SMARTPHONE NOTIFICATIONS CAN MESS WITH YOUR BRAIN’S
CHEMISTRY
When phone
notifications interrupt our train of thought, it’s called the ‘switch cost’.
Here’s what it means
Scientists are pretty
confident that smartphone use can be addictive. When your screen blinks, it’s
hard to not immediately check who’s contacting you, or which media organisation
sent you some alarming news. We are constantly inundated with such messages, so
it’s hard to imagine a life without them. But an ever increasing body of
scientific evidence suggests it’s doing us harm.
For instance, constant awareness of being notified
may put us on high alert, and when we receive messages we actually ignite our
fight or flight response. Your body releases stress hormones, so you are ready
for action to run away from a predator or fight for your life, when in reality,
all you do is pick up your phone. According to a study, presented at the annual
meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, the interruptions from
alerts to your smartphone could be altering your brain chemistry. Your phone
sitting there, constantly lighting up throughout the day creates this pattern
in the brain scientists call switch cost.
How it works
It essentially means when there is an interruption,
such as a notification, we switch our attention away from the task, then have
to return afterwards — which is costly in terms of brain power, as well as
time. “We think it interrupts our efficiency with our brains, by about 40 per
cent”, Scott Bea, a psychologist at Cleveland Clinic told CBS. “Our nose is
always getting off the grindstone, then we have to reorient ourselves.”
The team recruited 19 young people, with a mean age
of 15-anda-half, who were diagnosed with a smartphone addiction, and also a
control group containing people of the same age and gender. The addicted group
were given nine weeks of cognitive behavioural therapy, modified from a
treatment program for gaming addiction.
They were also asked questions about the severity of
their addiction, and how it affected their daily routines, social life,
productivity, sleep, and feelings. Addicted teenagers also had significantly
higher scores in depression, anxiety, insomnia, and impulsivity, he added.
Limit the time
Staring at a screen at all hours also messes with our
biology and makes it harder for us to sleep as it inhibits the release of
melatonin — the sleepy hormone. So reducing that time, especially in the
evening, will probably help you drift off to sleep a lot easier. It’s difficult
to get away from your phone, but it can be done with a little patience. After a
while your brain will stop trying to convince you you’re missing out on
something, and you’ll be better able to get through the day without constantly
checking if someone wants to know what’s up.
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ET7JUN18
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