Why We Can’t Look Away From Our Screens

My husband and I try to keep each other accountable when it comes to incessant scrolling through Instagram, Facebook and other apps that waste a lot of time.  And when I say hold each other accountable, sometimes it does not end well.

Last night, as I was reading every app on my phone worth of useless information, Mike said to me (nicely) “Erin, get off your phone”.  I immediately got defensive and shot back “I’m reading the Post! I need to know the news!”  Ok, so we all know that the NYPost isn’t quite news, and maybe the Kristi Yamaguchi tweet to Nanci Kerrigan that I was reading about wasn’t news either.  But, I got defensive anyway.

Addiction to technology has been a concern to me for the past 3-4 years.  I have slowly watched myself become more addicted, resulting in anxiety and even depression. Instagram has certainly fueled this addiction – now more than ever we are given access to compare our lives to others portrayal of theirs with a bottomless pit of unnecessary information.

In the NY Times Article, Why We Can’t Look Away from our Screens, Adam Alter defines addiction as:  “…something you enjoy doing in the short term, that undermines your well-being in the long term — but that you do compulsively anyway.”

When we think of addiction, it’s possible to view it as dark place: drugs, alcoholism, rock bottom, people that can’t “control” themselves.  The majority of us would never place that label on ourselves.  Yet, I feel like there are times where I am truly addicted to certain things: my phone being one of them.

How does mindless scrolling through your phone affect your day?  Leave comments below!