Unhappy? It might be your smartphone
You're not alone
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HEALTH depression
Recent studies have frequently indicated smartphones were the root of teen unhappiness. Specifically, a study analyzed over a million teens and found that those who spent more free time glued to a screen tended to be less happy.
Here’s the thing, though. It’s not just teens experiencing increased angst, loneliness, and general unhappiness as a result of screentime. It’s basically everyone.
There have been studies showing that people who gave up Facebook were less depressed and lonely, as well as several studies showing that screen time tended to lead to unhappiness, but that the reverse did not appear to be true. Jean Twenge, author of the recent teen study, had previously analyzed adult happiness, and found that adults over the age of 30 were generally less happy than they were 15 years ago. While she acknowledges there could be many reasons for this, she think screens are to blame.
“The answer,” Twenge writes, “is not to give up technology entirely. Instead, the solution is a familiar adage: everything in moderation. Use your phone for all the cool things it’s good for. And then set it down and go do something else.”