We all know smartphones are addictive. We’ve read the articles. We’ve watched the documentaries. We’ve all nodded along when someone says “technology is ruining society”. But there are some costs to this addiction that nobody really talks about. And honestly? They’re way weirder than you think.
Your Thumbs Are Getting Jacked (Not in a Good Way)
Remember when people used to get tennis elbow from playing tennis? Well, now we’re getting something called “texting thumb” from scrolling through TikTok. It’s a real thing. Your thumb joints are slowly turning into those of an 80 year old arthritis patient, except you’re 28 and your biggest physical activity is double tapping.
I caught myself doing thumb stretches the other day. Like I’m preparing for the Thumb Olympics. This is what we’ve become.
You’re Spending Actual Money on Things That Don’t Exist
I’m not talking about buying stuff online. I’m talking about the fact that somewhere, right now, someone is spending $4.99 on a virtual hat for their Bitmoji. Or extra lives in Candy Crush. Or coins in some game where you build a pretend farm.
My friend spent $50 on a mobile game. When I asked him what he got for it, he said “I unlocked a new character.” I asked if he could touch this character. He said no. I asked if it would help him in real life. He looked at me like I was crazy.
The math is insane. That $50 could buy actual groceries. Real food. Things you can eat. But no, we’re out here buying digital swords.
Your Neck Is Slowly Turning Into a Question Mark
There’s this thing called “tech neck” and it’s exactly what it sounds like. We’re all walking around like those people in cartoons who’ve been hit on the head too many times. Our necks are permanently bent at a 45 degree angle, forever gazing down at our phones.
I saw my reflection in a store window the other day while scrolling. I looked like Gollum. Just hunched over, completely absorbed, probably muttering “my precious” under my breath.
Physical therapists are making bank off this. They’re probably sending thank you cards to Steve Jobs’ ghost.
You’ve Forgotten How to Be Bored
This one sneaks up on you. When was the last time you just sat somewhere and did nothing? No phone, no book, no music. Just you and your thoughts?
Terrifying, right?
We’ve lost the ability to be bored. Waiting in line? Phone. Sitting on the toilet? Phone. Waiting for your food to microwave for 60 seconds? Phone.
I tried to take a bath without my phone last week. I lasted four minutes before I got out, dripping wet, to grab it. Just in case someone needed me: nobody needed me. But I still spent the next 30 minutes scrolling through Instagram while my bathwater got cold.
Being bored is actually good for your brain. It’s when you come up with creative ideas and process your thoughts. But we’ve murdered boredom. We’ve assassinated it. And now our brains are just constantly consuming content like some kind of information vacuum cleaner.
Your Actual Memory Is Getting Worse
Why remember anything when you can just Google it, right? Except now our brains have basically outsourced all memory functions to our phones.
I can’t remember phone numbers anymore. I barely remember my own birthday sometimes.
We don’t remember experiences anymore because we’re too busy filming them. I went to a concert last year and spent so much time recording it on my phone that I barely remember actually being there. I have a video of it though! That I’ve never watched! And never will!
Scientists call this “digital amnesia” and it’s getting worse. We’re basically becoming those fish that forget everything every three seconds, except we’re doing it on purpose.
You’re Paying for the Privilege of Being Tracked
Let’s talk about something really fun. You know all those free apps you use? They’re not free. You’re paying with something way more valuable than money. You’re paying with your data.
Every single thing you do on your phone is being tracked, recorded, and sold. What you search for. How long you look at things. Where you go. Who you talk to. What you buy. That embarrassing thing you Googled at 1:27am that you thought nobody would ever know about.
Companies know more about you than your best friend does. They know you’re pregnant before you tell your mom. They know you’re about to break up with your partner before you do. They know you’re thinking about buying a couch, and suddenly every ad you see is for couches.
It’s like having a stalker, except you invited them in and you check in with them 150 times a day.
Your Sleep Schedule Is Completely Destroyed
We all know we shouldn’t look at our phones before bed. The blue light messes with our sleep. It’s been scientifically proven about a million times.
And yet, here we are. Lying in bed at midnight, scrolling through the same three apps on rotation. Instagram, Twitter, Instagram again, maybe TikTok, back to Instagram. Nothing has changed in the last five minutes but maybe something interesting happened? Probably not, but let’s check anyway.
Then we wonder why we’re tired all the time. It’s a mystery! Who could have predicted that staring at a bright screen while reading enraging tweets at 1am would affect our sleep quality?
I’ve started using those apps that lock your phone at bedtime. You know what I do? I grab my old phone. The one I kept “just in case.” I’m using a backup phone to feed my addiction. This is addict behavior. If I was doing this with literally anything else, my family would stage an intervention.
You’re Missing Actual Life
Here’s the really sad one. The one that keeps me up at night (along with the phone scrolling, obviously).
We’re missing real life because we’re so obsessed with the digital version of it.
I watched a dad at the playground last week. His kid was calling “Dad, watch me!” and sliding down the slide. The dad was staring at his phone. The kid did it again. “Dad! Dad, look!” Still on the phone. The kid eventually gave up and just played alone.
That dad probably has no idea he did that. He probably thinks he’s a present parent. But his kid will remember that dad was always “busy” on his phone.
We’re all doing versions of this. Missing sunsets because we’re trying to get the perfect picture of them. Missing conversations because we’re texting someone who isn’t there. Missing the taste of our food because we’re reading reviews of other restaurants.
It’s like we’re living life in third person. Watching ourselves live instead of actually living.
The Worst Part? We Know All This and We Still Can’t Stop
That’s the really messed up thing about addiction. You can be fully aware of the problem and still completely unable to fix it.
I know everything I just wrote. I live it every day. And yet, I’ll finish writing this article and immediately check my phone. I’ll probably share this article on social media and then spend an hour refreshing to see if anyone liked it.
We’ve all tried to quit. We’ve all deleted apps, only to reinstall them three hours later. We’ve all put our phones in other rooms, only to get up and get them. We’ve all sworn we’re going to use our phones less, starting tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes.
The phones aren’t going anywhere. The apps are designed by teams of psychologists specifically to be addictive. We’re fighting against billion dollar companies whose entire business model depends on us not being able to look away.
So What Do We Do?
I don’t have a perfect solution. Anyone who tells you they do is lying or trying to sell you something.
But maybe we can start by just being honest about it. Stop pretending we’re fine. Stop acting like it’s not a problem. Stop defending our phone use with “but I need it for work” when we’re literally scrolling through memes at 11pm.
Maybe we can start small. Put the phone down during meals. Leave it in another room when we sleep. Have one day a week where we actually disconnect.
Or maybe we can’t. Maybe we’re already too far gone. Maybe our kids will look back at us the way we look at people who smoked cigarettes everywhere in the 1950s. “Can you believe people used to stare at their phones during dinner? How barbaric!”
All I know is this. I’m going to publish this article. And then I’m going to check my phone. Because I’m an addict. And the first step is admitting you have a problem.
