Using your phone for just 2 hours a day could increase the risk of ADHD in adults, research warns

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is on the rise among adults and researchers say smartphones may be to blame.

Doctors have been trying to figure out whether a steady rise in ADHD in adulthood is simply due to better screening or to environmental and behavioral factors.

a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has shown that people who use their smartphones two or more hours a day have a 10 percent greater risk of developing ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

The disorder mainly affects young children, with the possibility that a child can grow out of it, but the distraction created by smartphones with social media, texting, streaming music and movies or TV is creating an ADHD epidemic among adults.

Researchers theorize that social media bombards people with constant information, causing them to take frequent breaks from their tasks to check their phones.

People who spend their free time using technology do not allow their brains to rest and focus on a single task, and the combined distractions can cause adults to develop a shorter attention span and become easily distracted.

‘For a long time, the connection between ADHD and intensive online use was a chicken-and-egg question in our field: do people become heavy online consumers because they have ADHD and online life better suits their attention span, or do they develop ADHD? as a result of excessive online consumption?’ Elias Aboujaoude, a behavioral psychiatrist at Stanford University, explained Study finds.

ADHD is a mental disorder that can cause people to have limited attention span, hyperactivity, or impulsivity that can affect their daily lives, including relationships and jobs, making them less productive.

Researchers say more and more adults are “outgrowing” ADHD due to the constant distractions that smartphones bring, adding that people who use their devices constantly are not resting their brains in default mode.

“It’s legitimate to look at the possibility of an acquired attention deficit,” says John Ratey, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. National Geographic.

He said that in today’s society, people are constantly forced to multitask, and the ubiquitous use of technology can cause screen addiction, potentially leading to shorter attention spans.

ADHD has traditionally been defined as a genetic condition that can be managed through medication and therapy.

But researchers have now found that lifestyle changes later in life, such as becoming too dependent on your smartphone, can turn ADHD into an acquired condition.

If someone is constantly checking social media on their phone, they may feel the need to take frequent breaks during work hours to see if someone has commented or liked their post.

The practice can become almost unconscious, causing the person to feel distracted at work or unable to concentrate, which can develop into ADHD.

The number of adults diagnosed with ADHD around the world has increased from 4.4 percent in 2003 to 6.3 percent in 2020.

An estimated 8.7 million adults in the U.S. have ADHD, while about six million children between the ages of three and 17 are diagnosed, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

ADHD can affect your ability to focus on relationships or at work

“That’s approximately 366 million adults worldwide currently living with ADHD, which is roughly the population of the U.S.,” Russell Ramsay, co-founder of the Penn Adult ADHD Treatment and Research Program for the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, told National Geographic.

According to the study, evidence suggests that technology affects brain function and behavior, leading to increased ADHD symptoms, including reduced emotional and social intelligence, technology addiction, social isolation, impaired brain development and disturbed sleep.

The researchers looked at several studies from 2014 that analyzed the correlation between ADHD and media use.

They reported that the studies found that adolescents who had no symptoms of ADHD at the start of the studies did show that there was a “significant association between more frequent digital media use and symptoms of ADHD at 24 months of follow-up.”

A separate 2018 study focused on whether smartphones contributed to teens developing ADHD symptoms over two years.

That study found that 4.6 percent of 2,500 high school students who said they did not use digital media often developed ADHD symptoms by the end of the study.

Meanwhile, 9.5 percent of teens who reported frequent social media use at the start of the study showed ADHD symptoms when the study was completed.

For adults who want to get rid of the unwanted side effects that come with overusing their smartphones, they should take steps to develop a healthy relationship with their technology, including spending less time on their phones, setting phone limits, and taking time to rest without technology.