BOSTON — Like it or not, phones are a constant part of everyday life.
A study from reviews.org found Americans spend five hours and one minute on their phones every single day. We check our phones 205 times a day.
That study also found 81% of people check their phones within 10 minutes of waking up, 66% use their phones, on the toilet, and 43% consider themselves addicted to their phones.
We asked people in the Fenway area about their phones. The responses ranged. One college student told Boston 25, “I feel like I’m on my phone maybe like 4 hours a day.”
Another man from Framingham told us, “people are addicted to them, and it’s sickening.”
Dr. Michael Tsappis with Boston Children’s Hospital says not so fast when throwing the word “addiction” around.
“You could wake up and say ‘I feel depressed today,’ doesn’t mean that you’re clinically depressed. and it’s the same kind of thing here, where you have a very controlled behavior, but it doesn’t mean you need abstinence, it doesn’t mean the same ways of helping you are going to be the ones that help for people with substance use disorders,” said Dr. Tsappis.
Dr. Tsappis is a psychiatrist and the co-director of the Clinic for Interactive Media and Internet Disorders. He says we should take two things into consideration before using the word addiction.
“The basic answer is ‘do I feel like I’m suffering in relation to this or am I not doing something functional that I think I should be doing, that I prefer to do,” explained Dr. Tsappis.
Asking yourself if the phone causes you pain or prevents you from functioning is the first step, he said.
“Pain metaphorically is just, you know suffering and so suffering could be like impaired relationships, arguing with parents, sleep impairment, and fatigue,” Dr. Tsappis explained, “functioning would be like- ‘I’m up until 2 then when I when I wake up at 6 a.m. to get ready to go to school, I can’t wake up well enough and so I just stay home and miss my school. I miss the morning. so missing classes, not completing as much work or achieving as well academically.”
Dr. Tsappis says turning away from the phone is less about the device itself and more about embracing your life and surroundings.
“Our solution involves not paying any attention to media at all, but just thinking about how to get them on the course of contentment and wellness in life in general. and just sort of not surprisingly, concerns about media use die off as they’re able to feel competent, connected, they’re able to kind of be autonomous and have a direction for themselves,” he said.
Another piece of advice from the doctor for parents—and this could be for children or adults: write down a list of things you want to do, plan to do; writing them down serves as a road map for your day, your time, and even your phone.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
