Kids spend an
inordinate amount of time on their smartphones, communicating with
friends (and possibly strangers) via text, Twitter and Facebook, and
work to keep up their Snapstreaks on Snapchat
Abrupt changes
in teen behavior and psychological health emerged around 2012.
Post-millennials spend more time alone, engaged in online socialization
rather than face-to-face; they drive less, date less, have less sex and
have poorer social and work skills than previous generations
Rates of teen
depression and suicide have dramatically risen since 2011, and data
suggest spending three hours or more each day on electronic devices
raises a teen’s suicide risk by 35 percent
Between 2007
and 2015, the suicide rate for 12- to 14-year-old girls rose threefold;
the suicide rate among boys doubled in that same time frame
Data reveal the
more time teens spend online, the unhappier they are. Those who spend
more time than average on activities that do not involve their
smartphone are far more likely to report being “happy”
As a lover of technology, it pains me to
see what technological advancements are doing to our youth. In a
previous article for The Atlantic,1
Jean Twenge takes a deep dive into how smartphones, with 24/7 access to
internet and social media, are affecting post-millennials’ mental
health.
The article, which is well worth reading in its entirety, is adapted
from Twenge’s book “iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing
up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy — and Completely
Unprepared for Adulthood — and What That Means for the Rest of Us.”
Children today cannot even fathom a life pre-internet — a life where
school work involved visits to libraries and phone calls required you to
stay in one spot, since the telephone was attached to the wall. Kids
spend an inordinate amount of time on their smartphones, communicating
with friends (and possibly strangers) via text, Twitter and Facebook,
and work to keep up their Snapstreaks on Snapchat.
Even toddlers are proficient in navigating their way around a
wireless tablet these days. Twenge discusses the online habits of
Athena, a 13-year-old Texan, saying:
“She told me she’d spent most of the summer hanging out alone in
her room with her phone. That’s just the way her generation is, she
said. ‘We didn’t have a choice to know any life without iPads or
iPhones. I think we like our phones more than we like actual people.’”
Rise of the iGeneration
Twenge, who has studied generational differences for two and a half
decades, notes that a generation typically becomes defined by changes in
beliefs and behaviors that gradually and naturally arise along a more
or less natural continuum. The post-millennial generation, however, is
radically different. Twenge notes “abrupt shifts in teen behavior and
emotional states” emerged suddenly around 2012.
Millennials, distinguished by a pronounced individualistic streak,
stand in sharp contrast to those following, in whom the drive for
independence and individualism has virtually vanished.
“At first I presumed these might be blips, but the trends persisted, across several years and a series of national surveys,” Twenge writes. “The
changes weren’t just in degree, but in kind. The biggest difference
between the millennials and their predecessors was in how they viewed
the world; teens today differ from the millennials not just in their
views but in how they spend their time.
The experiences they have every day are radically different from
those of the generation that came of age just a few years before them.
What happened in 2012 to cause such dramatic shifts in behavior? … [I]t
was exactly the moment when the proportion of Americans who owned a
smartphone surpassed 50 percent.
The more I pored over yearly surveys of teen attitudes and
behaviors, and the more I talked with young people like Athena, the
clearer it became that theirs is a generation shaped by the smartphone
and by the concomitant rise of social media.
I call them iGen. Born between 1995 and 2012, members of this
generation are growing up with smartphones, have an Instagram account
before they start high school, and do not remember a time before the
internet.”
Today’s Teens — Physically Safer but Psychologically Vulnerable
According to Twenge, the social impact of smartphones and tablets
“has not been fully appreciated, and goes far beyond the usual concerns
about curtailed attention spans.” Perhaps most importantly, smartphones
have changed the way teens interact socially, and this has significant
ramifications for their psychological health.
Teens today are far less likely to want to get a driver’s license
than previous generations, and a majority of their social life is
carried out in the solitude of their bedroom, via their smartphones. As
of 2015, 12th-graders spent less time “hanging out” and socializing with
friends than eighth-graders did in 2009.
While this makes them physically safer than any previous generation,
this kind of isolation does not bode well for mental health and the
building of social skills required for work and personal relationships.
In fact, today’s teens are also far less prone to date than previous
generations. In 2015, 56 percent of high school seniors dated, nearly 30
percent less than boomers and Gen Xers. Not surprisingly, sexual
activity has also declined — down by about 40 percent since 1991,
resulting in a 67 percent drop in teen pregnancy rates. Avoiding the
drama and heartbreak of those early love experiences has not had a
positive effect on emotional health, however.
Rates of teen depression and suicide have dramatically risen since
2011, and data suggest spending three hours or more each day on
electronic devices raises a teen’s suicide risk by 35 percent. Between
2007 and 2015, the suicide rate for 12- to 14-year-old girls rose
threefold — a gender trend that can in part be blamed on a rise in
cyberbullying, which is more common among girls. The suicide rate among
boys doubled in that same time frame.
