Smartphones blamed for rising cases of attention deficit disorder in adults

People who spend their free time on the Internet do not allow their brains to rest

If you are now scrolling through the feed on your smartphone, remember how much time a day you spend on your gadget. Researchers claim that the steady increase in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among adults is associated with the use of mobile devices.

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Doctors have been trying to figure out whether the steady increase in ADHD in adulthood is simply due to improved screening or due to environmental and behavioral factors.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people who use their smartphones twice or more hours a day, you are 10% more likely to develop attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Everyone is accustomed to the fact that this disorder most often occurs in children. Often the child simply outgrows this period. However, the “distractions” that have appeared in abundance (smartphones, social networks, etc.) are creating an epidemic of ADHD among adults.

Researchers suggest that social networks bombard people with constant information, forcing them to take frequent breaks from work to check their phone.

People who spend their free time online do not allow their brains to rest or focus on a single task, and the combination of distractions can cause adults to have a shorter attention span.

«One may consider the possibility of an acquired attention deficit disorder», — John Ratey, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, noted in an interview with National Geographic.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has historically been defined as a genetic disorder that can be controlled with medications and therapy. But now researchers have found that lifestyle changes later in an individual's development (excessive smartphone use) can turn ADHD into an acquired disorder.

The number of adults diagnosed with ADHD worldwide has jumped from 4.4% in 2003 year to 6.3% in 2020. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 8.7 million adults in the United States have ADHD, and approximately six million children ages 3 to 17 have been diagnosed.

“That's about 366 million adults worldwide who are currently living with ADHD, which is roughly the same as the population of the United States,” — said Russell Ramsay, co-founder of the Pennsylvania Adult ADHD Treatment and Research Program at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Researchers reviewed several studies dating back to 2014 that analyzed the correlation between ADHD and technology use.

The study found: Adolescents who did not have symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at the start of the study. did show that there was a «significant association between increased digital media use and ADHD symptoms after 24 months of follow-up.»

A separate study conducted in 2018 looked at whether smartphones contribute to the development of ADHD symptoms in teenagers for two years. This study found that by the end of the study, 9.5% of adolescents who reported frequent use of social media at the beginning of the study showed symptoms of ADHD after completing the study.

Adults who want to get rid of the unwanted side effects of smartphone use, you should take steps to develop a healthy relationship with your technology, including spending less time on your phone, setting limits on how much you can use your phone, and setting aside time to take a break from technology.