Tell me, are you an addict? The answer to that question is likely no, in the context of conventional definitions of addiction among Urban students. But glance beyond the narrow labels of addiction containing smoke and powders, because as the screen-overuse epidemic grows, the answer for some may not be as clear-cut as you thought. 

Imagine you are hurrying to school. You dig through your backpack to check the time on your phone, but you quickly realize your phone is not there. A nagging ache sets in during passing periods and each class. The pang of discomfort is only soothed when you reunite with your phone at home later that day. If you have ever had a day like this, you belong to the majority of Americans. 

Harvard University Researcher Trevor Haynes from Science in the News wrote, “About 73% of people claim to experience this unique flavor of anxiety, which makes sense when you consider that adults in the U.S. spend an average of two to four hours per day tapping, typing and swiping on their devices — that adds up to over 2,600 daily touches.”

Oxford Languages defines an addiction as a physical and mental dependence on a particular substance and an inability to stop using it without suffering from its adverse effects. 

If TikTok has snuck its way into your priority lane, delaying your submission of an assignment due the next day, let me ask again. Are you an addict?

After very little academic research, I can easily tell you that I am addicted to my phone. I get excited when a notification banner pops onto my screen. Inversely, I feel upset when there is no sound of a ding in my pocket over a couple hours. 

When I do not feel like working, I hop on YouTube, and before I know it an hour has flown by. I am constantly stimulated by music, from the time my alarm goes off in the morning to when I go to sleep at night. When I sit down to do my homework, one wrong click on Instagram and I am instantly overcome with a fear of missing out (FOMO) as I scroll through people’s posts of beach adventures to the Amalfi Coast or blowing out candles at big birthday dinners. 

“I’m not a big Instagram person, but I was sick over [winter] break, so I would scroll,” said Health Education Teacher Jenn Epstein. “I always felt so bad afterwards. I felt like I just wasted time watching stupid people do stupid things. Why do I need that?” 

Although it is common knowledge that social media can have negative impacts on people’s mental health, our biology keeps us addicted. 

Neuroscience Teacher Hannah Graham said, “The brain communicates using different chemicals, which are called neurotransmitters or neuromodulators. There’s a whole slew of them that the human brain uses, and dopamine is one of those.” 

Dopamine is associated with motivation and reward, which explains the instant gratification we feel from the buzz of a text message or notification. 

“Dopamine is important. Before humans had access to food, shelter and technology, all these things that are [now] readily available for many people would be something that you would have to go out and seek,” said Graham. “It requires motivation in order to seek things that keep us safe and allow us to survive.”

However, because many humans now have reliable access to our basic fuel and shelter needs, the drawbacks of dopamine overload are coming to light. 

“It’s strange, but that’s how our brains evolved today, so we’re constantly seeking pleasurable things to survive. But now it’s an overabundance,” said Graham. “[Dopamine] is no longer serving that motivation function and instead, humans are getting addicted to things like our phones, which are designed to be addictive.” 

In the 2020 documentary “The Social Dilemma,” former Google design ethicist and co-founder of Center for Humane Technology Tristan Harris said, “We’re training and conditioning a whole new generation of people … When we are uncomfortable or lonely or uncertain or afraid, we have a digital pacifier for ourselves that is kind of atrophying our own ability to deal with that.” 

DOPAMINE DETOX

A trend called the Dopamine Detox has become popular as people have begun to attempt to combat the overstimulation of dopamine from the internet. The Dopamine Detox is a controlled fast from instant gratification, which involves stepping away from using social media and listening to music. The only time tech use is permitted is when necessary, such as for emergencies or work-related purposes. 

While reading about the Dopamine Detox, I thought about all the nights I have stayed up until three in the morning watching videos that I cannot remember. I felt like my screen use was harming my goals for a healthy lifestyle by interfering with my sleep, so I set out to try the Dopamine Detox. To prepare, I deleted all my social media apps from my phone. 

