Does Owning A ‘Smartphone’ Actually Cause Stress?

[BruceLeeDemarcus]

Linda Lee
Edwards & Lee, Linda Lee,News,Television




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They are supposed to ‘make your life easier’….but a new study has found that ‘smartphones‘ can actually increase your stress level!
Health Day explains that smartphones produce a relentless need to immediately review and respond to each and every incoming message, alert or bing. The stress gets so bad for some users that they actually begin to feel phantom vibrations, thinking their phone is buzzing when it isn’t. Has that ever happened to you?
Makes me feel much better, since everyone at work teases me for having an ‘old school’ phone without all the bells and whistles! Maybe my phone is not so ‘dumb’ after all!


(found on www.wycd.com)

-I don't have a phone, so I don't really know how they affect people, but I want to know what you guys think.

[Aletheia*]

I don't think this could just be limited to smartphones. I have a piece of crap phone from Wal-Mart through AT&T, but I sometimes think I hear my text message ring tone, or these "phantom" vibrations too. My phone is hardly a smart phone, and I think ANY kind of phone could cause stress levels, especially since we're so dependent on them: they keep us in touch with family and friends, they allow us internet access at the touch of a button. When we don't have these, we tend to freak out.

[Snufkin]

I'd be a lot more stressed without it.

[Baxter]

If those are the reasons, then all phones cause stress. The amount of use it dictates those problems, not the type of phone. I guess smartphone is catchier.

I wouldn't say it causes me stress. I text my girlfriend all day, I'm excited because everything from her makes me smile, I'm not worried or stressed out over whose just texted me. When I know a text is basically from anyone else, I'll hesitate or take my time, because I don't care as much.

[Le bonheur*]

Mine stresses me out.

[BDF]

Never felt stress. I'm aware a lot of people do... but I just don't feel this "invisible connection" between me and my smartphone. I answer my emails and texts when I feel like, which is usually frequently enough. I don't feel any pressure.

My step dad on the other hand can't put his down for even 5 minutes. He just can't. He'd jump out of his skin in spirit disappear into smartphone cyberspace.

[dr2005]

Originally Posted by Zelophobia

I don't think this could just be limited to smartphones. I have a piece of crap phone from Wal-Mart through AT&T, but I sometimes think I hear my text message ring tone, or these "phantom" vibrations too. My phone is hardly a smart phone, and I think ANY kind of phone could cause stress levels, especially since we're so dependent on them: they keep us in touch with family and friends, they allow us internet access at the touch of a button. When we don't have these, we tend to freak out.

This, basically. Technology has this way of getting under our skin and making us dependent on them to the extent it messes with our heads. Personally, I think it'll probably end up being our undoing, but then I am a bit of a Luddite nowadays. (Metaphorically speaking - I don't actually go around smashing up machines...)

[Unicorn ♥✿]

YES! I love my phone but the urge at every incoming email, message or Skype to respond means I am rarely seen without clutching my phone.

The Phantom vibration, I know what you mean. Even when my phone is on a desk while I work on a PC I feel it rumble... in my pocket!

I'm also really possesive with it. No one can hold it for more than 5 seconds, what if I get a text?

However, agree with other poster... i'd be alot more stressed without it! It is a portable computer, it does do just about anything. I can even go on TH!

It does make life easier, I can check emails anywhere now, before I got a Smartphone I could just check them on computers.

And the Apps on Android are fab I like Angry Birds, but thats annother story :P

xx

[alixthetree]

Like a couple others said I'm more stressed out when I don't have my phone. At either my dad's or my mom's houses my cell phone is my only means of communication because neither have landlines. I agree with the "phantom vibrations" but typically when I feel them I actually do get a text message in 30 seconds or less. I don't actually use my phone all that much but it's just having the availability.

[TigerTank77]

So, at what point can we drop the whole baby boomer "change is scary" deal and embrace technology for the amazing thing it really is?

[TakeTheLeap]

Lol, I have phantom rings ALL the time, but I think that's just because I keep my phone in my pocket most of the time. I do agree that I do tend to check my phone every time it vibrates or dings, but I wouldn't say it causes me stress, I don't think. It's usually the messages I get that causes the stress. :P
I think I'd be more stressed -without- my phone - I love having the ability to e-mail at my fingertips or check things whenever I need to. Especially when I was a student, I relied on my e-mails pretty heavily to communicate with my professors, so being able to send and receive e-mails at any time was EXTREMELY helpful to me.
Now that I'm not in school, it's kind of a pain in the ass to constantly check e-mails, but it saves me from having 50 messages when I get home at the end of the day. I'd rather delete 1 or 2 every hour than spend an entire hour or two weeding through e-mails at the end of the day.

[JKmadu619]

TigerTank77: I agree. However with guys like Anon running around and movies like The Terminator it's not really that surprising that uninformed people fear it.

- Justin

[TheBabyEater]

When it comes to feeling the need to address every message, I don't see the correlation between that and regular phones. I do see the stresses between text message and causing stress, I can understand that. But in my person experiences I feel that my phone has helped reduce stress more than cause it. Games prevent me from boredom, applications allow me to check up on my finances and keep a to do list, ext.

The only times I feel extremely stressed with my phone is when it's not working, which happens to all phones, not just smartphones. My Kyocera Echo has never acted up in the 6 months to a year I've had it, so I'm quite content. I personally don't feel the excessive need to answer every text message straight away, but I'm a very independent individual. To me it seems that the more technology we have to be with friends, internet and texting, the less independent people are which brings me into a whole other topic.



Also, I think a lot of people are confusing stress they feel and the reasons behind their stress. A lot of people here are saying they'd be a lot more stressed without their phone. Isn't that a problem? Surely people survived perfectly fine without phones before. Do I want to give up my phone? Hell no, especially not now that I've experienced life with it lol. But do I realize I could survive without it, after a week or so of getting used to life without texting? Sure, I think I'd be perfectly fine. Perhaps even a healthier person.
Conclusions: phones cause stress, not just smartphones.

[dr2005]

Originally Posted by TigerTank77

So, at what point can we drop the whole baby boomer "change is scary" deal and embrace technology for the amazing thing it really is?

Nothing to do with that as far as I'm concerned - change is good when done for the right reasons. I just don't think that dependency upon any object in life, be it high technology or otherwise, is a good way to live and will probably bite us just as it has done in the past.

[Unicorn ♥✿]

Originally Posted by TigerTank77

So, at what point can we drop the whole baby boomer "change is scary" deal and embrace technology for the amazing thing it really is?

We're not discussing "change is scary"
We're discussing the corelation between owning a Smartphone and stress.

And those who own Smartphones tend to be the ones "embracing" amazing technology.

...

So agreed, iPhones, Samsung Galaxy, HTC etc phones are flipping amazing, but there is mine (and others') compulsion to answer every DING and PING.


Phantom phone vibrations is called Textaphernia ... I think

[Rainbow Dash]

Mine stresses me out because it doesn't work half the time -____-

[BruceLeeDemarcus]

I guess my MP3 Player does that when it doesn't work sometimes, it makes me really mad.

[αγάπη]

When I get angry I tend to throw my phone at people and/or walls. If that counts.

I'm also one of those people that will accidentally throw their phone on the floor.

And it's still alive.

[Sea Monkey]

My old smartphone used to stress me out a lot. The battery died quickly too. It got so annoying, so I bought a non-smart phone and I love it more. I got stressed out when it kept freezing or randomly turning itself off, or replied to my text messages talking a load of giberish. It's like they have a mind of their own and it's so annoying!