Am I Captive to My Phone?

This discussion has recently taken a turn from the original "you spend too much time on your phone", to how we are slaves to our phones. I hate to do it but I have to be honest with myself about the situation I'm in. I am typically picking up my phone every five just to browse through the same applications I always do. I have to be very captivated by what I'm doing to not habitually be checking my phone. I think more recently I have become more dependent on my phone because I use it to distract me when I'm having some anxiety. Do the hours of screen time everyday take me out of reality in a good way or a negative way? I think user by user this differs, but I am going to oppose the masses and say that this escape from reality can be very positive in certain ways.

Too much of anything is obviously a bad thing, but their could be worst vises to turn to than our phones. Tons of Americans turn to drugs or alcohol to change the way they feel or mentally escape the situation they're currently in. Our phones can be absolutely addictive but, can they be THAT destructive to us? Just as anything else our phones do too much to us mentally or emotionally when we use them as a coping mechanism. Although I believe this I think our phones are a lot better than other things we would possibly use in this way. Watching a little youtube is so much more healthier than drinking or using drugs. I think we associate screen time with social media obsessions naturally but not all screen time leads us to have negative thoughts about ourselves or comparing ourselves to others.

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I think it's possible that sometimes we need that time to relieve a little stress. Is it really the end of the world to use our phones to escape what's going on for a little bit? If our phones never became 'a thing' we wouldn't need them, I think this type of mindset is why everyone puts a negative connotation on screen time. Why is it so frowned upon to use our phones as tools to escape reality or give ourselves a little pleasure mentally, because this is what we're told.I think we need stop thinking it's the end of the world if we're on our phones for more than two hours a day. Let's put light on the positivity of these breaks from what's going on in our lives, whether it's a break from homework or a break from a failing relationship this can be positive.

We won't be able to see the positive effect it could have on us until we are able to define what screen time in moderation is. There's never going to be an effective way to deal with the negatives but I believe we can find efectful and reliable ways to use this positively.