Most researchers agree that too many hours spent in front of a screen can be bad for your health, but there’s no clear number as to how many hours per day or per week are too many.
Chris Sekorski is a licensed clinical social worker at Emplify Health by Gundersen. He says studies are finding prolonged playing of video games can have a negative biological impact on the human body.
“There’s been noticeable reduction in the gray matter in a person’s prefrontal cortex, that’s the part of your brain that makes the decisions,” Sekorski says, “as well as comorbidity, where people who have a higher amount of screen time also are more likely to have anxiety, depression, ADHD, suicidality too.”
Most people use devices with screens, but he says whether someone is addicted to them depends on how they’re used. Sekorski says the only recognized addiction to screens is for those who suffer from gaming disorders, but that doesn’t mean people can’t become reliant on them in other ways. There are warning signs.
“The compulsive usage, the prioritizing it over other parts of our lives, the deception you sometimes see in other addictions where a person will lie about how often they’re using a device,” Sekorski says. “All those things, when you start to see them, are an indication that things are moving in a potentially addictive direction.”
The younger generations are being raised with screens from a very early age, making them much more susceptible to the risks.
“You have adolescents who are already in that stage in their life where they are trying to fit in with their crowd, are already driven to connect with other people,” he says, “so there’s this huge drive and then this engine in your brain like pushing that seeking behavior and without the ability to govern those impulses. So adolescents are at much higher risk.”
Sekorski notes it’s nearly impossible to be connected and successful in this modern world without a device.
Emplify Health by Gundersen has clinics in Calmar, Decorah, Fayette, Lansing, Postville and Waukon, and a hospital in West Union.
