{"id":1010,"date":"2016-04-01T11:27:53","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T18:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.seasidemedicalpractice.com\/dev\/\/dev\/?p=1010"},"modified":"2016-04-01T11:27:53","modified_gmt":"2016-04-01T18:27:53","slug":"april-newsletter-smart-phone-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.seasidemedicalpractice.com\/dev\/april-newsletter-smart-phone-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"April Newsletter: Smart Phone Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our Addiction to Smartphones<\/span><\/h2>\n

by Nasimeh Yazdani, M.D.<\/h2>\n

As some of you know, I have been away for three weeks visiting family in Iran.\u00a0 I left my iPhone 6 on the plane ride there and never received it back.\u00a0 The shock of loosing my phone left me in a daze for the next 24 hours, wondering if I\u2019ll ever lay my hands on it again.\u00a0 My eyes craved the light emitted from the magical screen.\u00a0 My thoughts fixated on the Instagram, Twitter and Facebook updates that I was sorely missing.\u00a0 Reluctant to adjust to life without a smart phone, I grabbed other’s phones and tried to get online to quench my thirst for data.\u00a0 It just wasn’t\u00a0the same. My\u00a0phone was a part of me, a reflection of Nasime Yazdani, that no other device could replicate.\u00a0 I had lost a major part of my life\u2014 and with that loss, a realization came; I had a smartphone addiction.\u00a0 I wondered how many other people are afflicted with\u00a0this condition, \u00a0a simple Google search revealed that I was not alone. According to the article Addicted to Your Smartphone? Here’s What to Do<\/a>, Dr. Perlow of Harvard Business School, surveyed 1600 managers and professionals, and found that the compulsion to use their smartphones throughout the day is shockingly high.
\nThe stats: 70% of people check their smartphones within an hour of getting up, 56% check within an hour of going to sleep, 51% check continuously during a vacation, and 44% said they would experience \u201ca great deal of anxiety\u201d if they lost their phone and couldn\u2019t replace it for a week.\u00a0 <\/strong>Another study found that smartphone usage had more than doubled in a 2-year span between 2011 and 2013.\u00a0 The addiction has grown so much, that we are seeing a phenomenon called phantom smartphone buzzing<\/em>, a feeling of thinking our phone is vibrating when it isn\u2019t.\u00a0 The obsessive-compulsive nature of checking our smartphones and staying on for extended periods of time, has now been linked to dopamine surge from the ventral segmental area of the midbrain\u2014the brain\u2019s pleasure center. \u00a0 Similar to how cocaine, nicotine, or heroine stimulate dopamine release, smartphone addiction primarily creates a pleasure seeking experience.\u00a0 Similarly, when the behavior reaches harmful level, such that it interferes with social relationships, like ignoring your friends at lunch while you post on FB how much you\u2019re enjoying lunch with them, or work efficiency, then you must make the decision to put a stop to it.\u00a0 Or in my case, unintentionally leave your phone on the plane and be forced to stop.
\nAfter three weeks of nonuse, I definitely noticed the compulsion change.\u00a0 It became less severe and persistent.\u00a0 I also noticed that checking my phone for social media updates, and my emails was less pleasurable.\u00a0 The anxiety had settled and overall, my focus\u00a0and attention grew deeper.\u00a0 I planted roots in real conversations rich with love and laughter, not photos with a one sentence label.\u00a0 I now only check my email once a day, and definitely never use my phone while driving.\u00a0 You too can start to make similar changes in your smartphone usage, and during your next annual physical, report to me the positive difference it has made on your life.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to view all internal medicine services at Seaside Medical!<\/p>\n

Helpful Tips for Limiting Daily Smartphone Use<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1. <\/span>Set a time limit on your usage :<\/strong> Try setting a 1 hour limit for social media and unproductive communication. You can even track your phone use by downloading\u00a0apps like Moment.<\/a>\u00a0You can set thresholds\u00a0and you’ll be notified when you go\u00a0<\/span>over.<\/span>
\n2. <\/span>Avoid obsessive browsing :<\/strong> Yes, that bed spread you want on crateandbarrel.com will still be there tomorrow. Come back to it during your designated use time.\u00a0<\/span>
\n3. <\/span>Never text or use your phone while driving :<\/strong> Turn it off when you get in your car or place it on ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode so you can still use the navigation if needed.\u00a0<\/span>
\n4. <\/span>Engage with those around you instead of ignoring them :<\/strong> Make an effort to have interpersonal conversations with people when you’re with them. Put your phone in your purse or in your pocket, or better yet, leave it in a different room entirely.\u00a0<\/span>
\n5. <\/span>Don’t lose sleep over it :<\/strong> Turn your phone off 1 hour before bedtime so you don’t become distracted with your phone’s happenings.\u00a0<\/span>
\n6. <\/span>Pick a\u00a0different activity:<\/span><\/strong> Whenever you feel that familiar impulse to check your phone, pull out a book you’ve been meaning to read, you’ll be surprised how quickly you can get through\u00a0a book if you keep this up.\u00a0<\/span>
\n7. Positive Self-Reinforcement :<\/strong> Reward yourself with an activity or your favorite food\u00a0when you have successfully followed these tips.\u00a0<\/span>
\n8. Focus on the here-and-now :<\/strong> Center yourself in the present moment and take in your surroundings. You can miss so much, including your own thoughts and reactions\u00a0when your\u00a0head is buried in your phone.\u00a0<\/span>
\n9. Take a phone-free vacation:<\/strong> Spend at least one\u00a0weekend away without wifi or cell service so you have no choice but to focus on other things.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our Addiction to Smartphones by Nasimeh Yazdani, M.D. As some of you know, I have been away for three weeks visiting family in Iran.\u00a0 I left my iPhone 6 on the plane ride there and never received it back.\u00a0 The shock of loosing my phone left me in a daze for the next 24 hours, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Our Addiction to Smartphones by Nasimeh Yazdani, M.D.","_seopress_titles_desc":"Are you addicted to your phone or feeling anxious and upset when you can't get your phone? Get helpful tips to limit your daily Smartphone use. Read Here!","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seasidemedicalpractice.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seasidemedicalpractice.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seasidemedicalpractice.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seasidemedicalpractice.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seasidemedicalpractice.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seasidemedicalpractice.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seasidemedicalpractice.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seasidemedicalpractice.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seasidemedicalpractice.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}