Unrelenting usage of smartphones deemed akin to addiction, according to researchers' findings
** revamped piece **
In the realm of tech-savvy young adults, Anita Hagh, a researcher at McGill University, recounts a chilling phantom-limb sensation — the impulse to tap on the void where her Facebook app used to dwell. Five years ago, she demolished the app, left in the grips of "problematic smartphone use" or phone addiction.
A 2023 global study led by Jay Olson, a post-doc researcher from the University of Toronto's Psychology department, shines light on this emerging issue, characterizing problematic smartphone use as a force that disrupts daily life and produces feelings of depression, sleep loss, and concentration issues.
Many young adults exhibit symptoms of excessive smartphone use, as they've spent the majority of their lives ensnared in the digital world. The smartphone craze started around 2009, and its effects are increasingly clear, particularly to youth who've never known a world untethered from screens.
Older generations grapple to root out the gravity of the problem, for they haven't cultivated the digital-native habits enjoyed by today's teenagers.
Gary Su, a clinical therapist at Venture Academy, a private school for troubled teens, describes the intense digital addictions plaguing his students: their schedules overrun by screen time, their social lives neglected, and online bullying rampant.
Intimate photos and details shared online linger forever, preying on the vulnerable, often in their formative years.
Classification of problematic smartphone use as an addiction remains merely provocative, as there's yet to be a consensus among researchers. However, Olson suggests several behavioral addictions share striking resemblances to this screen-bound compulsion.
Su, too, observes digital dependency among youth under his care, with individuals entrenched in a cycle of use despite its deleterious effects.
All the while, Olson insists that a conversation on smartphone habits is long overdue, holding school bans as a tentative first step, and advocating for stricter age limits on social media to curb the mental health tide.
Hagh implores mindfulness as she navigates her digitally combustive research, acutely aware of the platforms' potential to incite fixation and addiction.
It's a vicious cycle, a train wreck, she admits — one that's tough to avoid.
This revisitor of The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2025.
Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press
In the context of the revamped piece, Anita Hagh, a researcher at McGill University, discusses the impact of problematic smartphone use on mental health, drawing parallels with physical health ailments. Meanwhile, Jay Olson, a post-doc researcher from the University of Toronto's Psychology department, emphasizes the need to address this issue as a health-and-wellness concern, including mental health, due to its disruptive effects on daily life and potential for addiction-like behaviors.
