Addiction to smartphones is a huge topic nowadays. On average we use our phone up to five hours a day. According to King’s University, we can check our phone up to 80 times a day. Cell phone addiction is now such a problem we have rehab clinics for it.

   It’s no secret apps are made to be addicting. Certain apps will draw us in with constant updates and notifications. App designers study what people like and what triggers the brain to release dopamine which is very pleasing to us.  This explains why after getting a certain amount of likes on Instagram you may feel very satisfied.

 Ex-Google design ethicist, Tristan Harris, is said to be against these app designers. Harris owns a non-profit organization called Time Well Spent, for app companies to use ethical design standards for their products. “I’m an expert on how technology hijacks our psychological vulnerabilities,” Harris explains how our optimistic views on a certain app have many negatives, “One way (apps) will hijack us is to keep us consuming things, even when we’re not consuming anything.” One way to look at this is how youtube will put autoplay on for after a video finishes, we end up watching more and more.

  How does this so-called addiction impact us? For starters, there’s our attention span, which was once twelve seconds and has now been lowered to eight, which is less than a goldfish.  

  Another change humans have undergone since the release of cell phones is we’re no longer as social as we used to be. Hanging out with friends these days is mainly sitting around on a phone with them on their phone.

 The next biggest issue is sleep deprivation. The blue light that is emitted from smartphones will reduce our melatonin intake, creating us to be more awake at the supposed “lights out” time. According to Sleep.org, we should stay off electronics 300 minutes before bed.

   The final topic to this issue is rehab. Is it really necessary? Many doctors believe cell phone addiction along with game addiction can be very dangerous, some would even compare it to having a drug addiction. Recently a young girl was sent to rehab for an addiction to the popular game Fortnite. Her parents reported that when trying to take the console away the girl attacked them.

   When it comes to any rehab, the goal is to sober up from a certain addiction. Take drug addiction, for example, you would stay in rehab for however long a doctor recommends. Nurses and therapy will provide help for withdrawals. Once you leave, there’s a good chance you’re better.

When it comes to rehab for phone addiction or gaming addiction there’s isolation from electronics of all types. The only thing is, once a person gets out of this rehab, how do we know for sure that they won’t fall back into their old patterns? The Internet is much easier to access than drugs.  Do you think rehab for cell phone or gaming addiction is necessary?