Have you ever noticed how many people, maybe even yourself, are glues to their cell phones? Sure, they’re fun with all those game applications and they help you stay in touch with people. However, did you know they may actually be dangerous to your social and physical health? You should put down your phone for a bit; there are many reasons why.

Many people say they don’t get the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep. There are many things that can cause insomnia. Dr. Charles A. Czeisler (MD + PhD), a sleep professor at Harvard, says that electronic light can harm sleep cycles (huffingtonpost.com “How Electronic Light is Harming Our Normal Sleep Cycles”). Neurons in our brains release hormones that make us sleepy. When eyes are exposed to artificial light, it stops our brains from arousing the neurons that make us tired. Feeling like you can’t sleep? Don’t take sleeping pills, get off your cell phone.

Cell phones cause social problems. Instead of socializing with others, we’re staring at dull screens and reading words eith no distinct emotion in them. Cell phones “interfere with natural human connectivity, intimacy, and closeness” (Washingtontimes.com “Cell Phones Promote Serious Social, pychological issues”). I’ve seen this myself. Have you ever noticed the awkward silence in waiting rooms when everyone is using their cell phone? Not to long ago, I went to the orthodontist, and in the waiting room, not a single person was talking, even if they knew someone else in the room. Everyone was staring at that little box in their hands. The silence of the waiting room was actually starting to bother me.

More serious physical health problems may arise from cell phone usage. According to a 2011 study done by the International Journal of Occupational Safety and Economics, 53% of mobile phone users suffer from numbness or neck aches. A study was done by Professor Erik Peper of Sanfransisco State University that showed 83% of test subjects had reported some hand and neck pain while texting or displayed other kinds of tension (Forbes.com “How Texting Can Give You a Permanent Pain in the Neck”). I myself had been experiencing some back problems, and my physical therapist also explained to me that the position of our head and neck while texting is un-natural and causes excess stress to our neck and shoulders.

You say you need your cell phones with you at all times? What if somebody needs you? What if? According to psychiatrist Dr. Jeremy Speigel, those statements about being needed by others are invalid.  He found that cell phone socialization has been replacing people on a much needed social level. He believes this is creating a “narcisist generation” of people who feel they are more popular and “needed” than they really are (Washingtontimes.com “Cell Phones Promote Serious Social, Psychological Issues”). So I’m not saying you have no friends, or that if you put your phone down no one will try to text or call you; I’m saying that you may feel you’re more important to the well-being of others than you really are.

Yes, I’ll admit, cell phones can be very important for our safety or maintain some type of relationship with people who don’t live near us. However, why don’t you go across the street and have a friendly conversation with your neighbor (you know, the one you always wave to but can never remember the name of), rather than pointlessly texting a friend about your day … which, you already saw them at work or school today, so by now, they already know how it went. Put down your phone and get a “IRL” social life, rather than just on a screen.

Works Cited:
Quilter, Deborah; Next Avenue. “How Texting Can Give You a Permanent Pain in the Neck”.  7 June 2013. Forbes. Web. 9 Jan. 2015.
Paul Mount Joy. “Cell Phones Promote Serious Social, Psychological issues”. 31 Dec. 2014.  Washington Times. Web. 9 Jan. 2015.
Huffington Post Healthy Living. “How Electronic Light is Harming Our Normal Sleep Cycles”.   1 June 2013. Huffington Post. Web. 9 Jan. 2015.