Is Your Phone Making You Stressed?

Recently, I was watching a talk by an American expert on stress called Brian Luke Seaward during which he talked a great deal about the effect of the use of technology and in particular smartphones, on our levels of stress.

Initially, this might seem counter-intuitive. Surely carrying a phone would have the opposite effect given that it ensures we have the ability to quickly contact emergency services for example, can get in touch with the friend we are meeting if we are delayed/lost, find out what time the last train is and so on.

Of course, the ease with which we can communicate and find information is the upside of having such an item. Very few of us however only use our phones in such circumstances. Take a trip on any mode of public transport and you will see most people with their heads buried in their phones checking texts, replying to texts, surfing the internet.

According to studies however, being ‘on’ all the time means that you are always in a state of arousal which is accompanied by chemical reactions in the body that move it out of homeostasis and into stress mode. It has also been found that every time your phone ’pings’, you experience a release of the neurotransmitter dopamine involved in the experience of pleasure and highly associated with chemical addiction. Studies have also found that when you have your phone in your immediate vicinity even if it is switched off, your attention will be divided.

There is no doubt that phones and of course computers can be addictive if we use them to excess. Not only do we experience the chemical reactions described above, but the small screen means that we have a narrowed-down focus of attention which in itself leads to a hypnotic-like state making it difficult to tear ourselves away.

The truth is that our physiology is not well suited to constant arousal. We are in fact wired to take regular breaks. One of the functions of this is to allow the brain to assimilate the activity of the previous period of time. You can read more about that here and about how you can use periods of relaxation to your advantage.

In addition, the blue light from a phone or computer screen interferes with the circadian rhythm, the daily sleep/wake cycle. It affects the pineal gland and reduces the secretion of melatonin necessary to sleep easily. Before the advent of electric light, our ancestors would have experienced dimming light as the evening wore on, naturally facilitating sleep. In fact if you have trouble sleeping, one of the recommendations is to mimic this by dimming the lights in your home as the evening wears on.

So what might some recommendations be for healthier use of your phone?

Keep it off your desk and out of sight to prevent its distracting effects.

Schedule distraction-free time - relaxation - throughout the day.

Switch it off (and indeed all screens) as early as possible in the evening.

This might seem impossible from where you are now. My suggestion is to try it as an experiment. Today I was talking with someone who for a period of time stopped reading or listening to the news. He stated that he felt so much better for it, in particular more relaxed.

My suggestion would be to try it for 30 days - long enough to assess the impact and yet not so long that it feels a huge undertaking from the beginning. If you have difficulty doing this and you feel your use of technology is negatively affecting your well-being, hypnotherapy could really help.