefore you have to ask them
for it back to use these apps other
physical binding techniques are turning
off your phone at 9pm and putting it in
a drawer until the next day sometimes
the compulsiveness comes from how close
the phone is to you physically another
thing is to work with people within your
house whether it's roommates or family
to have deviceless meals categorical
binding trying to make your phone mean
less to you one easy thing to do is to
put it on grayscale so it becomes more
boring only check social media dating
apps or high dopamine reward apps on
your computer so your phone is for
texting emails and more boring stimuli
also delete any apps that you find
meaningless or that you're wasting time
on and you don't even care about make
sure your phone is not your alarm that
is too meaningful of a concept and
charge your phone in a cumbersome area
overnight maybe in a drawer that you
can't access a lot of This research is
flooding in now because people are
really concerned if you are finding that
your phone is having a negative impact
on your life just know you aren't alone
and study those three steps and choose
which ones are best for you leave a
comment below about what's working for
you what's not this is a discussion that
I think we all need to continue to have
and help each other out now if you want
more information about how your phone is
actually changing your body we made a
podcast about how it could be causing us
to hunch it could be making us
nearsighted these are all just insane
impact that these things that we are all
obsessed with and so recently have come
into our lives have affected our brains
and our bodies thank you for watching
this is obviously a journey that I'm
still on I've made lots of videos about
this leave comments below for any tips
you have I will be reading them because
I also am trying to decrease my phone
use and honestly good luck it's hard
until like the government or someone
actually regulates these phones and
social media apps I think it's up to us
to understand the science to regulate it
ourselves
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