Featured Image Credit: baona / Getty
Excessive smartphone usage is something that countless people across the globe expose themselves to every single day, and one man has shown why it might be a good idea to step back a bit after he didn't look at tech for two months.
Worldwide average screen time numbers have left many in shock after it's revealed quite how much of our day we spend glued to our phones, alongside other key gadgets and tech.
While the typical health-related symptoms such as headaches and eye strain are well understood - with doctors offering guidance for dealing with those specific issues - a recent experiment might have revealed the more worrying effects of prolonged screen usage.
Medical experts have warned against the narcissistic tendencies of watching your Instagram stories too much, but having a screen in your face all of the time might actually have an adverse effect on your memory and overall ability to process and store information, as reported by LADBible.
Advert
There's no better example of this than podcaster Carlos Whittaker, who committed to a two-month technology detox, reporting that his memory in particular increased dramatically following the lengthy break.
"My memory went from the 50th percentile of adult men in America to 99th percentile," outlined Whittaker on a podcast discussing his decision with Dr. John Delony, adding that "there was only 1 percent of men with better memory than me when I finished this experiment."
It's certainly hard to deny this much of an increase, with the causation clearly linked to the removal of tech - particularly phones - from Whittaker's life.
Even the comments underneath Dr. Delony's podcast episode are in both shock and agreement over the effects of technology on the brain.
"So here we all are, watching a screen learning about how screens are scrambling our brains," illustrates the top comment. "Sweet."
Another adds: "I truly believe that social media is the greatest and worst technology ever created. It holds way too much unstable power and destroys social normality. Scary world we live in."
Studies from the Neurology Center for Epilepsy and Seizures have echoed these results, linking the 'rapid enhancements of technology' with the degradation of attention spans and mental activity.
The Center outline that "excessive use of technology can lead to decreased attention spans and cognitive overload," in addition to "causing increased anxiety, stress, and dependence on digital devices for daily activities."
It certainly begins to sound worrying when you think of the bigger picture, as it appears as if our brains are being actively harmed by the amount of information that's not only available to us but directly fed to feeds at any given point in time.
Thankfully, as Whittaker shows, extended breaks from social media, smartphones, and technology can restore and enhance brain functions - so it's not always a one way street that you can never return from.
However, with the rapid enhancements of technology over the past two decades it's hard to truly know what effects it'll have in the long-term future.
