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Smartphone Addiction

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• Increasing stress. Using a smartphone for
work often means work bleeds into your
home and personal life. You feel the
pressure to always be on, never out of touch
from work. This need to continually check
and respond to email can contribute to
higher stress levels and even burnout.

• Exacerbating attention deficit disorders.
The constant stream of messages and
information from a smartphone can
overwhelm the brain and make it impossible
to focus attention on any one thing for more
than a few minutes without feeling
compelled to move on to something else.

• Diminishing your ability to concentrate
and think deeply or creatively. The
persistent buzz, ping or beep of your in the house for dinner because you’ve been
smartphone can distract you from important busy chatting online, texting, or playing
tasks, slow your work, and interrupt those video games? Perhaps you find yourself
working late more often because you can’t
quiet moments that are so crucial to
complete your work on time.
creativity and problem solving. Instead of
ever being alone with our thoughts, we’re
now always online and connected. • Isolation from family and friends. Is your
social life suffering because of all the time
• Disturbing your sleep. Excessive you spend on your phone or other device? If
smartphone use can disrupt your sleep, you’re in a meeting or chatting with friends,
which can have a serious impact on your do you lose track of what’s being said
overall mental health. It can impact your because you’re checking your phone? Have PARANORMAL STAKEOUT
friends and family expressed concern about
memory, affect your ability to think clearly, with
the amount of time you spend on your
and reduce your cognitive and learning LARRY LAWSON
phone? Do you feel like no one in your
skills.
“real” life—even your spouse—understands Investigating and Research Ghosts,
• Encouraging self-absorption. A UK study you like your online friends? Hauntings, and things that go “BUMP” in
found that people who spend a lot of time on the night using Police Investigative
social media are more likely to display • Concealing your smartphone use. Do you Techniques to Solve the Paranormal.
negative personality traits such as sneak off to a quiet place to use your phone? To contact Larry Lawson - Email -
narcissism. Snapping endless selfies, Do you hide your smartphone use or lie to larrylawson@xzbn.net
your boss and family about the amount of
posting all your thoughts or details about
time you spend online? Do you get irritated
your life can create an unhealthy self-
or cranky if your online time is interrupted? www.XZBN.net
centeredness, distancing you from real-life
relationships and making it harder to cope
with stress. • Having a fear of missing out. Do you hate to
feel out of the loop or think you’re missing

Signs and symptoms of smartphone addiction out on important news or information if you
don’t check you phone regularly? Do you
There is no specific amount of time spent on need to compulsively check social media
because you’re anxious that others are
your phone, or the frequency you check for
having a better time, or leading a more
updates, or the number of messages you send or
exciting life than you? Do you get up at
receive that indicates an addiction or overuse
problem. night to check your phone?
Spending a lot of time connected to your
phone only becomes a problem when it absorbs • Feeling of dread, anxiety, or panic if you
so much of your time it causes you to neglect leave your smartphone at home, the battery
your face-to-face relationships, your work, runs down or the operating system crashes. KNOW THE NAME,
school, hobbies, or other important things in Or do you feel phantom vibrations—you KNOW THE GENIUS IN YOU
think your phone has vibrated but when you
your life. If you find yourself ignoring friends with SHARON LYNN WYETH
check, there are no new messages or
over lunch to read Facebook updates or
updates? From the creator of NEIMOLOGY,
compulsively checking your phone in while
Sharon Lynn Wyeth interviews and discovers
driving or during school lectures, then it’s time
to reassess your smartphone use and strike a (Continued on Page 37) the genius in the name of her guests and will
tell listeners how they can find out what their
healthier balance in your life.
names tells them about their inner genius. To
contact Sharon Lynn Wyeth - Email -
Warning signs of smartphone or
knowthename@xzbn.net
Internet overuse include:
www.XZBN.net
• Trouble completing tasks at work or home.
Do you find laundry piling up and little food