Last updated April 12, 2019
More bad health news for cell phone users has emerged with the claim that excessive use of the electronic devices can hinder sleep, trigger stress and fatigue, and even create mental problems such as a lack of concentration and depression.
At the annual meeting of the APPS (the US Associated Professional Sleep Societies), Dr Gaby Badre, who works at Sahlgren’s Academy in Gothenburg in Sweden, says that teenagers who use cell phones excessively are more prone to tiredness and stress. The study that prompted her claim focused on 21 healthy young people between the ages of 14 and 20 who had regular study or work hours and had no problems with sleep. The subjects were divided into two separate groups, with one making less than five calls and/or sending less than five text messages per day, and the other making more than 15 calls or sending over 15 text messages every day. The latter group were shown to suffer from increased restlessness, were more susceptible to fatigue and stress, had difficulty falling asleep or suffered from disrupted sleep, and tended to have more careless lifestyles, consuming more stimulating drinks and with only a third eating breakfast.
This is not the first study linking cell phone use with a disturbed mental state. Back in 2005, Professor Kim Dong-hyun studied over 500 high school students who were separated into four different groups based on their cell phone use, with those who used the devices the most scoring as much as 16 points higher on depression.