Screentime and smartphone addictions are present within all age groups. Practicing mindfulness can help regain control from the automatic habits of checking a phone, browsing social media, and/or surfing the internet.
Chris Bradt, NCC, LMHC, LPC, LCPC, owner of Chris Bradt Counseling in New York City, helps us understand how digital addictions can affect us and how utilizing mindfulness can help quell them.
“Large amounts of screentime and smartphone usage tend to correlate with clients expressing a lack of meaning, connection, and engagement in their lives,” says Bradt. “Whether it is teens missing out on in-person time with friends, or adults engaging less in their hobbies, the correlation is consistent across all age populations.”
While the association may be similar, Bradt highlights the manners in which different age groups tend to be affected.
“Social media use is most common among adolescents and young adults, and these clients may become preoccupied with social comparison and feelings of inadequacy,” informs Bradt. “Dating app usage among adults of all ages can become an unfulfilling hobby, taking up copious amounts of time and emotional energy that is out of proportion to the benefits they expect to receive.”
Bradt also suspects that screentime and smartphone usage are likely culprits among children, adolescents, and young adults experiencing concentration difficulties and other ADHD-like symptoms.
“All of these presenting issues among the different age groups can lead to anxiety and depression symptoms, including negative feelings about oneself,” says Bradt.
Teaching mindfulness techniques is Bradt’s first-line approach to treatment for clients impacted by excessive screentime and smartphone usage.
“It’s where I start most of the time. I believe that non-judgmental self-awareness is the most advantageous place to begin when creating change,” says Bradt.
Without self-awareness, Bradt believes it is impossible for clients to put themselves in a position of empowered choice over their own behavior, and without non-judgment, they may fall into patterns of self-criticism, shame, and internal tension that can lead to seeking a quick release, such as picking up their phone or scrolling through a newsfeed.
To help others understand how mindfulness can promote healing, Bradt likens the mind to a jar of pond water. In this metaphor, frequent and prolonged digital stimulation compares to shaking the jar repeatedly, leaving the water muddied with sediment.
“Mindfulness is leaving the jar of pond water still. Eventually, the sediment settles to the bottom, and the water is clear. Smartphones, with their constant notifications and temptation, contribute to our minds feeling muddied. We can’t settle on a particular subject for more than a few seconds, be present in our surroundings, or move at our own pace,” says Bradt.
Bradt recommends setting alarms or reminders throughout the day to prompt clients to take mindful pauses.
Bradt has led groups on Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention and believes these concepts are applicable to screentime and smartphone addictions, especially “urge surfing,” the practice of recognizing our urges, such as the desire to pick up a phone, but not acting on them.
“We can observe how the tension initially increases, but then recedes,” says Bradt. “The illusion of urges is that we need to act on them to rid the tension. Mindfulness shows us how thoughts, feelings, and sensations simply come and go on their own, as long as we don’t fall into the trap of feeding them through compulsion or resistance.”
Bradt warns of the dopamine-hit reward loops, such as receiving likes or comments on an intermittent basis. These affirmations can provide the illusion of meeting one’s needs, resulting in craving more, as they provide a respite from life challenges they may be experiencing.
“Resisting initial urges is difficult. However, when urges go unfed, future urges become weaker, and healing can begin.” says Bradt.
Bradt offers advice to other counselors considering the use of mindfulness in their practice.
“First, practice it yourself. It’s very experiential, and it would be hard to effectively guide someone in practicing something you yourself have not experienced. Your personal practice will help you be able to relate to both the challenges and successes clients experience with mindfulness,” says Bradt.
Bradt also recommends starting small. Begin with no more than 5 minutes of mindfulness practice at a time. This can be as simple as deep, intentional breathing. For those with a more severe addiction, starting even smaller may be wise due to the challenge of sustained focus.
“Mindfulness is always about the middle path,” says Bradt, “so we want to guide clients in finding the balance between disciplined practice and self-compassion.”
This balance is especially important because smartphones and screentime do have notable positives, according to Bradt. For example, they can increase the sense of connection for adults suffering from loneliness, help adolescents who feel socially excluded find communities of support, and connect grandchildren with grandparents who live far away via FaceTime.
“When used intentionally, smartphone and screentime usage can be a valuable component in one’s coping skills toolbox. When used mindlessly, however, the behavior can start creating more challenges, and this is when mindfulness could come to the forefront,” concludes Bradt.
Chris Bradt, NCC, LMHC, LPC, LCPC, LPCC, is the owner of Chris Bradt Counseling, a private practice in New York City. He holds a master's degree in mindfulness-based transpersonal counseling from Naropa University and has been in practice since 2018. Bradt has a long history of practicing mindfulness and other contemplative methods, such as yoga, and regularly incorporates these principles and interventions in his counseling work.
Bradt holds a steadfast belief in the basic goodness of all people and uses that as a foundation to guide clients in the direction of relentless curiosity and compassion. His training in Gestalt therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and EMDR therapy has been complementary to his mindfulness-based orientation.
