Twenty percent of women and twelve percent of men report losing sleep because of time spent on their mobile phone. In women, these figures have increased by a multiple of 8 since 2005. The results come from a survey of 709 Australians in 2018. The answers were compared with those given to the same survey in 2005.
The results of the survey included:
- Around 13% of people said their phone affected their productivity.
- Around 10% try to hide their high phone usage from others.
- About 20% said they would rather use their phone than deal with pressing issues.
These findings suggest that mobile phones are potentially increasingly affecting aspects of daytime functioning due to lack of sleep and increasing dereliction of responsibilities.
Australia has one of the highest levels of smartphone usage in the world, with 88% of Australians owning one. The speed and depth of smartphone take-up in Australia makes our population particularly vulnerable to some of the negative consequences of high mobile phone use.
Rapid technological innovations over the past few years have led to dramatic changes in today’s mobile phone technology—which can improve the quality of life for phone users but also result in some negative outcomes. These include anxiety and, in some cases, engagement in unsafe behaviours with serious health and safety implications.
It is recommended that mobile phones are used sparingly throughout the day and are switched off some two hours before going to sleep.