“It’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental health crisis in decades,” Twenge writes, adding that “Much
of this deterioration can be traced to their phones … There is
compelling evidence that the devices we’ve placed in young people’s
hands are having profound effects on their lives — and making them
seriously unhappy.”
Depression Risk Rises in Tandem With Increased Screen Time
Data from the annual Monitoring the Future survey reveals the more
time teens spend online, the unhappier they are, and those who spend
more time than average on in-person relations and activities that do not
involve their smartphone are far more likely to report being “happy.”
Results such as these really should come as no surprise. Spending time outdoors has been scientifically shown to dramatically improve people’s mood and significantly reduce symptoms of depression.2
Interestingly, it doesn’t matter what type of screen activity is
involved. They’re all equally likely to cause psychological distress.
Between 2012 and 2015, depressive symptoms among boys rose by 21
percent. Among girls, the rise during that same time was a whopping 50
percent — a truly remarkable increase in just three years’ time.
“If you were going to give advice for a happy adolescence based
on this survey, it would be straightforward: Put down the phone, turn
off the laptop and do something — anything — that does not involve a
screen,” Twenge writes.
Many Teens Exhibit Compulsive Obsession With Their Smartphone
Many, both children and adults, are also exhibiting signs of
addiction to their electronic devices. Remarkably, many even sleep with
their smartphones right next to them in bed, or directly under their
pillow — a trend that is bound to cause severe harm to both their mental
and physical health.
The radiation alone is a significant hazard and is known to disrupt
sleep, but the blue light from the screen, plus the beeping and pinging
when messages and other notifications come in are bound to interrupt
sleep as well.
This does not even factor in the influence of cellphone microwaves
influencing melatonin, which regulates your sleep-wake cycle. When your
melatonin production is disrupted, it can have long-term health effects,
as shown in a 2013 study3 in which the U.S. government collaborated with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to assess the effects of cellphone radiation on the central nervous system.
They found that exposure to cellphone radiation for just one hour a
day for one month caused rats to experience a period of delay period
before entering rapid eye movement deep sleep — a phase necessary for
restful sleep.
Another study4
published in 2015 found that 1.8 GHz frequencies affected rats’
circadian rhythm and decreased their daily production of melatonin.
Superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase (which help prevent
cellular damage) were also decreased. Low melatonin is actually used as a
marker for disturbed sleep.5
Until I personally addressed the ELF (electrical fields) in my bedroom,
I could not get my deep sleep levels into healthy ranges.
It comes as no great surprise then that sleep deprivation among
teenagers rose by 57 percent between 1991 and 2015. Many do not even get
seven hours of sleep
on a regular basis, while science reveals they need a minimum of eight
and as much as 10 hours to maintain their health. Twenge writes about
the habits of those she interviewed:
“Their phone was the last thing they saw before they went to
sleep and the first thing they saw when they woke up … Some used the
language of addiction. ‘I know I shouldn’t, but I just can’t help it,’
one said about looking at her phone while in bed. Others saw their phone
as an extension of their body — or even like a lover: ‘Having my phone
closer to me while I’m sleeping is a comfort.’”
Internet Addiction — A Growing Epidemic
Dependence or addiction to a digital device hooked to the internet affected 6 percent of the world population in 2014.6
This number may not appear to be significant on the surface, but
consider that 6 percent of the world population was over 420 million
people and that estimate has likely sharply risen in the last three
years.7
Comparatively speaking, according to the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime, 3.5 to 7 percent of the world population between 15 and
64 years had used an illicit drug in the past year.8
The percentage of those addicted to the internet may actually be
higher as only 39 percent of the world in 2014 had access to the
internet,9
driving the real percentage of those addicted to 15 percent. Symptoms
of addiction are similar to other types of addiction, but are more
socially acceptable. The authors of the study found an internet
addiction (IA) is:10
“… [G]enerally regarded as a disorder of concern because the
neural abnormalities (e.g., atrophies in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex)
and cognitive dysfunctions (e.g., impaired working memory) associated
with IA mimic those related to substance and behavioral addiction.
Moreover, IA is often comorbid with mental disorders, such as attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression.”
Reach Out Recovery identifies conditions that may trigger internet addiction or compulsions, including anxiety, depression, other addictions, social isolation and stress.11 Internet activity may stimulate your brain’s reward system, much like drugs and alcohol,
providing a constant source of information and entertainment. While
each person’s internet use is different, the results may be the same.
