Are iPhones Ruining Our Lives?

When I was younger, I remember drawing with crayons and playing with Thomas the Train in our playroom, and watching shows like Dragon Tales on our clunky box tv. Now when you see young children out in restaurants or anywhere, they are playing games on iPads, completely in their own world. My little cousins, who are only 7 and 5 years old, play on phones and iPads more often than playing the way that I remember from my childhood. For us older people, technology is becoming more of an issue of addiction. If any of you ever go to concerts, then you know that when you look around at the crowd, all you see are phones in the air, recording the music instead of listening to it and being in the moment.

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Being a millennial means many things, but something that seems to define our generation is technology. Smartphones, iPads, and laptops have taken over our lives, and it has led to issues you might not think existed. We all use our phones a generous amount of time every day, but we probably think we use it less than we actually do. Average usage time is about three hours a day, with the average user picking up their phone 39 times a day. This issue has been coined the term "technology addiction" or "Internet use disorder". Although this isn't recognized as an actual disorder yet, this common issue has been on doctor's radar since about the 1990s.

According to Microsoft, the attention span of the average human has declined to about 8 seconds, which is 1 second less than the goldfish. Technology addiction is so common that Dr. Jerald Block, who writes for the American Journal of Psychiatry, says that it "merits inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is the primary source to categorize mental disorders.  Technology addiction, like other types of addiction, can come from a combination of things like mental health history, personality, and environment.

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Along with technology addiction comes other health affects, like depression, anger, fatigue, and social isolation. And these are not just mental health issues; sleep is being affected in a huge way. Blue light is what tells our body to wake up, like the sun or lights in your house, and red light, like the sunset, tells our bodies it is time to sleep. When you lay in bed on your phone in the dark, your body is ultimately very confused because the blue light from your phone is waking your brain up.

I go on my phone the same as the next guy; scrolling through pinterest or taking snapchats definitely take up some time in my day, but I always try to remind myself of the things I can do without technology. Summer is the best time to me because I spend all my time either in the ocean, reading, or playing cards with my cousins. I know being in school can be so busy, but trying to find other activities that don't involve your phone or computer are important; many times people reach for their phone when they need a break from whatever stressful thing that have going on, like school. Whether its a longer activity, like visiting the Palmer Museum, or a smaller one, like getting ice cream with friends, or even taking an hour at the gym to distract yourself, these small things can be crucial in helping the constant need for the internet. Not only is this scientifically better for you, I'm sure you will feel better too.