Screen Time Consequences.

The last few posts have highlighted the addictive nature of our gadgets and how their “intelligence” often leads to their overconsumption and misuse. 

In the next post I’ll be discussing some strategies that will be helpful in regaining control of our devices, but before getting into tips and best practices for reducing/managing screen time, I think it’s important to first understand the health consequences of living in a state of technology overload. Here are a few. 

Decrease in Attentional Abilities - it shouldn’t be a surprise that extensive screen time is strongly correlated with attention problems. The “repetitive attention shifts and multitasking” associated with tech use impairs executive functioning and interferes with your brain’s default network (an interesting neural network/brain function I’ll touch on in the postscript).

Addictive Behaviors - there is no shortage of research linking excessive technology use and mental disorder symptoms, many of which share the same features as other pathological addictive behaviors such as gambling or substance abuse. These range from mood changes, withdrawal, depression, social anxiety, and functional impairment.

Impaired Social and Emotional Intelligence - there is fascinating research that links chronic digital media exposure (particularly video games) with a reduction in the ability to recognize nonverbal social and emotional cues. 

Social Isolation - it is now well-known that social media in itself is a paradox - designed to increase “connection”, the platforms most often have the opposite effect. Chronic social media use is linked to a number of issues stemming from perceived social isolation; loneliness, depression, social anxiety, poor relationship quality, etc.

Sleep - there are a host of studies showing the negative effect screen exposure has on sleep. More screen time is associated with a greater number of sleep disturbances, later sleep onset, and shorter sleep duration. All symptoms related to poor sleep quality have a significant negative impact on cognition and behavior - depression, anxiety, poor memory performance, slower cognitive processing, etc.

Like previous posts, the goal of this one was not to convince you to smash your phone with a hammer. It is merely a reminder that there are consequences to overuse of our gadgets. 

Our smartphones, tablets, etc offer amazing things to us, but like ANYTHING in life, the poison is in the dosage. 

Finally, remember that if you are like a lot of folks, you’ve had access to the internet for 25+ years and modern smartphones and tablets for more than 15 - if you are reading this list of health consequences and saying to yourself, “yeah I do have a tough time focusing, I am a little anxious, I do feel lonely, my sleep is complete shit” and you’ve never considered taking a break from your gadgets, consider it. 

I’ll talk about what a digital detox might look like in the next post. 

P.S. Earlier I mentioned your brain’s “default network”. Your default network refers to specific regions of your brain that are “active” during “passive” moments of your day. Another way to think of it is that when you’re “doing nothing” there are specific parts of your brain that turn on/increase in activity. The default network serves various functions but most notably plays a role in something called internal mentation - the “introspective and adaptive mental activities in which humans spontaneously engage in every day”. How is this related to this post? Screen time interferes with your default network. There is now extensive research considering whether these network interruptions lead to psychosis and other disease. To think of it another way, scrolling might be making us crazy (literally).

Some deeper dives:

1. Association of Digital Media Use with Subsequent Symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder Among Adolescents

2. The Relationship Between Addictive Use of Social Media and Video Games and Symptoms of Psychiatric Disorders: A Large-Scale Cross-Sectional Study

3. The Association Between Internet Addiction and Psychiatric Disorder: A Review of the Literature

4. The Digital Revolution and Adolescent Brain Evolution 

5. Video Game Play Impacts Facial Emotion Recognition

6. Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the U.S. 

7. Problematic Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study 

8. The “Online Brain”: How The Internet May Be Changing Our Cognition 

9. Direct Measurements of Smartphone Screen-Time; Relationships with Demographics and Sleep 

10. Daily Touch Screen Use in Infants and Toddlers  is Associated with Reduced Sleep and Delayed Sleep Onset