Study links problematic internet use to heightened ADHD symptoms

Shocking……In other news, sun hot & water wet!

I’m in the process of divesting myself of gadgets, screens and doomscrolling devices.

Carrying around a dumb phone has really opened my eyes to the way my executive function has deteriorated by being able to instantly web search any idea or mental flight of fancy.

This means that all of my positive coping behaviours are impacted, for example journey planning. Being able to push the voice assist button in the car and say navigate to x, means I’m winging all my irregular travel.

The network effect of tech drags me deeper in and causes hyperfixation, like disto hopping but for solution finding, I reckon I’ve tried almost every todo app/system and gadget in existence, todoist to custom sql databases. Spbullet journaling is the best thing that has happened to me in a decade.

I’m trying to figure out how to ditch my smartphone full time but modern life doesn’t really allow it.

A lack of ability to police one's own levels of internet usage is something I've brushed up against in my own life. Someone with ADHD may be harmed by the constant availability of distracting content, but may not be able to set effective strategies for curbing one's usage of said content, or may find ways to get around those strategies in order to access or justify accessing the internet. A vicious cycle.

The link is paywalled, and the abstract and lit review don't provide the full picture.

Speaking for myself, I noticed a decade ago that 'second screen syndrome' completely ruined ability to watch TV and movies with my full attention. The internet on my phone delivers dopamine far, far faster. TV feels unbearably languid , like the characters are just filling time until the next scene transition.

My phone is the primary entertainment machine, and we're not even talking high-quality AAA material here; it's the usual mix of Twitter drama, messageboard drama, new gadget videos and sports highlights. It's not as good as a quality film or book. But it's faster, and you don't feel the cost of context switching. At least until you run out of funny things to look at and have to put the phone down and do something else.