How Are We Addicted?

Let me count the ways. In fact, in the spirit of perspective everyone is invited to give this addiction issue some thought.

With the media and politicians making so much fuss about the opioid epidemic, it’s easy to overlook the other ways we have become addicted.

Smartphones would be a good place to start. I read recently that eighty-seven per cent of smartphone users go to sleep and wake up with their phones, phones that they touch, swipe or tap on average over 2,600 times a day.

This USA Today article emphasizes the negative affect smartphone use can have on sleep patterns. That should be obvious, but the frightening statistics are at the beginning of the piece. “Nearly 7 in 10 children, or a slightly lesser percentage than their parents, kept their mobile device either in bed or within easy reach. And 29% of the younger group actually sleeps with the device, compared to 12% of parents.” In addition, “36% of teens wake up at least once during the night to check the device; about 1 in 4 parents do likewise.”

This is not new. The Business Insider had the same warning with similar statistics at the end of 2012, over six years ago, and the number of users has increased greatly since then. The same was reported at a site called constant contact three years later, and at uberguxmo at the end of the following year.

From sleep we move on to exercise. In another piece USA Today reports that technology may be ruining our workouts. In one extreme example, a woman talks about walking out of the gym if she forgets her fitness tracker at home or if the battery dies. They also report, “Experts say that fitness trackers can motivate us to get moving, however, unfavorable readings can lead to low self-esteem and feelings of guilt. Studies show that smartphones encourage people to hit the gym, while also inhibiting their ability to do so safely and efficiently.” One fitness instructor reports, “when you use your cellphone while resistance training, you’re actually doing less…you’re more likely to spend more time overall engaging in exercise if you left the device at home.”

This need to have smartphones or some other device at hand keeps increasing. The developers come up with a new app or feature that encourages users to turn over control of their lives bit by bit. Ads about taking your entertainment with you are ubiquitous. Banks and credit cards encourage customers to check their balances on the go. There’s even an app to tell when to take a break and get up to move around when we have spent too much time on the computer getting that adrenalin rush from likes, shares or hateful comments from like-minded friends.

We have subcontracted our memories to technology, storing facts and information in the cloud instead of the brain – use it or lose it? Students will argue that all facts are like phone numbers, they don’t have to remember them because they can always look them up from anywhere in the world. But facts are not knowledge; facts are not wisdom.

Years ago, if you had seen someone at the grocery store holding the side of his head or talking to the air, you would have thought he was sick or crazy. Today you just know he left the house with an incomplete shopping list.

With dependence on GPS capabilities, fewer Americans can use a map to find their destination.

Congress is considering a law to control robocalls, knowing that the lure has become so great that people are unable to ignore calls from unknown or blocked numbers. They answer and then are irritated.

Cities are passing laws about texting and walking. Why was there no need for laws about reading a book while crossing the street?

What began as a convenience, has made us dependent. The pity is that instead of being appreciative, we take the new technology for granted, just as we have become so complacent about electricity, indoor plumbing, air travel, air conditioning, microwaves, dishwashers and all the other conveniences we inherited from the last century.