Dangers of screen addiction

The dangers of screen addiction and why it should be taken seriously

At one stage or another, I think we can all put our hands up and attest to using our phones a little too much. Whether we like it or not social media plays an important role in our day and age, with websites like Instagram, twitter, Facebook Pinterest and more, it’s easy to get sucked into the cyber world and become addicted to living on a screen. Believe it or not, this is something that can happen and you probably wouldn’t even know it, over time you would become more and more attached to your device and be comfortable in the environment you have created in the cyber world. Excessive screen time can definitely be a dangerous thing for a young child or growing teen such as a college student. However harmless the screen may seem, it’s having more negative effects than you can ever imagine.

How screen addiction starts

Child with screen addiction.

Smartphone addiction can develop at a very young age without even knowing it. We have all seen parents that let their children play with their smartphone or tablet to keep them quiet for a couple hours. However in recent study results actually showed that this could be part of the problem. As this is the period where the children’s brain are still very fragile they shouldn’t interact excessively with certain types of technology — in this case, tablets and smartphones. Due to the hyper-arousing screens, it can start to wire a child’s brain differently than one that is allowed to interact naturally with the world around them. Even at a young age a child that is too absorbed with screen time and games is way more likely to be addicted to it as he grows up, opposed to a child that is brought up using all of their senses to learn and interact with the world around them. Screen addiction can also be an issue that is developed in high schools where teachers allow students to use technology while being educated. Such an example is when students are told to online guides and computers to aid education. Although this claim was refuted by Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, who believes that using technology at these tender ages can only do more harm than good to a growing child. Dr. Kardaras is one of the leading addiction specialists in the country who works at the Dunes East Hampton. He has taught a range of subjects, including addiction treatment, human behavior, and psychopathology. If you are interested in learning more then you should take a look at the book Glow Kids, this book written by Dr. Kardaras will explore the effects of these glowing screens on our younger generation. This is obviously an important topic to understand for any young parents who want to protect their kids from the many dangers of screen addiction.

Dangers of screen addiction

Child with screen addiction who is mad.

Many people still do not understand the dangers and the risks related to such an addiction. We can all see the physical effects of alcohol or drug abuse as they are glaringly obvious. However, the subtleties related to technology addiction are passed by the way side. In a recent study, excessive screen time was compared to digital cocaine by many researchers, as it can impact a child both neurologically and clinically the same way a drug does. It can affect their impulse control, there behaviors and mood, their interactions with the people around them and can lead to a great loss of social skills. Along with this brain imagining research has conclusively shown
that stimulating glowing screens are as dopaminergic (dopamine activating) meaning that looking at a screen for too long gives the same effect to the brain pleasure center as sex. Finally, clinical research correlates disorders such as ADHD, addiction, anxiety, depression, increased aggression, and even psychosis with screen addiction. With this information, I hope you feel the need to reach out to a friend or a loved one that may have this issue. It is clearly worthwhile to reduce their screen time if possible as it can dramatically improve their well-being and overall health!

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