Long-term effects may include:
Irritation when someone interrupts your interaction online
Difficulty completing tasks
Increasing isolation
Experiencing euphoria while online
Inability to stop despite the consequences
Increasing stress
Google Would Like You to Keep On Using
It should come as no surprise that companies that make money when
more people spend more time and money on the internet are consciously
trying to manipulate your behavior. Former Google product manager
Tristan Harris revealed how digital giants are engineering smartphone
apps and social media feedback to get you checking and double-checking
online.12
However, while internet use is more socially acceptable, digital
companies aren’t the only businesses using neurological and
psychological strategies to increase their profit margins.13 Behavior patterns are often etched into neural pathways,14 and when those behaviors are also linked to hormone secretion and physiological responses, they become even more powerful.
In fact, Harris describes the reward process of using a smartphone as “playing the slot machine.”15
And, Google has discovered a way to embed that reward system as you use
the apps on your phone. This process is so important to digital
corporations that Apple turned down a new smartphone app for their store
that would help people to reduce their use of the internet and their
smartphones.
In the video above, Harris describes a process known in programing
circles as “brain hacking,” as they incorporate knowledge of
neuropsychology into the development of digital interfaces that boost
interaction. For instance, getting likes on Facebook and Instagram, the
“streaks” on Snapchat or cute emojis on texts are all designed to
increase your engagement and desire to return.
Harris describes it as a race to the bottom of the brainstem where
fear and anxiety live, two of the most powerful motivators known to
advertisers. Both advertisers and computer software developers are using
these techniques to write code that will engage your attention.16
Wireless Technologies Wreak Havoc With Your Child’s Health and Well-Being
In 2011, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for
Research on Cancer declared cellphones a Group 2B “possible human
carcinogen”17
related to the microwave radiation emitted from the phone. Even
cellphone manufacturers place warnings on their products to keep them at
least 1 inch from your body.18
A systematic review and meta-analysis19
published in PLOS One in 2017 also warns that there’s a “significant
positive association between long-term mobile phone use (minimum, 10
years) and glioma.” Overall, cellphone use for at least one decade was
associated with a 2.22 greater odds of developing brain cancer. Such
findings have gained strength with the publication of two lifetime
exposure studies20,21 on animals, both of which confirmed an increased risk of brain tumors.
While cancer is certainly a long-term concern, there are more pressing health effects associated with chronic, round-the-clock electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure.
Research22,23
by professor Martin Pall, Ph.D., reveals a previously unknown mechanism
of biological harm from microwaves emitted by cellphones and other wireless technologies,
which helps explain why these technologies can have such a potent
impact on mental health specifically. Embedded in your cell membranes
are voltage gated calcium channels (VGCCs), which are activated by
microwaves.
When that happens, a flood of calcium ions is released, which
stimulates the release of nitric oxide (NO) inside your cells and
mitochondria.
The NO then combines with superoxide to form peroxynitrite, which in
turn creates hydroxyl free radicals — some of the most destructive free
radicals known to man — which in turn decimate mitochondrial and nuclear
DNA, their membranes and proteins. The result is mitochondrial dysfunction, which we now know is at the heart of most chronic disease.
Excessive EMF Exposure Can Trigger Anxiety, Depression and Memory Problems
The reason excessive EMF exposure is associated with depression and
neurological dysfunction, including dementia, is because your brain has
the highest density of VGCCs in your body. The pacemaker in your heart
and male testes are also high-density areas, and EMF exposure has been
linked to cardiac arrhythmias and infertility as well. I simply do not
believe bathing a fetus in EMFs in utero is a good idea.
Without fully understanding the mechanisms involved, studies have
linked excessive exposure to EMFs to an increased risk of both
depression and suicide.24
Addiction to or “high engagement” with mobile devices can also trigger
depression and anxiety, according to recent research from the University
of Illinois.25
According to Nicholas Carr, author of the book, “The Shallows: What
the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains,” millennials are experiencing
greater problems with forgetfulness than seniors.26
This is the “dark side” of neurological plasticity that allows your
brain to adapt to changes in your environment. This type of plasticity
is one way your brain recovers after a stroke has permanently damaged
one area.
A loss of white matter,27,28 reduced cortical thickness29,30 and impaired cognitive functioning31
are other brain structure and functional changes that have been
demonstrated from long-term internet use. It is impossible to ignore
that these devices are changing your brain structure, and the experience
is also increasing exposure to microwave radiation and large amounts of
blue light at night, thereby impacting your child’s body’s ability to
produce melatonin.
So, if your child or teen is showing signs of anxiety or depression,
please, do what you must to limit their exposure to wireless technology.
Teach them more responsible usage.
At bare minimum, insist on their turning off phones and tablets at
night, and to not sleep with their phone beneath their pillow or
directly near their head. Really try to minimize the presence of
electronic devices in their bedroom and, to protect everyone in your
household and instill the concept of “off times,” shut down your Wi-Fi
at night.
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