SCROLLING IS THE NEW SMOKING

Art by Megan Radakovich

Whether you’ve found your back aching, your eyesight worsening or migraines increasing, one thing is certain—you should probably get off that damn phone.

And as it turns out, the solution isn’t those $50 blue light glasses your favorite TikTok influencer is sponsored by. As smartphone technology has rapidly developed over the past decade, so have studies about what it does to your health—and the results aren’t promising. That tiny glowing screen you mindlessly tap for hours on end causes all kinds of health problems, according to a 2025 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC study reported teens with an average screen time above four hours a day are more likely to have inconsistent sleep schedules, concerns about their weight and infrequent physical activity compared to those with screen times under four hours.

Your hand, neck and back pain could also come from using your screens too much, researchers at Harvard University found in 2018. As you doom scroll in bed for hours—your sore thumb as your only form of physical activity—next thing you know your joints stiffen up so much it feels like you’ve aged 40 years by the time you stand up. You crane your neck to watch hours of PR unboxing videos that, let’s be real, you’ll forget about the moment you swipe. All of this has the potential to warp your spine so far out of place that simple things like walking will be painful.

And let’s not forget about your desolate sleep schedule. A 2022 study by the National Institutes of Health found ties between bedtime technology usage and low sleep quality, resulting in more daytime exhaustion. Between telling yourself “just one more episode” at 3 a.m. and trying to find the perfect video to end your doomscrolling, it’s no secret that you’ve killed off so many dopamine receptors that the only option left is to pass out.

You’re not going to find the solution to these issues on TikTok or in a YouTube video essay. The hard truth is, if you want your body to feel like its age, you have to put your phone away, shut your computer and turn off the television.

Go outside, read a book, talk to somebody in person. You just might also interact with the real world and notice that you start to feel young once again.