How Smartphone Addiction Can Harm Your Health

Smartphones have become an inseparable gadget for human beings. Today, we have become highly dependent on the smartphone for doing numerous things in our day to day life. Apart from voice calling, you can do multiple things on these phones right from clicking photos, listening to music, browse the internet, shop online, make bill payments, do money transactions, set appointments, purchase movie tickets, play games, book hotels, and many other things. In short, the entire world has summed up in your mobile phone.

Right from your official work to having some leisurely time, everything can be done on the smartphone. No matter you use iPhone or Android, these phones come loaded with features that can simplify your life a lot many ways. The smartphone may come with many advantages for the user, but in recent times, the addiction to smartphones has become a significant issue of the modern days. Both kids and adults are falling prey to this addiction, and it can have severe harmful effects on your life and health. Smartphones can have several negative impacts on your health, and you might be inviting them knowingly or unknowingly. It can cause both physical and mental problems to the individual. To know what problem can smartphone can cause to your health, read the points given below.

Tech neck

While looking down towards your mobile phone for using it, the weight of your head can put a lot of pressure on the neck and spine. It can lead to a condition which is known as tech neck. It can cause irritation and tingling pain in your neck. It happens if you use your phone for a prolonged time and continuously look downward at its screen. The improper posture of your neck can result in uncomfortable pain and can also lead to chronic issues of the spine and neck.

Weight gain

Sticking to the phone for a prolonged time also tends to make you immobile and a couch potato. It mainly happens to people who are addicted to playing games on the phone or incessantly browse social media postings. The lack of activity decreases the amount of calorie-burning, and eventually, it leads to weight gain in the person. It can result even in obesity, which can invite the serious disease of diabetes as well. The mobile phone addiction also alters your appetite, which can result in irregular eating habits, which can contribute to other health issues as well apart from obesity.

Lack of attention

Mobile phone addicts have a huge issue of concentration and can lack attention to their work. The mind is always diverted by the notifications that pop up from the mobile phone in the form of messages, email alerts, and social media notifications. As a result, they are not able to focus properly on any job that they are assigned. Their performance also suffers due to this issue. They always have an urge to check the notifications on the phone and mostly prioritize them over everything. This ultimately breaks their attentiveness on their work and mess up their job completely.

Makes you sleepless

The smartphone is turning out to be the biggest enemy of sleep these days. People are getting habituated of getting stuck to their smartphone screens and do all types of activities like posting social media status, chatting on message apps, watch videos, or browsing the internet. All these things are driving the sleep away from them as they are fully focused on their smartphone. Besides, the blue-light emitting from their mobile phone screen can mess your melatonin, which helps in regulating your sleep-wake pattern. If this becomes imbalanced, it can lead to more difficulty in sleeping at night. The problem can even take the shape of chronic insomnia, which further worsens your sleep problem. 
                 
Texting thumb

Smartphones also affect your body parts in a negative way. Along with your neck, you also get affected by texting thumb. It is a repetitive stress injury that happens because of excessive texting. All the smartphones are not of ergonomic design, and overusing them can cause pain in your thumb. It can even make you a bit less dexterous for some time.

Develops anxiety

Smartphones can make you anxious in a very peculiar way. Though you are able to stay connected with your friend circle with its help, you get a constant urge of replying or responding to every message or posts of your friend circle. Also, checking the emails in the morning, which notifies you of the extra burden of work throughout the day, gives rise to anxiety and irritation that increases the stress factor in you as well.

Digital amnesia

By noting down every small detail on the smartphone like phone number and daily tasks on a notepad app, your ability to remember things decreases. You have to rely on the phone to check out every single number and task of the day. It impairs your memory skills and pushes you towards forgetfulness.