Stop Checking Your Phone: It’s Giving You Anxiety and No One’s Texting You Anyway
She's laughing at air. (Photo by Darren McCollester/Newsmakers)
You probably think that constantly checking your phone gives off the impression that you're a really busy person with tons of friends and an active social life that rivals Kim Kardashian's, but it doesn't. Nope, a new study reveals that you're just anxiety-riddled loser like the rest of us.
According to the Daily Mail, researchers at Kent University polled 500 students on their phone usage and found that when participants spent more time on their phones, their anxiety peaked at alarmingly high levels because they felt “obligated to keep in constant touch.” Some students said that being wired to several social networks or constantly answering texts made it even harder for them to log off. As a result, not only did their grapes drop, but they felt obligated to keep checking in.
"It makes me feel like I have another obligation in my life," said one sad student. Using a "clinical measure of anxiety,"researchers explained that students no longer have any downtime because they're too busy FOMOing on their phones, which doesn't give their mental health the break it needs.
‘There is no me time or solitude left in some of these students’ lives and I think mental health requires a bit of personal alone time to reflect, look inward, process life's events, and just recover from daily stressors," said researcher Andrew Lepp.
Please say there's an app to help me achieve that.
