Professor Encourages Healthier Smartphone Usage

Insight from Associate Professor of Psychology and Counseling Melissa DiMartino, Ph.D., was featured on more than 2,600 news sites, including International Business Times, Boston Herald, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and others. DiMartino, who has researched the mental health impact of smartphones in the college classroom, explained that smartphone addiction changes how the brain is wired.

“Smartphones have the same chemical reaction in the brain as drugs and alcohol,” she said. “Getting ‘likes,’ messages, and notifications from your phone releases dopamine, which makes us feel good, and in turn, we want to repeat these feel-good behaviors. However, when we don’t get them, we feel depressed and lonely, which creates an adverse effect.”

DiMartino also shared advice for healthier smartphone usage, including designating certain “do not disturb” times in device settings, taking scheduled “phone-free” breaks, and swapping out a smartphone for a traditional alarm clock.