If you are someone who uses his phone too often, it’s bad news.
A recent study published in the Journal of American Medical Association suggested an increased risk of ADHD in teens who constantly use digital media. ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, a brain disorder characterized by a difficulty in focusing, hyper-activeness, and impulsiveness.
What Really Happens?
The constant notifications, text messages and addiction to social media cause a disruption in maintaining sustained attention, the study says. The always available new content online increases the urge to check phones too often. If not treated in time, this could lead to an increased impulsiveness and decreased patience levels in individuals.
An era of smartphone diseases
With an increased use of smartphones, a whole new spectrum of diseases have starting becoming common. Insomnia and fragmented sleep are two of the most common smartphone related diseases among teenagers.
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Increased use of digital media decreases the “grey matter” of your brains. In simple words, the amount of grey matter is directly linked to cognition and emotional control. Under normal circumstances, the degeneration starts in the late 20s.
Here’s What You Can Do:
- This might sound tough, but try NOT using your cell phone 30 minutes before sleep. Most of the time, smartphones are the reason behind fragmented periods of sleep and insufficient sleep. Sleep is more important than Instagram, remember that!
- Practice “social media fasting” once a week. The only rule is that you’re not supposed to open any social media account that day. Let’s choose health over snap streaks?
- Don’t talk over a voice call for more than two hours a day. The harmful effects of radio waves from mobile phones have well been demonstrated already.
- Okay, a near impossible point: charge your cellphones only once a day.
While it will seem arduous initially, it is imperative for us to stop giving too much time to our phones. After all, prevention is always better than cure!
