Our phones are literally killing us, but will you do anything about it?
Bottom Line: Stress is a killer. So much so that historically, the difference in life expectancy between men and women has been boiled down to accumulated life stress. In fact, researchers have found that living a maximum stress life compared to a low stress life can result in as much as 33 years' worth of difference in one’s life expectancy. Based on the headline you know where this one’s going.
Recently I shared research demonstrating that it wasn’t just the blue screen effect of smartphones in bed that would delay our ability to fall asleep, it was the stress we commonly felt when we were using it. On that note comes a new study connecting additional dots.
Cortisol is the stress hormone. What do you think the most common outcome is when we look at our phones...?According to a study in Science Direct, it’s a rush of cortisol. That’s right, the most common feeling we get when using our phones is stress. Now, the reason we do it, as the study points out – is that it’s also met with bouts of dopamine, the chemical reaction that’s satisfying to us. That’s what keeps us coming back for more. But from the study it’s clear that this pattern of cortisol and dopamine adds considerable stress to our lives. The average smart phone owner now accesses their phone for nearly four hours per day. That’s a lot of additional stress in our lives. Stress that in time can kill us.
So, here’s the question. Will do anything about it? I suspect not which proves how addictive they are and how compelling the hits of dopamine are to us.