A recent study from Northwestern University supported earlier findings that the more time we spend fiddling with our cellphone – not actually talking on it -- the greater the likelihood we may be suffering from depression. The same relationship holds true for the frequency we “check our phones” each day.
Location and geographical movement are also diagnostic. Users who keep to a fairly routine schedule are less likely to be depressed as are users who get out of the house on a regular basis. While the average person spends 17 minutes a day on the phone, people most likely to suffer from depression were spending over three times that – about 68 minutes a day.
If you find yourself “clocking in” at over an hour a day, you may also be “checking out” of real life. This suggests that it’s time to put down your phone and get back into the game. Depression is serious business and there are seldom easy one-size-fits-all solutions, but here are some ideas for filling the time that you once spent on your phone:
- Add regular exercise to your day – this has been proven to be effective in lessening the symptoms of depression.
- Eat healthy and get enough sleep.
- Focus on the positives in life and remind yourself to let go of negative thoughts.
- Meditate – this is another easy, at-home treatment for the blues.
Finally, go on a Facebook de-tox and immerse yourself into your own life -- not the virtual, photo-shopped lives of others.
I’m Suzanne Degges-White, and that’s my perspective.
