Dear
Griffin Post

Phone Addictions by Elsa Ren

Why do people get addicted to phones?

Question from: Anonymous 

Almost everyone owns a cellphone, and 90% of those people have a smartphone. Smartphones have many apps and many people love communicating and watching videos on their phones. Many people love their phones so much, they spend most of their time on social media, but why is that?

If we were to approach this scientifically, we’d find out that every time you check your phone or electronic device, your brain releases a small amount of dopamine. And every time you check your phone, you encourage that dopamine, making you want to check your phone more. Though dopamine is only temporary, you eventually start to feel more let down and your brain would want to generate more dopamine, leading us down this path over and over.

But if you’d take this in a more mental way, you might think the reason is that it makes you feel less left out and more caught up. Which makes sense, because addiction comes from relieving discomfort, which includes catching up to the latest trends and feeling you fit in with your friend group. 

Phones also decrease your attention span. There are many ways this happens, like through constant notifications, more and more shorts and short-formed content leads to more distractions and what’s called “brain drain”. This is to the point where just having your smartphone nearby can make your brain work harder without you realizing it. Because it makes it harder to concentrate with it, trying not to constantly check your phone, so people tend to get addicted.

In conclusion, people tend to get addicted to phones because of your brain’s reaction to dopamine and the fear of getting left out, along with the fact that the phones decrease your attention span and ability to focus. Next time you're doomscrolling, just remember that just because you like it, it’s not particularly good for you.

Sources: Brain Drain, The Psychology of Smartphones, Seven Reasons to Break Your Smartphone addiction