Smartphone addicts- Depressed, Anxious and Lonely

Individuals addicted to their respective smartphones tend to be more anxious, lonely and depressed, a study has found.

Researchers said, “The overuse of smart phones is just like any other type of substance abuse.”

"The behavioral addiction of smartphone use begins forming neurological connections in the brain in ways similar to how opioid addiction is experienced by people taking Oxycontin for pain relief - gradually," said Erik Peper, San Francisco State University in the US.

 A survey that was conducted on 135 students, researchers figured that students who used their phones the most showed the highest symptoms isolation, loneliness, depression and anxious.

A study published in the journal “NeuroRegulation”, stated that it believes loneliness is partly a result of replacing face-to-face interaction with a form of communication where the body language and other signs cannot be interpreted.    

Researchers also found out that the same group of students constantly multitasked – watching other media, eating, cross reading, while studying.

The researchers stated a strong point saying that digital addiction is not entirely our fault but is a result of the tech industry's greed to increase corporate profits.

"Push notifications, vibrations and other alerts on our phones and computers make us feel compelled to look at them by triggering the same neural pathways in our brains that once alerted us to imminent danger, such as an attack by a tiger or other large predator," Pepper said.

Peper suggests that we should turn off push notifications and only respond to email and social media at specific times to focus on important tasks.