The rules I set for my Dopamine Detox were based on a combination of online articles and YouTube videos of people and influencers trying it themselves, which is where I discovered a wide range of intensities. For a hardcore Dopamine Detox, one should abstain from any internet use and all digital entertainment, including social media, music and podcasts. They should also cut out reading, eating sweets, working out and spending time with friends. 

As a student and an athlete, I could not avoid my computer, nor could I pass on readings, exercising or being with my friends. However, I deleted social media apps from my phone, blocked their websites on my computer and stopped listening to music and podcasts. 

I tried a no-tech Dopamine Detox for 30 days and this is how it went. 

Day One: Right off the bat, it is pretty difficult to get out of bed: it’s hard to wake up without a song.

At 11:30 a.m, there are no obvious changes in how I feel, except that I was able to get my homework done at 10:00 a.m. because I could not spend time on TikTok. However, it is a busy day so I could not be on my phone much anyways. 

Day Two: Today has been hard. I could not listen to music when I was getting ready. The silence was pretty jarring and it felt odd to be thinking about how I could get to school quickly instead of singing along to the song Snow on the Beach by Taylor Swift. 

I got uncomfortable with the silence on bus rides, too. I had not previously noticed that I never smile or say “Hi” to anyone when I have music playing. But today, I was not wearing headphones while walking to the bus or while I was on it. 

I have finished all my homework and it is 8:48 p.m. I would normally spend my extra time scrolling on Instagram and TikTok, but instead I was able to get a run in. 

It is now 10:45 p.m. I am doing a face mask and I am planning to read a book downstairs and have tea with my mom. Since I have a learning difference on top of Urban’s workload, it feels strange to not feel constantly overwhelmed and rushed. The tea is delicious, but the lack of stress is even sweeter. 

Day Three: I just finished my homework and it’s 3:30 p.m. Because I have so much extra time, I am starting on my Women’s U.S. History homework — a reading that is not due for another four days. I must admit, I accidentally just spent 20 minutes on Youtube on my laptop. It is my first mess up, but I do not feel the normal guilt that usually comes after wasting time. 

I get home and have nothing to do. I cannot do my homework; it is already done. I cannot sleep; I am not tired. I have three options: read a book, go workout or clean my room. I go to the gym. 

Day Nine: It is Week Four of the term, the last week before winter break. I have been trying to get ready more quickly in the mornings because it makes it easier to forget that there is no music playing. I have so much work to do this week, in addition to attending my extracurricular activities. 

Right now I am training to run the Los Angeles Marathon, which means upwards of nine active hours per week. I noticed last week that I had way more time to run and sleep. I think my sleep schedule is getting more consistent. 

Day 11: Normally I drive to and from my internship on my own, bringing my headphones for the short walk from my car into the health clinic. All of the other interns bring their headphones, too, and we only turn them off when we break into our work teams.

Once in the car, I would usually turn on a playlist, connect it to the car’s Bluetooth and the time flies by. But when I’m in the car without music, I am forced to be alone with my thoughts for the full 17-minute drive. 

Since last week, I have found it nice to just think by myself. Most of the time I try to avoid letting my mind wander because I don’t want to think about my classes or what homework I have to do later in the night. 

When I make my way into the clinic, I listen to parents talking with their kids. I am happy to hear their cute conversations about what flavor popsicle they want later. But when I drive home in the dark, instead of feeling like a character in a TV show with slow music, it is eerily silent and creepy. It makes me feel lonely. I step harder on the gas. 

Day 16: It is the first week of break. My family is in Tahoe and I am about to go on a run with my dad. It is freezing outside but I do not have anything else to do. I feel like I have more motivation to run because I keep reaching for my phone and there is nothing to click on. 

Day 18: Break so far has been pretty relaxing because I am able to spend the entire time with my family, whereas in the past I often spent a lot of time scrolling through social media. 

As the middle child of my seven cousins, I am surrounded by constant stimulation. Usually there is a time where all of us are just on our phones, but while that happens I have been reading my book. I noticed that I am able to read for longer durations rather than falling asleep right when I get to reading in my bed. I think this is because I have gotten used to staying focused rather than watching short, quick videos on TikTok.

