Do you know someone who can’t seem to put their phone down, as if they’re addicted to it?
Research shows nearly six in 10 Americans admit to dealing with heavy attachment to their phones — with average daily usage reaching four to five hours or more.
To learn more about the relationship people have with their phones, GBH’s Morning Edition spoke with Dr. Michael Rich, founding director of the Digital Wellness Lab, and of the Clinic for Interactive Media and Internet Disorders, at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Can people actually be addicted to their phones?
Dr. Rich says that the research on phone use actually points away from what we know about addiction.
“First of all, addiction is not a medical term at all. It’s a social term and it is a stigmatizing one,” he said. “We think of people who are addicted as weak and worthy of pity or punishment or both. What it is really, is [the] use of a pleasurable but unnecessary substance, such as alcohol or nicotine or cocaine.”
Dr. Rich says addiction is driven by the physiologic need to feel better, and then not to feel worse when withdrawing.
He says interactive media — including internet, social media, or gaming, is a “necessary resource” for things like learning, communicating, shopping and connecting with others.
“The folks who lose control are driven by psychological, not physiologic, drivers. And the goal here is not abstinence — we can’t live without it really — but self-regulation.”
Dr. Rich adds that the model for phone attachment more closely resembles binge eating disorder.
“It’s not talked about that much, but if you think about it, it’s use of a necessary resource — food — that is driven to extremes by a psychological need of some kind that needs to be filled.”
How can you have a healthy relationship with your phone?
While phones are a necessary tool for everyday life, the key to a balanced relationship with them is to learn when to put them down, according to Dr. Rich.
“We can’t really measure screentime anymore because the way we use screens now is we move in and out of them almost constantly and seamlessly,” he said. “The problem with screentime is that it’s what you’re not doing because you’re on a screen, rather than necessarily that what you are doing on the screen is toxic.”
Dr. Rich recommends using your phone “purposefully and in directed ways” — like for learning or communication, and then putting it down to take a walk in the woods or have a conversation with a person in real life, or IRL.
What about technological fixes — like phone 'bricks’ and phone blocking apps?
The “digital detox economy” — or products and services designed to help consumers reduce screen time and manage tech addiction — continues to be a multi-billion dollar industry.
But Dr. Rich says they’re not always an effective method to address the issue.
“One of the problems with tech fixes in general is there’s a tendency that we have to set it and forget it,” he said. “In other words — to say, 'okay, the app is going to take care of that for me or for my child,' you know?”
While detox technology can be used in meaningful ways, it has to be combined with a real commitment to address the problem, Dr. Rich said.
“It’s sort of like nicotine patches or nicotine gun for quitting smoking. It only works if you have a purposeful approach to it and are using it to achieve an end.”
What are the benefits to reducing screentime?
If you are able to find the motivation to unplug, Dr. Rich says it can bring a wealth of benefits.
“Boredom is actually the crucible of creativity and imagination because it not only gives us mind space, but that mind space is a little uncomfortable. So we fill it with our imagination, with our what-ifs,” he said.
He added that less time spent looking at a phone screen also allows for adults, especially parents, to be more present with their loved ones.
“I talk to my patients and ask them what their parents could do better, and almost always the first thing they say is pay more attention to me,” he said. “The kids feel isolated from their parents because their parents are staring at their phones.”
Dr. Rich says people need to “recognize and respect” the power of our attention.
“Billions of dollars are being spent to capture and hold [our attention],” he said. “And our attention to each other is much more valuable and much more sustaining than our attention to the latest TikTok.”
