Modern Stress & Mobile Devices

In modern day it appears as if most people have had their cell phones/mobile devices attached to their hands, they just don’t go anywhere without them, not even to the bathroom despite hygiene risks. The average person now thinks “keys, wallet, phone” before leaving the house, and some have even become so attached they feel empty if it is not by their sides all the time. 

While there is no denying that smartphones and mobile devices have made it easier to stay connected to the interwebs, is there a cost to all of the convenience, instant gratification and communication? According to a growing body of evidence there is more than a financial cost, this new survey adds to the data. 

According to a new survey conducted by OnePoll of 2,000 millennials aged 18-34 because of constantly checking their phones, like an addiction, they only get to relax for 7 hours over an entire week; on a daily basis less than one hour was reported to be completely by themselves. 6 in 10 report never being able to fully relax because of compulsively checking emails, texts, tweets, feeds, etc. 1 in 10 report struggling to go even 10 minutes without looking at their device; and nearly half of all adults report wishing that smartphones were never invented.

For older adults that suggest only the young are addicted to these devices, this is not true as even older adults report relaxing for only about 90 minutes a day; 10% of all respondents actually struggle to go 10 minutes without checking their phones, and 9 in 10 check regularly even if they are aware that there has been no alert for a new message. 

“Relaxing is hugely important, but it’s something we often relegate to the back burner of our lives. Thanks to mobile phones and everything they allow us to do, it means that often when we are ‘relaxing’, we are still ‘switched-on’,” comments a spokesperson for Treatwell, the hair and beauty booking app that commissioned the survey, in a statement. “Neglecting our relaxation time can have a really detrimental effect on us, but it can happen quite slowly, so you don’t realize it’s happening.”

Excessive time spent on these mobile devices appears to be creating a void in people's lives as many respondents reported not being able to relax even if they have no work to do, and one third reported being at a loss of what to do with themselves other than staring blankly at the screens of their mobile devices when they have nothing to do. Have people become so addicted that they have forgotten how to think for themselves and just be?

62% of all respondents report finding modern life stressful, and 46% of all respondents went as far as to report that they wish smartphones/mobile devices had never even been invented altogether. 

Activities that respondents report helping them to unwind include: 1 in 5 list walking a dog, 14% report putting their devices out of sight, 59% list watching TV, 54% list reading, 52% list going for a walk, the sound of the ocean helps to relax 52%, the sound of rain helps to relax 30%, and upon hearing the sound of a waterfall 28% instantly relax. 

52% of female respondents would like a spa day to relax. Over half of the respondents report their lives as being less stressful before they had children. 3 in 10 respondents report that they don’t believe their romantic partners put in enough effort to give them time to relax, and another 3 in 10 report making more of an effort to relax but are not able to and fall back into feeling constantly stressed. 

While weather appears to play roles in stress levels with winter being considered to be twice as stressful as summer, jobs are reported as being one of the biggest obstacles that is impeding the respondents ability to relax.