Smartphones. Chances are, reading that one word conjures up a bunch of thoughts and feelings for you. This makes sense; these little hunks of metal, plastic and glass are arguably one of humanities biggest technological innovations of recent centuries. Never in human history have we enjoyed such instant access to information and round-the-clock communication with one other.
And yet somehow for many of us, we’ve never felt more disconnected.
As is often the case with new stuff that humans create, the unpleasant side-effects take a little while for us to realise. Like in the 1800’s when medical professionals, seeking to relieve their patients suffering, took opium and turned it into morphine. Which subsequently became heroin. Which eventually turned into fentanyl- a molecule up to 100 times more potent than its grandfather.
Yet despite all our ‘optimising’, opioid-related overdoses in the United States killed over 80,000 people in 2022 alone; that’s enough bodies to fill Accor Stadium. We’ve made similar improvement to cannabis. And food. And sex. And just about anything else that produces a feeling of pleasure.
As it turns out, Humans tend to be rather bad at knowing what’s in our own best interest; we’re heavily influenced by a crude pleasure principle that weighs our behavioural choices on how we think they’ll make us feel. One only need look at our modern world for countless examples of this; we’ve trapped ourselves in a cycle of compulsive consumption. We’re forever researching and developing the next great upgrade- something that makes us feel even better and gets us to that feeling faster.
Smartphones just happen to be the latest iteration in a long line of products humanity has developed a cycle of addiction with. And now, we’re allowing our kids to join that cycle from the moment they can use a screen. For an alarming number of us, self-restraint is dead and buried and its tombstone reads “just one more”.
The full range of potential negative consequences related to excessive screen use isn’t yet known, and certainly impossible to cover in a single article, but some of the more concerning insights we have so far include:
- Screen use releases dopamine, one of the brains chemical messengers that is involved in motivation and reward. Because dopamine makes us feels good, the brain is most attracted to things that spark the greatest dopamine release for the least effort- so called ‘low effort high reward’ behaviours. Over time, activities which require any degree of effort and/or persistence will be deemed ‘lame’ or ‘boring’ and are often abandoned in favour of a smartphone-supplied dopamine drip.
- Excessive screentime gradually creates changes in the brain that interfere with executive functioning; the mental management skills that humans need to effectively self-govern, like time management, self-monitoring, and self-regulation.
- As of the 21-22 FY, 24% of 5–14-year-old Aussie kids are spending at least 20 hours on screen-based recreation per week. Over the course of 6 years at high school, this equates to roughly 6,240 hours. For comparison, it takes roughly 700 hours (depending on complexity) to develop fluency in a second language. Imagine your child speaking an additional 8 languages by the time they graduated!
- Since 2016, the top three things Aussie kids used their smartphones for were playing games (71%), taking photos/videos (70%) and using apps (social media) (68%). The least used function (45%) was calling friends.
- A recent study of 28,000 young adults from around the world found that the younger children got their first smartphone, the more likely they were later in life to experience suicidal thoughts, feelings of aggression towards others and a sense of detachment from reality.
The good news is that the human brain is far more malleable than was once thought, which means problematic behaviours can be reversed, even for the most screen-addicted individuals. Digital detoxing is frequently a core component of the therapeutic work I do with families and involves reducing/ removing screen exposure for a predetermined period whilst simultaneously supporting individuals to re-engage with the world around them.
When done effectively, most families will report noticing improvements in mood and behaviour after 14 days, with results most visible by the one-month mark. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many families are so elated to ‘get their kids back’, they elect to continue with reduced screens indefinitely. And if you just felt a twinge of panic at this idea, it might just be your brain telling you something important about you and your family’s current relationship with screens……
Tom Heidrich is a Brisbane-based Psychologist who is passionate about helping individuals and families manage toxic video gaming, screen, and social media use, and find psychological wellness through a highly collaborative approach.
You can get in touch with Tom via his website: www.thescreenpsych.com
Authors note
I wish to acknowledge the great difficulty many Australian families are having in trying to access professional mental health support in this country. There has sadly, long been far more demand than there is supply, and the ever-rising cost of living means services are often prohibitively expensive.
This is why I believe programs like WAIT MATE offer a viable and valuable avenue of support to families who are navigating smartphone-related difficulties. I believe one of the smartest things parents can give their kids is as much time as possible to just be kids.
So Go. Unplug. Then Reconnect.
You’ve got this.