Day 21: I feel strange. Since I am not in San Francisco, I have been thinking about how it is way harder to keep up with my friends over break because I am not seeing their Instagram posts. However, I do think having more time to spend with myself and my family is better than seeing other people’s photos. In the long run I think my relationships are what I will take with me throughout my life. But it really confuses me that I still feel FOMO even when I do not have social media.

Day 24: It is the second week of break, and I have a confession. I messed up pretty bad today. I went on Instagram on my cousin’s phone to post some photos. What I intended to be a 10-minute ordeal quickly turned into an hour. 

I caught up with some friends online, but admittedly looked at random Instagram stories for the majority of those 60 minutes. When my cousin finally needed her phone back, I felt horrible. I saw photos I did not want to see and posts from peers I feel jealous of. It all just made me feel insecure and unconfident. 

Why did I just spend an hour on Instagram? That was such a waste of time. I should be asleep right now. I am so uncomfortable. That was the worst idea ever. I should not have done that. I feel so much worse than normal. 

Day 30: Today is the last day of my Dopamine Detox. This is weird following the last journal entry, but after completing the detox, I have to say that I really liked it. I had so much more free time and was able to get more sleep. I spent more days with the people who really matter to me, and I did not feel as much FOMO as I normally do. I started to enjoy silence and look up at my surroundings rather than down at my phone. 

After 30 days, I can confidently say that my Dopamine Detox improved my life and my relationship with technology. Would I say that my dopamine levels are down and regulated forever? Absolutely not. But would I recommend that everyone try it if they are up for a challenge? Yes, I would. I think this detox is a powerful way to not only resist addiction, but also to take control of your life. 

IGNORE:

Tell me, are you an addict? In the face of classic addictions surrounding alcohol or substances among Urban students. But a glance beyond the classic cocaine and CBD’s, there has been an ever growing screen overuse epidemic Dr. Anna Lembke, an addiction expert and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, calls The Age of Indulgence, the answer might not be so clear. 

Imagine you hurry to school. You dig through your backpack to check the time on your phone. It’s not there. You feel nagging uncomfortable panic sets in until you find it. If your morning sometimes sounds like this, you are in the majority. 

“About 73% of people claim to experience this unique flavor of anxiety,” Harvard writer Trevor Haynes from Science In The News said, “which makes sense when you consider that adults in the US spend an average of 2-4 hours per day tapping, typing, and swiping on their devices—that adds up to over 2,600 daily touches.”

 Oxford languages defines an addiction as a physically and mentally dependent on a particular substance, and unable to stop taking it without incurring adverse effects. 

If TikTok has snuck its way into priority lane, overtaking turning in your history paper, let me ask again. Are you an addict?

After very little academic research and all based on instances of my own life, I will tell you I am addicted to my phone. I get excited when I get notifications and feel upset when there’s no sound of a ding. When I don’t feel like thinking, I hop on youtube and don’t notice when an hour has flown by. I am constantly stimulated with music from the time my alarm goes off to when I sleep. Half of the time I say I’m working on my homework, I’m feeling the fear of missing out (FOMO) whether that’s watching other people’s beach adventures to the Amalfi Coast, blowing out candles at big birthday dinners or even hanging out with friends in SF.  

FOMO from social media’s impact everyone. “I’m not a big instagram person, but I was sick over break, so I would scroll. I always felt so bad afterwards” said health teacher Jenn Epstein, “I feel like I just wasted time watching stupid people do stupid things. Why do I need that?” 

Although it’s common knowledge that social media is bad for mental health, people remain addicted to their phones for a biological reason. 

Neuroscience teacher Hannah Graham said, “The brain communicates using different chemicals, which are called neurotransmitters or neuromodulators. There’s a whole slew of them that the human brain uses and dopamine is one of those.” 

Dopamine is most associated with motivation and reward, which explains the instant gratification we feel from a text message. 

“Dopamine is important. Before humans had access to food, shelter, and technology, all these things that are readily available for many people, it would be something that you would have to go out and seek,” said Graham, “And it requires motivation in order to seek things that keep us safe and allow us to survive.”