Study from Lower Austria warns:

Mental health problems? Hands off the smartphone

Reduced cell phone use can reduce depressive symptoms, as Lower Austria researchers found out (symbolic image).(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

People who significantly reduce their daily smartphone use feel better. A relapse into old habits, on the other hand, leads to a deterioration in mental health, as researchers from Lower Austria show in a new study. A specific time window became particularly clear, after which mental well-being deteriorates noticeably.

In the 300,000 years of human evolution, there has probably never been such a behavior: holding an object weighing 200 grams in our hand for three hours a day, fixing it with a lowered gaze and continuously tapping and swiping it with our thumb and index finger.

Stress, sleep quality and depressive symptoms
Excessive cell phone use has also been shown to have a negative impact on mental health. Particularly with regard to stress, poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms, as the Lower Austrian researchers state in the "BMC Medicine" journal.

Specifically, 111 students with an average age of just under 23 years took part in the study, which was conducted by a team led by Christoph Pieh, Head of the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the University of Continuing Education Krems. The daily smartphone use of one group was limited to a maximum of two hours. A control group maintained an average usage of 4.5 hours.

For the first time, we were able to show a causal relationship between smartphone use and mental health.

Christoph Pieh, Leiter des Departments für Psychosomatische Medizin und Psychotherapie der Universität für Weiterbildung Krems

Limit value is two hours a day
After three weeks, there were slight to moderate effects: When restricted to less than two hours per day, an improvement in mental health was observed in the students. Depressive symptoms were reduced by 27 percent, stress decreased by 16 percent, sleep quality rose by 18 percent and general well-being increased by 14 percent, according to a press release. "For the first time, we were able to show a causal relationship between smartphone use and mental health," Pieh is quoted as saying.

However, the positive effects quickly fizzled out as soon as cell phone use increased again. In a follow-up study, the values returned to the initial level. A sustainable change in behavior is therefore important.