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phones nearby. Those who rely most on their phones and/or social
media tend to have higher levels of stress, aggression, distraction, and
depression, have lower self-esteem, and get less sleep on average.

Further research has shown that push notifications from email are a
“toxic source of stress” for many UK workers. This study also found a
strong connection between the use of push notifications and perceived
email stress, according to lead author Dr. Richard MacKinnon:

“
The people who reported it being most useful to
them also reported the highest levels of email
pressure.

Another study also explored how connecting with people online affects
our emotional state. The researchers found connecting with others via
Facebook left people feeling sad and dissatisfied, but following up with
a phone call or a face-to-face exchange left people feeling uplifted.

According to psychologist Susan Pinker, online relationships without
face-to-face contact fail to create the trust needed for authentic
personal connections.

So if email, social media, and mobile notifications are so bad for us,
why can’t we give them up?

Software is designed to make us addicted

While some might say it’s up to users to take responsibility for our
reliance on our phones, Tristan Harris, former product philosopher at
Google and co-founder of advocacy group Time Well Spent, says this
assessment isn’t fair:

“
... but that’s not acknowledging that there’s a
thousand people on the other side of the screen
whose job is to break down whatever responsibility
I can maintain.

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