Too Much Social Media Can Cause Phantom Phone Vibrations

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — On average people check social media every 6 and a half minutes,that’s about 150 times a day.

And that habit is creating phantom phone vibrations in some people.

Have you ever heard your phone go off, check and not have a message or call? Well that’s it.

“I did not coin the term FOMO, but it’s the fear of missing out,” says Dr. Linda Halbert.

She says the fear of missing out is making people consume social media at a very high rate.

“It’s almost obsessive hearing your phone ring, or think you hear it ring and it really isn’t.”

That obsession is fueled by feeding actually chemicals in the brain.

” It creates all these neurotransmitter of dopamine, and norepinephrine, so you feel hyper-vigilant thinking what if I miss something important,” says Dr. Halbert.

If you want to cut down on your screen time, while still staying in the loop, Dr. Halbert says take a 10 minute break from technology every few hours.

“They don’t take time to go outside anymore, or to go for a walk or to listen to music or to exercise,” she says.

Making small changes can help ease some anxiety, and Dr. Halbert says the chances of you missing out on something catastrophic in 10 minutes is pretty unlikely.