Physical Injury
In a growing age of technology, people are tied to their cell phones whether driving, walking, using the bathroom or even having sex. The problem? According to research, people just can’t put them down, resulting in clumsiness, lack of attention, or phycological issues. A survey of smartphone owners in 2014 revealed that 86 percent of participants suffered an injury as a result of tripping, falling, or walking into a lamppost while using their phones.
But there’s more! Despite knowing the dangers of texting while driving, 98 percent are aware of the risk and 75 percent still do it, according to a study commissioned by AT&T. Furthermore, at least 50 percent of Americans surveyed (ages 18-29) use their phone while on the toilet, exposing themselves to massive amounts of harmful bacteria.
“You have in the air pathogens such as E. coli, salmonella, C. difficile, norovirus,” says Canadian germ expert and Huffington Post blogger Jason Tetro. “These could get deposited onto these devices. That could then lead to either self-infection, or transmission of infection through touching somebody else.”
Addiction
There’s a link between the overuse of smartphones and behavioral and emotional issues among elementary aged kids.
One study states, “Children referred to a community based pediatric mental health center were screened for smartphone addiction and related problematic behavior using the Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale and the Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). After considering factors like gender, usage, and internalization symptoms (anxiety/depression, withdrawal), variants showing the most significant correlation with smartphone addiction were usage time, internalization problems somatization, anxiety/depression, withdrawal, aggressive behaviors, and total behavior problems.”
The big takeaway? While, your cell phone may be a big part of your life, there’s much to be learned about the long time effects of regular use.