We’re Addicted to Our Smartphones

Well, it certainly seems like we are. You ever go into a restaurant and notice how no one is talking to the person across the table but is looking at their phone?

A couple called NuVodoo took a survey:

Boomers: 54%

Gen X: 76%

Millennials: 86%

Gen Z: 79%

Kiersten Collins, a clinician who treats adolescents with addiction at The Council on Recovery in Houston, says the word addiction gets thrown around a lot. “Yeah, I do think the word addiction gets used culturally, in more of a light-hearted, joking way at times,” she tells KTRH News. While there are people who struggle with addictions to technology, it’s not officially recognized as an addiction, which is a behavior that is harmful and imposes on the functions of everyday life. But Collins says there is no getting around our need for smartphones in our lives. “There is no opportunity to abstain from it altogether. In this day and age we need technology to do our jobs, to go to school, to do a lot of things.”

A smart phone is now a rolodex, our maps, news source, notepad, calculator, mail receptacle, a music player. We watch TV and movies on our phone. Ten years ago we averaged 90 minutes a day on the phone. Today, three hours. Top uses...messaging, social media, and navigation.

A young woman is using her smartphone

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content