COULD YOU BE SUFFERING FROM SMARTPHONE ADDICTION?

PHONE cravings are triggered by dopamine, the same brain chemical and reward circuits that keep compulsive gamblers at the card table and inspire drug addicts to seek out their next hit.

Dopamine is released by our brains whenever we check our phones and find a news update or comments and likes on a post.

Eventually the association becomes so strong that dopamine is released any time we even think about our phones: the very act of checking them makes our brain want to check even more.

If you answer yes to half of the following, you meet the criteria for behavioural addiction.

● Do you feel reluctant to be without your smartphone, even for a short time?

● Do you find yourself mindlessly passing time on a regular basis by staring at your phone?

● Do you seem to lose track of time when you’re on your smartphone?

● Do you find yourself viewing and answering texts, tweets and emails at all hours of the day and night – even if it means interrupting other things you are doing?

● When you eat meals, is your smartphone always part of the table place setting?

● When your smartphone rings, beeps or buzzes, do you feel an intense urge to check for texts, tweets, emails and updates immediately?

Taken from How To Break Up With Your Phone by Catherine Price (Orion Books, £12.99)