Mental Health News — Simply Having Access to a Smartphone Increases Anxious Thoughts

Here’s evidence from lived experiences that research confirms; Gen Z is most at risk

Photo by cottonbro studio

The other day my partner and I ran out of the house to catch the 7:05 am bus that gets us to work on time. On the way down the little hill, I slipped my hand into my handbag. Upon finding my phone missing, I thought, “Oh, I left my phone on the dining table. Never mind, I’ve lived without a phone for more than half of my life, everything will be fine. I trust God.” I told my partner I forgot my phone and we left it at that.

When I was about to reach school (my workplace), I felt something hard in my lunch bag that was the size of my phone. I reached into my bag and found my phone. “Oops, haha. I slipped my phone in my food bag upon leaving in a hurry,” I thought. I quickly sent my partner a message that I had my phone after all. It was about 8:15 am.

While I’m busy at work, running between classes, I have no time to check my phone. My partner is hardly ever far from his. He usually responds pretty quickly, even to the most trivial messages between us.

At 12 noon, which was lunchtime, I finally looked at my phone and heard nothing back from my partner. I looked at his WhatsApp chat last seen time and it said “last seen today at 8:02 am.”

It got me worried. I sent him a message asking if he was okay. Imagine. Had I truly forgotten my phone at home, I would have assumed all was well with him. I would get home and check my messages, if any. And simply having a smartphone on me and seeing the “last seen time” throws me off my center?

Let me illustrate another story for you.

In the summer of 2021, I was at a job interview. It was the summer holidays for my son. He called me WHILE I was at the interview which lasted a little over an hour. Of course, my phone was switched off during the interview.

When I turned it back on I saw 50 missed calls. And WhatsApp messages with worried face emojis followed by a shit load of crying emojis! They were from my son! He even messaged my partner asking about my whereabouts which he had never done before. (For context, my son lives with his…