'It's A Digital Drug': How To Detox From Smartphone Use
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Are we addicted to our smartphones? Many people are on them all day, and some even sleep and eat with them.
Rhonda Scullark may remind you of yourself.
"I can't function without my phone, I'll be honest," she said.
The middle school administrator communicates with parents and her daughters. She says her phone is essential.
"I was talking on my phone and I said, 'Everybody wait, where's my phone?'" Scullark said.
Zac Gallagher is a college student in Chicago and a social media chair for two clubs.
"I can't ignore a buzz or a notification on the phone," Gallagher said. "It's like a trigger, I need to check it."
Both Scullark and Gallagher measure their weekly phone use with the Quality Time app. It not only clocks their minute-by-minute usage, but breaks that down app by app.
In Scullark's case, she was on her phone more than 41 hours one week, including more than 21 hours on Facebook and 7-and-a-half spent texting.
Gallagher spent 21 hours on his phone, more than 6-and-a-half on Facebook and two hours on Snapchat.
"We're using the phone as a drug. It's a digital drug," said Dr. David Greenfield with the Center for Internet Addiction.
Greenfield, founder of the Center for Internet Addiction, estimates five to 10 percent of people are truly addicted. Another 80 percent overuse, misuse or abuse their smartphones.
"It's highly distracting and it changes your brain chemistry," Greenfield explained. "When you get a ping or beep or blip, that lets you know there is a reward waiting."
Together, high-tech Chicago-area bloggers Beth Prystowsky and Nina Vallone tried a seven-day smartphone detox.
"It was hard. I will not lie, I would scroll through my phone and say, 'Where is my Facebook icon?,'" Prystowsky said.
Their detox included removing social media apps like Facebook and Twitter, turning off the sounds of push notifications and venturing out for dinner while leaving the phone at home.
"At first, I had to fight not to check it and then it got easier because I realized I wasn't doing something against my will. I wanted to be more mindful," Vallone said.
Greenfield says addiction doesn't equal the number of hours you spend on your phone. Instead, it's how using it negatively impacts your quality of life -- including your relationships, schoolwork, job performance and finances.
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