In our near future technology may be considered the same type of addiction as smoking. Our brains are getting addicted to our technology. Our levels of the pleasurable neurotransmitter dopamine, which affects our pleasure circuits, increases over 100 percent when we are on our tech devices. We are dependent upon technology to do our daily activities. Studies show that smartphones can affect your brain.

Looking at Your Smart Phone Creates Health Problems

One of the many challenges we face with constant smartphone use is the physical changes to our body. Research shows that looking down at a cell phone is the equivalent of placing a 60-pound weight on your neck. This creates enormous problems for spine and organ development leading to unimaginable health consequences and healthcare costs in our future.

Technology Turns You Inward Not Outward

Our tech youth also have a decreased awareness of reading other people’s body language. They are losing their ability to read another person’s emotional cues. Social skills in millennials and generation z are decreasing with the advent of screens. Our young people have little or no eye contact with others, experience greater loneliness, and are more self- obsessed.

Smartphone Use Can Lead to Mental Health Problems

Excessive cell phone use creates stress. People feel compelled to check their phone which can trigger mental health issues like depression and anxiety. People feel compelled to check their phones and live in a state of chronic stress which creates mental health issues like anxiety and depression. A study looked at the rise in depression and suicide in teenagers in recent years. The CDC had noted a rise in the rates of both over the years 2010-2015 and found that girls were particularly at risk. The girls’ suicide rate rose by 65 percent in five years. The number of girls with severe depression rose by 58 percent.

Mindfulness is Technology’s Healing Balm

Your simple awareness and living with greater mindfulness is the key to stopping technology addiction. Become aware of your technology use. Ask yourself some questions.

• How many hours of screen time are you using a day?
• How can you create a plan to put away your smartphone for a certain time each day? When you get home from work put your phone in a dish on your counter and do not pick it up unless you are using it. What does it feel like to be living in your home with no phone attached to your hand or in your pocket?
• Can you put your phone on a dresser away from your bed when you go to bed? This allows you to mentally unhook from your phone.
• Do not look at your phone while you are walking. It is not only dangerous but you are missing out on experiencing the immeasurable gifts of life and nature around you.
• Do you want to continue to live a distracted, shallow life with less meaning and happiness?

Practice My Acronym A.C.E. Your Life®

• A=Awareness. The more you develop a greater awareness for what you are choosing to do in the present the more information you gather about your habits.
• C=Choice. Once you know your smartphone habits you make a choice on how you want to experience your life. Put your phone down for certain times during the day. Choice not chance determines your destiny.
• E=Experience and energy. Experience your new energy and presence in the world without so much screen time. You have moved from living as a prisoner to technology to a person who enjoys your new-found energy.