Putting down your phone can help you live longer
Excess Screen Time Raises Stress Hormone Levels Which Can Affect Heart Rate, Spike Blood Sugar, Cause High BP
Catherine Price 2.5.2019
If you’re like many people, you may have decided that you want to spend less time staring at your phone. It’s a good idea: An increasing body of evidence suggests that the time we spend on our smartphones is interfering with our sleep, self-esteem, relationships, memory, attention spans, creativity, productivity and problem-solving and decision-making skills.
But there is another reason for us to rethink our relationships with our devices. By chronically raising levels of cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone, our phones may be threatening our health and shortening our lives.
Most discussions of phones’ biochemical effects have focused on dopamine, a brain chemical that helps us form habits — and addictions. This manipulation of our dopamine systems is why many experts believe that we are developing behavioural addictions to our phones. But our phones’ effects on cortisol are potentially even more alarming.
Cortisol is our primary fight-or-flight hormone. Its release triggers physiological changes, such as spikes in blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar. These effects can be lifesaving if you are in physical danger. But our bodies also release cortisol in response to stressors where an increased heart rate isn’t going to do much good, such as checking your phone to find an angry email from your boss.
The average American spends four hours a day staring at their smartphone and keeps it within arm’s reach nearly all the time.
“Your cortisol levels are elevated when your phone is in sight or nearby, or when you hear it or even think you hear it,” said David Greenfield, professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
But while doing so might soothe you for a second, it may make things worse in the long run. Any time you check your phone, you’re likely to find something else stressful waiting for you, leading to another spike in cortisol and another craving to check your phone to make your anxiety go away. This cycle, when continuously reinforced, leads to chronically elevated cortisol levels.
And chronically elevated cortisol levels have been tied to an increased risk of serious health problems, including depression, obesity, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, fertility issues, high blood pressure, heart attack, dementia and stroke. NYT NEWS SERVICE
Excess Screen Time Raises Stress Hormone Levels Which Can Affect Heart Rate, Spike Blood Sugar, Cause High BP
Catherine Price 2.5.2019
If you’re like many people, you may have decided that you want to spend less time staring at your phone. It’s a good idea: An increasing body of evidence suggests that the time we spend on our smartphones is interfering with our sleep, self-esteem, relationships, memory, attention spans, creativity, productivity and problem-solving and decision-making skills.
But there is another reason for us to rethink our relationships with our devices. By chronically raising levels of cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone, our phones may be threatening our health and shortening our lives.
Most discussions of phones’ biochemical effects have focused on dopamine, a brain chemical that helps us form habits — and addictions. This manipulation of our dopamine systems is why many experts believe that we are developing behavioural addictions to our phones. But our phones’ effects on cortisol are potentially even more alarming.
Cortisol is our primary fight-or-flight hormone. Its release triggers physiological changes, such as spikes in blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar. These effects can be lifesaving if you are in physical danger. But our bodies also release cortisol in response to stressors where an increased heart rate isn’t going to do much good, such as checking your phone to find an angry email from your boss.
The average American spends four hours a day staring at their smartphone and keeps it within arm’s reach nearly all the time.
“Your cortisol levels are elevated when your phone is in sight or nearby, or when you hear it or even think you hear it,” said David Greenfield, professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
But while doing so might soothe you for a second, it may make things worse in the long run. Any time you check your phone, you’re likely to find something else stressful waiting for you, leading to another spike in cortisol and another craving to check your phone to make your anxiety go away. This cycle, when continuously reinforced, leads to chronically elevated cortisol levels.
And chronically elevated cortisol levels have been tied to an increased risk of serious health problems, including depression, obesity, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, fertility issues, high blood pressure, heart attack, dementia and stroke. NYT NEWS SERVICE
Any time you check your phone, you’re likely to find something stressful leading to craving to check your phone again. This cycle, when continuously reinforced, leads to chronically elevated cortisol levels
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