What Happens To Your Brain When You Mindlessly Scroll?

Recent studies suggest Americans unlock their phones an average of 100 to 150 times a day. Whether that’s to check the time, send a text or Google a fact, each interaction can cause stress.

“It might be said we are addicted to being distracted,” said Victoria Strohmeyer, a registered psychotherapist with UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center. “When you check your phone or hear an alert, you activate your sympathetic nervous system, the part of your body that’s always scanning the environment. It gives you a little shot of adrenaline for every interaction.”

That adrenaline, which is meant to trigger your body to pay attention, sets off a cascade of chemicals that increases heart rate, pulse and muscle tension, and shunts energy from the brain to the muscles.

“It will take five to 30 minutes for your body to get back to baseline after every one of these alarms,” Strohmeyer said

The hidden stress of cell phones