WhatsAppitis: Curse or blessing – How is the smartphone changing us?
WhatsAppitis! Please what? Yes, WhatsAppitis. This is essentially a widespread disease. Many people no longer want to put their cell phones down. But this has potentially serious consequences for health, sleep and concentration.
On average, a German smartphone user spends more than two hours on their cell phone every day. Even 41 percent look at their cell phone in the first 15 minutes after getting up. 38 percent have already tried to limit their cell phone consumption, but only two percent managed to do so.
These figures from the 2017 study by the business consulting firm Deloitte show that the smartphone is a constant companion for many people. You are constantly sending messages, making phone calls, playing games, listening to music, getting information, orienting yourself, taking photos, ... - this list can be continued indefinitely. Each of us is probably already aware that this takes an enormous amount of time. You just want to quickly answer a message and ten minutes later you still have your smartphone in your hand.
High attention for apps
But why do you constantly have the desire to look at your cell phone? Many apps, especially in the social media sector, are programmed in such a way that we spend as much time as possible on them. For the most part, this time is worth money. Many business models are designed to sell advertising. And the more advertising we see, the better it is for the app operators.
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Of course, the social media giants like Facebook, Instagram and Co also entice us with other goodies. We all know the good feeling of receiving likes on a post or photo. Our brain then releases the happiness hormone dopamine, the process is comparable to what happens when we receive praise. This means our brain gradually learns that a certain behavior produces happiness hormones. A desire arises for more of the same.
“To maximize the time we spend on our devices, their designers manipulate our brain chemistry using methods known to cause addictive behavior,” writes American science journalist Catherine Price in her book “How to break up with your smartphone “.
But that's not the only thing that sounds scary. You don't want to be manipulated.
The constant use of smartphones and the constant checking of notifications can also lead to dangerous situations in other ways. Werner Herzog's documentary “From one second to the next” (freely accessible online) is about traffic accidents that only happened because drivers read or wrote messages while driving.
Cell phone as a cause of accident
It is impossible to say how many accidents are actually caused by cell phone use while driving, as it is difficult to prove that this was the reason for the accident, says a spokesman for the Berlin police, Stefan Petersen. In 2018, it was actually possible to prove in only 38 cases that the use of a cell phone caused an accident. However, in 2018, almost 21,000 traffic offenses were initiated in connection with the prohibited use of electronic devices.
Psychologists from the TU Braunschweig, on the other hand, observed a motorway exit and found that almost one in ten drivers were using their smartphones behind the wheel.
The other side of the coin is of course: If an accident occurs, it is much easier to get help since the advent of cell phones.
The thing with electromagnetic radiation
The question of electromagnetic radiation and whether it is harmful to health is as old as the history of cell phones. There is still no clear answer to this question. An unclear answer is: “Not likely.”
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A study funded by the US government showed that high doses of UMTS and 2G frequencies can trigger heart tumors in male rats. Such tumors are rare in humans and have apparently not become more common since cell phones were invented. Nevertheless, it cannot be ruled out that cell phones could promote tumors. There are hardly any completed research projects left on LTE and 5G. These standards are too new. Evidence from experiments confirms that 5G could be very worrying.
“Whatsappitis” – tendonitis 2.0
The Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has evaluated studies that examine the connections between cell phone use and poor posture and pain. The result shows that intensive cell phone use does increase the risk of musculoskeletal disorders. This also includes “Whatsappitis”, a tendonitis of the thumb.
“The continued movement of the thumb towards the little finger is stressful and leads to pain in the wrist on the thumb side,” is the diagnosis made by the specialist .
Using a smartphone with one hand demands too much from our thumbs. It is simply not designed for constant stretching and abduction movements.
In addition to Whatsappitis, the smartphone seems to be a true creator of new disease patterns: cell phone neck, cell phone elbow, no-mobile phone phobia (nomophobia), smartphone acne and iPhone shoulder are among them. It has now been proven that using a cell phone late in the evening has a negative impact on falling asleep and also on the quality of sleep. This is ensured by the high blue content of the displays, which inhibits the release of the sleep hormone melatonin.
Addictive smartphone
The very fact that many people can't seem to do anything else, even in traffic that isn't always safe, shows that addiction is also at play. Experts have seen an increase in online addiction ever since the cell phone has become as versatile as a mini computer. The Pinta study (“Prevalence of Internet Addiction”) came to the conclusion that young people in particular are at risk. Many parents also fear that their children could become addicted to the smartphone and its features.
Cell phone use in schools
A difficult question about how best to use smartphones at school. In Germany, only Bavaria has a ban on cell phones in class and during breaks. Smartphones may only be used here if they are needed for the teaching unit. However, Heinz-Peter Meidinger, President of the German Teachers' Association and director at a Bavarian high school, points out that the cell phone ban is unlikely to be implemented in practice. The devices are not collected by the schools, so many students simply switch their cell phones to silent mode. Too often the temptation is too great and at least a quick glance at the smartphone is quickly done. Meidinger cites a US study that shows that even muted cell phones take up 30 percent of young people's attention.
Poor grades due to more cell phone use?
Germany ranks ninth worldwide in average daily online time on smartphones and tablets. Brazil is the leader with an average of five smartphone hours per day. There is also a study from Brazil that found that for every 100 minutes of smartphone use every day, school performance would deteriorate by 6.3 percent.
Massive distraction from cell phones
People who spend a lot of time on their smartphones therefore have less time for real interactions with other people. “Real” social life is put aside, so it often seems normal that a call or message on the cell phone is given priority and a “real” conversation is simply interrupted.
Psychologists have found that people are often distracted by their smartphones and that is the only thing that draws their focus. The “cell phone lifestyle” generally makes people more distractible. It seems to be becoming increasingly difficult for many people to concentrate on a particular thing for more than a few seconds.
Source: tagesspiegel.de
Article image: Shutterstock / Rvector / DimaBerlin
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