People Who’re Always On Their Phones ‘More Likely To Be Depressed’

People who are constantly on their phones are ‘more likely to be depressed’, according to a study.
The research found a person who’s constantly on their mobile phone and checking for updates, could be trying to ‘alter their mood’, whether or not they’re aware of it.
Researchers said people who ‘can’t put down their phones’ are more prone to being moody and temperamental.


Researchers wrote in the journal Personality and Individual Differences:

A person who is moody and temperamental may be more likely to be addicted to their cell phone than more stable individuals, much like a variety of substance addictions, cell phone addiction may be an attempt at mood repair.
Incessant checking of emails, sending texts, tweeting and surfing the web may act as pacifiers for the unstable individual distracting him or herself from the worries of the day and providing solace, albeit temporarily, from such concerns.

It was also discovered, quieter, more introverted people are less likely to be hooked on technology than the more outgoing individuals, with researchers adding:

Those who express feelings of shyness and bashfulness may be less likely to become dependent on their cell phones than their more extroverted counterparts.

In another study by the same university, published last year, researchers found 60 per cent of students felt ‘agitated’ if they couldn’t access their phone.
On average, the students spent 95 minutes a day texting, 49 minutes emailing and 39 minutes checking Facebook on their phone.
Every year Deloitte release results of a Global Mobile Consumer Survey and this year, it found Americans collectively check their smartphones upwards of eight billion times every day.

On average, people in the US across all age groups check their phones 46 times per day, up from 33 in 2014.
To get to eight billion, Deloitte multiplied the average number of looks per day by the number of smartphone users in the US, which the company says stands at 185 million. Woah.
People between the ages of 18 and 24 look at their phones most often, which isn’t surprising, checking their phones on average of 74 times a day.
Americans in the 25 to 34 age range check their phones 50 times per day and those between 35 and 44 do so 35 times a day.

The survey found most people check their phones while they’re out shopping, watching television and during ‘leisure time’ – 81 per cent of Americans spend time looking at their phones while in a restaurant.
Craig Wigginton, Vice Chairman and US Telecommunications Leader for Deloitte, said:

Some of this is going to require new etiquettes emerging.

Most people across all age groups said they look at their phones ‘within five minutes of waking up’ and 26 per cent of those in the 18 to 24 age range said they look at their phones immediately when they wake up in the morning.
The first thing most people do on their phones in the morning is now text messaging, not checking email, which was the most popular answer in 2014 – although I’d have thought it was checking social media!
Technology is taking over our lives. Make it stop.
Credit : unilad