Phone Addiction | Social Media Addiction | How To Stop Phone Addiction

Phone addiction or social media addiction. This video is on how to stop phone addiction and break phone addiction to social media.

So a few months ago I was thinking when was the last time you sat down to have a cup of coffee without doing something else, being there in the moment, relaxing and not occupying my mind with clutter from your phone. So in other words mono-tasking.

With so many of us using or phones and social media so often I decided it’s time to do some research into the health implications our modern lives are having on us. In this weeks video we’re looking at how to stop phone addiction and what research has found about the health implications of high social media use.

HEALTH IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA:
Quite recently UK scientists at the Imperial College London published a really fascinating study on how social media use effects teenagers mental health.

The study was very large with 10,000 UK teenagers and was done for a period of 2 years. The social media platforms included apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. In the study high social media use was defined as checking it more than 3 times a day! Now you’re probably thinking what I thought, three times a day,! High social media use, I’m sure I check my phone at least 20 times a day!

The study looked at how social media use is stopping you doing what is good for your mental health. So stopping you from sleeping enough, stopping you from physical activity as well as the effect of being bullied online.

So what did they find? Well firstly there was a relationship between social media and physiological wellbeing 2 years later in girls and it was entirely mediated by the experience of being bullied online, not sleeping enough or doing enough physical activity.

So it’s basically what social media is stopping you doing that’s good for your mental health. Now these three mechanisms weren’t found to be significant in boys but there still was a relationship between social media use in boys and mental health, And I guess you can only assume there are different mechanists which will effect boys physiological wellbeing so more research is needed.

For more information on the study: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(18)30060-9/fulltext

So the next question is how can we break phone addiction?

HOW TO STOP PHONE ADDICTION:
The good news is that I’ve been trying these techniques and I’ve narrow it down to my top four so lets begin.

Tip 1 – I think by far the most effective tip I found is to first switch your phone to grayscale, It makes a massive difference those fun shiny colours stimulate your brain every time you unlock, remove that stimulation and fingers crossed reduce your phone time.

Tip 2 – You need to stop using your phone as your alarm clock, I know we’ve all got so used to it, and it was really hard for me. But I bought an alarm clock which meant I no longer charged next to me.

By having my phone on the other side of the room I was no longer constantly scrolling which I’m sure you’ve done plenty of times when in bed at night or first thing in the morning when it’s plugged into charge.

Tip 3 – Is an easy on and very effective Turn off notifications and only leave on for important text and phone calls.

Tip 4 – Is probably the most difficult to get used to as for years we’ve trained ourselves to leave the house with our phone. And yes its scary to begin with but practice makes perfect.

Obviously only do it when it’s convenient but I promise you once you get used to it the freedom is incredible and also that urge that you have to constantly check your phone will slowly fade away.

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ABOUT ME:
Prescribing Media Pharmacist | Extreme Optimist | Bringing Science Through New Videos Every Week – Monday 4PM(GMT).

I’m a prescribing media pharmacist who loves science, making videos and helping people. I work in both GP surgeries and community pharmacy.

DISCLAIMER:
This video is for information only and should not be used for the diagnosis or treatment of medical conditions. Abraham The Pharmacist has used all reasonable care in compiling the information but make no warranty as to its accuracy. Always consult a doctor or other healthcare professional for diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions.