41 Alarming Facts about Digital Addiction

There is literally an app for everything these days, from planning your day to switching off the lights in your apartment.

Thank you, technology!

However, there is also a flip side of having a tech-based solution for everything right at your fingertips: digital addiction. In 2019, “Internet Gaming Disorder” (IGD) became an official mental health diagnosis - but gaming is just the tip of the iceberg. ¹ Humans are spending more time in the digital world than ever before.

…And do we really have a choice? 

Addicted or not, it is increasingly difficult to define what “normal” mobile tech use looks like.

The boundary between staying up-to-date across mobile platforms and sliding into compulsive checking behavior is thin and unclear. More often than not, opening your email one more time has become so second-nature that you don’t even realize you’re doing it. Triggered by the irresistible ding of a new message, you unlock, tap and swipe, only to get lost in the digital clutter collecting on your phone and forget why you even picked up your phone in the first place. 

[define: digital detox ]

If that sounds crazy, just ask yourself these questions:

• What’s the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night? 

• Do you catch your mind zoning out of conversations with real people and itching to update, scroll and click? 

• Does it bug you when someone you’re talking to reaches for their phone in the middle of a conversation?

• Do you even have the option to disconnect from tech (even just for short periods of time) at work? 

• Could you make it one hour without checking your phone?

• What about one day?

Zero judgment here.

The point is that - on some level - everyone who has an internet connection has experienced distraction by digital devices.

But how do we distinguish distraction and addiction? We’ll get the facts straight in this article 💡 

The time that humans have spent connected to devices during the Covid-19 pandemic period doubled. Extended use of digital media can trigger the development of bad attitudes and behavioral change that ultimately can, like a domino effect, cause material and moral damage. ²

Digital addiction alters the brain's structure and function. Excessive internet use results in changes to the brain's white matter, which is associated with attention, decision-making, and impulse control. ³

Social media addiction increases the risk of anxiety and depression. Using Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram for more than 30 minutes a day increases feelings of loneliness and anxiety in users. ⁴

Internet addiction is recognized as a mental health disorder. The World Health Organization (WHO) included "gaming disorder" in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in 2018, recognizing excessive gaming as a mental health disorder. ⁵

Smartphone addiction can lead to poor sleep quality. The more time people spend on their smartphones, the less likely they are to get a good night's sleep. ⁶

1 in 4 children exhibit behavioral addiction in their use of smartphones. ⁷

1 in 4 mobile phone users report that their phone makes it harder to focus on socializing with people around them, and 19% of the same group reported that their phone had caused a conflict with their partner. ⁸

Around 5% of phone users are addicted to Internet and social media apps. ⁹

Students who spend more time on Facebook have lower GPAs than those who spend less time on Facebook. ¹⁰

The blue light emitted by electronic devices disrupts sleep patterns and leads to sleep deprivation, which can have negative effects on physical and mental health. ¹¹

Excessive smartphone use can lead to poor decision-making and impulsive behavior. ¹²

Tolerance to reward stimulus builds in people who compulsively use technology, just as it does with the use of alcohol or hard drugs. ¹³

Researchers propose that the constant interruptions caused by smartphones are a risk to productivity on a societal scale. ¹⁴

People who rely excessively on human–machine interactions tend to be less sensitive to violence, display higher levels of depression, and demonstrate anti-social behavior to a greater extent than non-human-machine peers. ¹⁵

A study by Common Sense Media found that teenagers spend an average of nine hours a day using digital media. ¹⁶

Digital addiction can lead to a loss of empathy and the ability to read social cues due to social isolation.¹⁷

41% of college students self-reported problematic smartphone use. ¹⁸

Doom posting is real: The frequency of Facebook status posting is directly correlated with the user’s severity of depression. ¹⁹

Children found to have problematic smartphone usage are more likely to be obese than peers with non-problematic smartphone usage. ²⁰

There are currently 5.16 billion Internet users worldwide, 4.76 billion of whom also use social media. ²¹

9 out of 10 of mental health professionals believe that cyberbullying is more detrimental to mental health than in-person bullying because it has the capacity to be seen by an exponentially greater number of witnesses. ²²

Instagram is the most damaging social media platform to youth mental health, followed by Snapchat and Facebook. ²³

1 in 4 married or partnered adults feel that their significant other is distracted by their phone when they are together, and 42% felt that their partner's phone use had a negative impact on their relationship. ²⁴

Excessive screen time in early childhood is associated with language delays, obesity, and weaker social skills. ²⁵

People who report higher levels of social media user are more likely to self- report FOMO (fear of missing out). ²⁶

In 2021, the average person spent more than 4 hours a day on their mobile device. ²⁷

The average American adult spends over 11 hours a day interacting with media, with about 6 of those hours spent consuming digital media. ²⁸

Research has found that social media use can activate the same reward centers in the brain as addictive drugs like cocaine. ²⁹

Social media begins affecting young girls earlier than young boys. ³⁰

Frequent phone users experience a spike of the stress hormone cortisol not only when using their phones, but also when the phone is in sight, nearby or simply brought to awareness by a thought. ³¹

You Might Also Like: What is Situational Anxiety?

Elevated cortisol levels are tied to life-threatening health problems including Type 2 diabetes, heart attack, metabolic syndrome, dementia and stroke. ³²

Digital addiction can exacerbate physical pain including eye strain, headaches, and neck pain. ³³

On average, we check our phones around 58 times a day. ³⁴

Eliminating the use of social media apps has been shown to improve overall levels of well-being. ³⁵

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children and adolescents should limit screen time to no more than two hours per day. ³⁶

Virtual communication has been shown to increase conflict between users due to the lack of social-context cues present in online spaces. ³⁷

People who are addicted to their smartphones experience withdrawal symptoms when separated from their devices, similar to those experienced by drug addicts. ³⁸

Limiting social media use to 30 minutes per day has been shown to significantly reduce anxiety and depression among college students. ³⁹

The majority of people are using the internet for finding information, staying in touch with friends and family, keeping up to date with news and events, researching how to do things, and watching videos, TV shows, and movies. ⁴⁰

The prevalence of digital addiction is increasing, particularly among young people. 50% of teens feel addicted to their mobile devices, and 27% of teens use digital devices for 5 or more hours per day. ⁴¹

Digital media use is strongly associated with the feelings of guilt, shame, and low self-esteem. ⁴²   

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