Too Much Screen Time

Have you ever felt like you don't have enough time to do simple things you enjoy because you are so wrapped up with your phone or computer? I know for me I used to struggle with this. As soon as I woke up in the morning I was instantly wanting to check my social media. If you think about it, it's not a very good idea to see pictures of models first thing in the morning. It is proven that too much time using technology can have many negative affects on your mental health like causing you to be unsure of yourself, making you feel more trained and even distracting you from the important things in your life, and tempting addiction at a young age.

First off, There are tons of people showing fake lives on social media, for some people it is not easy to detect this and you want to follow everything everyone else is doing, without considering your mental health. A UK study found that people who spend a lot of time on social media are more likely to display negative personality traits such as narcissism. Snapping endless selfies, posting all your thoughts or details about your life can create an unhealthy self-centeredness. This is a result of the technology allowing you to feel unsure of yourself or not independent. Many people feel that they need to be doing what everyone else is doing on Facebook, but that should not be the case at all. By making sure you are not on your social media as much comparing your life to others, you will see a dramatic change in your mental health.

Secondly, Excessive smartphone use can disrupt your sleep, which can have a serious impact on your overall mental health. It can impact your memory, affect your ability to think clearly, and reduce your cognitive and learning skills. Electronic devices emit an artificial blue light that can suppress the release of the body’s sleep-inducing hormone, melatonin. In turn, this can interfere with the body’s natural internal clock that signals when it’s time to sleep and wake up. According to the National Sleep Foundation "The more time teens spend in front of an electronic device, especially in the evening, the greater the delay in the release of melatonin, making sleep a challenge. They may experience problems falling asleep as well as difficulty staying asleep. As a result, these teens sleep fewer overall hours; over time, that sleep deprivation can lead to symptoms of depression." This is helpful to know that in order to improve your mental health you need to get enough sleep, and one way to do that is to limit your screen time!

Thirdly, addiction is a real thing at all ages. People do not seem to realize how easily it is for young kids to become addicted to their devices. According to Rogers Behavioral Health, "Around 91% of kids growing up today play video games. Dr. Scallon says that kids who spend too much time playing games, at the detriment of other activities, can also show signs of addiction." If kids are becoming addicted to something at such a young age, this is going to affect their mental health now, and also in the future. They are growing up becoming completely dependent on things like games or other apps on the smart phone. Studies show that 78% of teens check their phones at least hourly and 50% report feeling ‘addicted’ to their phones. It's easy to understand that children are becoming so addicted because their brains are still developing. Technology like Ipads are a primary gateway are usually designed to be as addictive and time-consuming as possible, as many of their original creators have publicly acknowledged. Parents need to limit the amount of screen time their kids use in order to insure they will not become addicted.

Personally, I have experience with constantly being on my phone and feeling that I was comparing myself to others too often, or I was staying up playing on my phone instead of sleeping. This was having a negative effect on my mental health, and I want to stress how important it is to give yourself a break from the technology.

Overall, this is a real issue that is affecting people at all ages. It is causing teens to have increased depression and anxiety, and sleep and addiction problems. A list of some ways that will help you cut back can be found here.