Putting down your phone helps you live longer

To date, most of the debate about the effects of smartphones on the human body has focused ondopamine, a chemical in the brain that helps us form habits. People call dopamine the "happy hormone" because when released in large quantities, it makes you feel excited, excited, and inspired. It's obvious that smartphones and the colorful apps we download are designed to be extremely addictive, making it hard to look away. But it's that attractive touch screen that increases the dopamine levels in our bodies, which is also the reason why many experts believe that people are increasingly addicted to their phones. In other words, it's not much different from a slot machine.

Phone addiction is already a bad thing, but what about its effects oncortisolis even more concerning. It’s no exaggeration to say that cortisol is actually a hormone that’s involved in our survival. It has the ability to temporarily boost our energy, improve our performance, speed up our reaction times, enhance our brain activity, reduce pain, and more. Cortisol is produced as a natural defense mechanism by our bodies, helping us react and survive in the face of imminent threats. When cortisol is released, it increases our blood pressure, speeds up our heart rate, and raises our blood sugar levels—all of which can save our lives in times of danger (like being charged by a bull). But our bodies also secrete cortisol in response to stressors and emotional upsets, like checking our phone to read that stressful email our boss just sent—in which case, the increased heart rate doesn’t do much good.

If your cortisol levels spiked only occasionally, it probably wouldn't be a big deal. But as you know, using your phone increases cortisol levels, and how many people onlysometimesnew to phone?

According to a tracking app called Moment, the average American spends four hours a day staring at their phone and carries it with them everywhere they go. As a result, as a Google report puts it, “phones are filled with social media apps, inundated with emails and news feeds,” creating “a constant sense of dependency that creates unwanted stress.”

"When you hold your phone in your hand, leave it on your desk, hear a notification sound, or even just think about it, your body produces and raises cortisol levels," said David Greenfield, a clinical psychiatry professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction. "It's a response to stress and discomfort, a natural response from the body that urges you to pick up your phone and check it to reduce that stress."

Doing so may satisfy you for a moment, but in the long run, it has extremely negative effects. Because every time you open your phone, you will be stimulated by something else: friends in the chat group arguing, a fashion that has gone out of style, a scandal, someone recently robbed... anything. Each time like that, your body generates more cortisol, and you want to learn more, scroll more to reduce anxiety. This cycle repeats, leading to a constant increase in cortisol levels, to the point of becoming a "chronic disease".

Chronically high cortisol levels lead to serious health problems such as depression, obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, reproductive problems, high blood pressure, heart attack, memory loss, and stroke. Not to mention, long-term high levels of serum cortisol can lead to a condition called Cushing's syndrome. This syndrome causes loss of muscle mass and weakness, thin and atrophied skin, slow wound healing and easy bruising, and even increases the likelihood of high blood pressure, kidney stones, osteoporosis, glucose intolerance, reduced resistance to infection, and mental disorders, among others.

"Stress can make any chronic disease worse, and smartphones play a big role in that," said Dr. Robert Lustig, Emeritus Professor at the University of California, San Francisco.

In addition to the potential long-term health consequences, stress from excessive phone use also poses an immediate threat to our... lives.

High levels of cortisol impair the functioning of the prefrontal cortex, an area of ​​the brain that is important for decision-making and rational thinking. The prefrontal cortex is unique to humans, and with this privileged area, humans can possess higher-order abilities such as holding objects with one hand, thinking carefully before speaking, and being aware of their role in the family or their status in society. "The prefrontal cortex is the rational god of the brain," Dr. Lustig says. "It prevents us from doing stupid things."

Damage or poor functioning of this particular brain region also means a loss of self-control. Combined with the urge to do something to relieve stress, we are more likely to do things that are momentarily gratifying but potentially fatal, like... texting while driving.

This stress can take an even bigger toll if we’re constantly worried about something bad happening—whether it’s a bloody fight or a mean comment on social media. If that bad thing is related to our phone, this excessive worry can manifest as Phantom Vibration Syndrome: feeling like our phone is vibrating in our pocket, even though there’s no phone in our pocket.

"Everything we do, everything we experience can affect our physiology and change our brain circuitry, which in some way affects how we deal with stress and pressure," said Dr. Bruce McEwen, senior fellow in the Department of Neurology at Rockefeller University.

McEwen also notes that the body’s regular 24-hour cortisol cycle is disrupted or lost if we get less than seven to eight hours of sleep a night, which is all too easy to do if you’re in the habit of checking your phone before bed. As a result, your ability to cope with stress is impaired and your risk of the health problems mentioned above increases.

In conclusion, the time spent checking your phone every now and then is not only enough for you to do many other useful things, but can also bring you countless diseases.

Change

The good news is that if we break the vicious cyclestress - relieve by phone - continue stressThis can reduce cortisol levels, which can improve judgment and reduce the risk of chronic stress-related diseases. "Over time, we can also 'retrain' our brains so that even when we feel stressed, we don't pick up our phones," says Dr. McEwen.

To start a "revolt" and no longer accept being a "slave" to your phone, start by turning off all unnecessary notifications, leaving only notifications about what you really care about.

Next, pay attention to how you feel when you use an app. Which apps do you open because you’re worried you’ll miss something? Which apps are making you tired and wasting time because you’re constantly running around trying to find content? Hide all of these apps from your home screen. Or better yet, delete them for a few days and see how you feel.

Also, while you're using your phone, pay attention to how each app affects your own body. "If we're not aware of how our bodies feel, we're not going to change our behavior," says Dr. Judson Brewer of Brown University. Anxiety and stress often manifest as a tightening sensation in the chest, Dr. Brewer says.

Regularly turning off your phone and taking “breaks” is also an effective way to rebalance your body’s chemistry and regain control. Even if you start by going to lunch without your phone, it’s a welcome step in the right direction.

Also, try to notice how it feels.phone cravings due to anxietyis like - justseeWhatever your brain and body feel like is fine, there's no need to immediately resist that temptation.

As Jack Kornfield, a Buddhist instructor at Spirit Rock Zen Center in California, once said, "We don't have to listen to what theFear of Missing Out Syndrome"That's it." Because after all, humans are the masters of technology, not the other way around.

An