You are certainly not alone in this. But perhaps you too have a problematic relationship with your phone – which, according to experts, is understandable.

“It’s hard to resist picking it up and opening it up,” says Gloria Mark, Chancellor’s Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine, who studies the impact of digital media on people’s lives. Assets. “Often there is no clear reason for it. It’s a habit.”

But sometimes this habit can become problematic.

Over the years, researchers have developed new methods to measure so-called smartphone addiction. These include the 2013 Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS), which is partly based on the earlier Internet Addiction Test.

In 2023, researchers at the University of Toronto used SAS to conduct the largest study to date on smartphone addiction. They surveyed over 50,000 participants between the ages of 18 and 90 in 195 countries and found that women and younger people are most vulnerable to the addiction, especially in Southeast Asian countries.

“People try to avoid negative emotions by using their phone,” said lead researcher Jay Olson in a press release about the results. “Similar to a pacifier for adults.”

But is it really a smartphone “addiction”?

In this context, “addiction” is a word that many technology researchers, including Mark, prefer to avoid.

“I would be careful with the word addiction,” says Mark, author of the new attention span, says. “An addiction occurs when it really affects a person’s life, for example when they can no longer work.”

Researchers in Barcelona questioned this formulation in a 2018 study, concluding: “Although a behavior may have similar manifestations to addiction in terms of excessive consumption, problems with impulse control and negative consequences, this does not mean that it should be considered an addiction.” Instead, they suggested speaking of “problematic consumption.”

Larry Rosen, professor emeritus of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills and an expert in technology psychology, takes a similar view. Assets that “when you use that term, people start to think that everything is classified as an addiction,” which it is not (yet) – at least according to the bible of psychiatric diagnosis, the DSM-5. There, the possible diagnosis of “Internet Gaming Disorder” (IGD) appears in the appendix and is the closest example.

“I see it in a somewhat simplified way how screens influence people in one of two directions – either in the direction that they have to do more, or in the direction that they are addictive,” says Rosen Assets about how he sees problematic smartphone use. “Or what I would call an obsession that is also biochemically based in the brain, but with other chemicals.”

In the addiction-like situation, he says, you’re chasing a high from dopamine and serotonin, which are “the chemicals you always need more of to feel just as good,” like by wanting to play a game on your phone over and over again. Another problem that Rosen says is “more common” is fear-based obsession — for example, posting something on TikTok and then worrying about how people will react to it, which triggers an anxiety response with a cortisol surge.

“They can work together,” he says of the addiction obsession. “And that’s what I would call the fatal case. That’s the hardest one, because then one part of your biochemistry says, ‘You have to go ahead and check!’ and the other part of your biochemistry says, ‘But I need more and more and more of these things to feel good enough to check.'”

And there is what is called “nomophobia”

“Nomophobia stands for ‘no cell phone phobia’ – it’s a fancy term that basically describes what you do when you don’t have your cell phone with you: you panic,” says Rosen. “And that includes things like phantom vibrations in your pocket, because that’s a kind of panic and fear response.”

Because of this nuance, Rosen argues that “addiction” isn’t quite the right word — and why the panic you feel when you’re away from your phone isn’t the same as the panic a drug addict feels when they can’t get a fix.

“I would say that when addicts can’t get the drugs, they actually get anxious because they need the drugs. But the reason they need the drugs is because they need more and more of them to experience the same high,” he explains. On the other hand, not having a phone causes anxiety because you feel like you’re missing out on something.

“It should be AOMO, fear of missing out. It’s really an anxiety disorder,” he says. “It’s like we have obsessive compulsive disorder. It’s why people carry their phone in their pocket and constantly tap it all day to make sure it’s still there.”

How do you know if you have a smartphone problem?

It all depends on how you measure it.

Using the IGD guidelines as listed in the DSM-5, look for symptoms such as lack of concentration, unpleasant feelings when your phone is taken away, developing tolerance (needing more and more for the same level of pleasure), inability to control your use, giving up other activities, delusions about how often you use the device, and negative consequences such as loss of a job or relationship because of the issue.

The Smartphone Addiction Scale contains 11 self-report statements, including “I am addicted to my smartphone,” “I have difficulty concentrating in class or at work because I use my smartphone,” “I constantly think about my smartphone even when I am not using it,” and asks you to rate each statement on a scale of 1 to 6, from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree.”

Then there are the 2016 proposed diagnostic criteria for smartphone addiction, developed by a group of psychiatrists. They are based on the evaluation of 16 criteria, including preoccupation with the smartphone, repeated failure to resist smartphone use, a significant increase in tolerance, withdrawal symptoms experienced as anxiety or irritability, smartphone use for longer than intended, and loss of previous interests.

Marks has a simpler yardstick: “It becomes a problem when people can’t do what they’re supposed to be doing — when they can’t get their work done and when … they can’t even have a conversation with another person without the phone interrupting them,” she says. “And also when people just can’t stop this behavior,” despite the problems it causes.

How to deal with a smartphone problem

Just start by building your self-confidence, suggests Rosen.

“Look at screen time. Record it – put it in a spreadsheet, write it on a piece of paper. Keep track of it so you know how much time you’re actually spending and where you’re spending it. Look at where you type first, when you open your phone, how often you open your phone. Just be mindful.”

Next, try taking what Rosen calls “tech breaks,” meaning taking a break from what you should be focusing on — work, family — to quickly glance at what you want on your phone.

“Start timing,” he advises. “Look at what you want and set your phone for one minute. When you’ve looked at everything you want, close anything you don’t need for your work — flick it away.” Then set your timer for 15 minutes, which helps your brain “not lose cortisol” because you know you’ll get to it soon, and give yourself another minute to browse.

Continue in this way and gradually increase the duration to 30 minutes and then further.

“Just keep doing that until the alarm goes off and you’re like, ‘Wait, wait, wait, I want to finish reading this paragraph no matter what I’m doing,'” until you’re hopefully so engrossed that you don’t need or want to keep picking up the phone. Just tell people you’re taking tech breaks, Rosen suggests, so they don’t get upset if you don’t respond to texts or calls right away.

“Say, ‘I’ll call you during my next tech break,'” he recommends. Incorporating the word ‘tech break’ into your language will make it easier to stick to the plan.

Mark suggests simply getting into the habit of always leaving your phone in another room, perhaps putting it in a drawer, especially when you have work to do.

“Make it very difficult to get to the phone,” she advises. “At first, people might jump up and run into the other room to look, but after a while you’ll slowly get used to the idea of ​​not having your phone with you. Make it a practice.”

But think twice before storing it in a timed locker à la The social dilemma.

Rosen is in favor of the devices — especially when used in schools — but warns against setting the lock timer for too long when you’re at home. “Because these things annoy you,” he says. “And you might think you’re giving all your attention to learning, but some of your attention is thinking about who texted you or who used TikTok or Instagram.” That’s why he also advises parents against taking away the phone or screen as an object of punishment, he says, “because that just leads to tantrums and anxiety.”

Mark is fundamentally against lockers.

“I’m not a fan of using these methods because you’re outsourcing the behavior to something else. And I’m really a big proponent of people developing their own sense of agency to be able to control their behavior,” she explains. “If you look at the science of behavior change, it’s about agency in developing new behaviors and retraining ourselves, so to speak.”

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