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No matter where you go on any given day, 9 out of 10 people you see are glued to their phones. Sure, smart phones make it easier than ever to stay connected and in the loop, but they can have negative impacts on your mental health. Check out four ways your iPhone is giving you anxiety and how you can avoid them.
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Being Afraid To Part From Your iPhone
A study from the University of Missouri found that when people were away from their iPhones during important tasks, like taking a test or leading an office presentation, they felt anxious and performed poorly on the task. Being away from our phones during important moments tends to give us anxiety and can even increase our heart rates and blood pressures. Avoid separation anxiety by slowly waning yourself away from your phone and leaving it on silent. Try turing it off or leaving it in another room for a few minutes each day. Keeping it on silent also prevents you from constantly feeling the need to check it, too.
Having Your Phone Present At Meals
According to MIT professor and author Sherry Turkle in her book "Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age," even having your phone in front of you at the dinner table makes you half present. You're not giving your friends and family your undivided attention if you're constantly checking to see if your phone screen has lit up. Turn your phone off during meals, or leave it in your purse if you're eating out with friends. Some restaurants, like Chick-Fil-A even have incentives for implementing the "no cell phone" rule.
Constantly Checking Social Media
Bringing up social media and anxiety is like opening Pandora's box of mental health issues. From constantly comparing your social life to your friends' lives on Facebook to feeling depressed when your Instagram selfie doesn't get as many likes as you had hoped, social media presents a massive amount of anxiety issues. These issues can also manifest in your relationships, as well. In an article from The University Daily Kansan, social media can cause jealousy and mistrust in relationships. This problem doesn't have an easy solutuion since most of us are so wrapped up in our digital lives and don't want to go off the grid completely. But, to avoid anxiety, limit your social media intake to one or two times a day. And, if you're having a movie night in and all your friends went out for GNO, avoid checking their posts on social media.
Never Turning Your Phone Off
Constantly leaving your phone on can give you anxiety and also depletes your battery life way faster. Having your phone on 24/7 makes you feel like you constantly need to check it, especially when you think you feel a text vibrate from your pocket or hear a phantom ring. Experts from the Apple Genuis Bar advise turning your phone off once a week for an entire night. This can help give you more piece of mind and help out your battery. And stay calm—all your texts from your mom will still be there when you wake up.
