How Your Smartphone Affects Your Body

We live in a World dominated by Technology.

And almost everyone living on this planet owns a smartphone - 6 billion people (out of 7 billion) !
In comparison, "only" 4.5 billion people have access to an actual toilet.
So that's less people having access to sanitary facilities than those who own a phone.

We use our phones a lot - of course, I do too!
Smartphones make our lives so much easier, we can quickly google whatever we want, navigate, text, email, post on social media, or take photos.
The average person picks up their smartphone over 200 times a day!
And there's actually been a new term created for everyone that's a little too addicted to their phone - "NoMoPhobia", the anxiety of being without your smartphone.

Why is it so hard for us to put our phones down?

Many of the interactions we do on our phone are connected to rewards - which release dopamine.
When you play a game on your phone, or get a "like" on social media, or get a funny meme sent by your friend, all of these things make our brain release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that has the nickname "happy hormone". We feel rewarded, it puts us in a good mood, and we want to keep going!
And it doesn't always have to be a reward - our brains are constantly seeking for new information, which it also reward.
This is the so-called "Compulsion Loop" - the same loop that is associated with human behaviour under the impact of nikotine or cocaine.
That's exactly what the apps on our phones do - constantly supplying us with new content and new information.

Effects on your back

Our head alone already weighs about 12 lbs.
When looking down at your phone, the angle hurts your back and it increases the weight even more - it actually has the same effect as if 60 lbs (about an 8-9 year old child) was sitting on your neck.
People spend over 4.5 hours a day looking down at their phone. And let's not forget about the time spent on our laptops, very often hunched over !
This condition is also called "Text Neck" , and scientists suggest that the number of patients suffering from this back pain and spine damage will dramatically increase within the next 30 years.

Effects on your eyes

This has led to a very significant rise of Myopia - "Nearisghtedness".
In the 1970's about 25% of US citizens suffered from Myopia. Around the 00's, this number has risen to 41.6 % - and it has probably increased even more until 2016.
In some asian countries, the numbers of people suffering from Myopia is as high as 80% !

Effects on your sleep

Studies have shown that technical equipment like phones, tablets, laptops or TVs all have blue lightemit from their screens.
This blue light tricks our brain into thinking it's daylight, and therefore signalizing us to stay awake.
It also decreases the time we're able to sleep in 'deep sleep', and decreases Melatonin levels (which promote good sleep).
That's why scientists suggest not to look at any technical devices / screens 1 hours before going to bed if you're suffering from insomnia.

Effects on your fingers

Recent studies of the University of Zurich have shown that fingertips of smartphone users are much more sensitive than those of people who use an old phone (or none at all.)
They did several tests and recorded increased brain activity when the fingertips of their index finger, middle finger and especially the thumb were touched.
This means that we now have more brain activity whenever we touch an object with our fingertips - depending on how often we use our touch-screen smartphones.

Images: 1, 2, 3, 4 , 5

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