Yoon Ja-young is in charge of articles translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times. She is interested in improving the newspaper through AI.
Find time to rest your mind
Psychiatrist warns of overstimulating brain in smart era
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Professor Shin Dong-won
By Yoon Ja-young
A lawmaker plays a game on his smartphone during a meeting in this file photo. Psychiatrists say that people are becoming addicted to their cell phones, depriving their brains of time to rest. / Korea Times file
By Yoon Ja-young
Smartphones have become a necessity in our daily life, but are they really working positively for our “wellness?” Professor Shin Dong-won at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital says that the smart devices are making overworking brain. We should try to vacate our brain, according to the psychiatrist.
“When you got on the bus in the past, many people were dozing or they were just sitting with a vacant look on their face ... the brain had time for a rest,” the professor said.
Now, however, most people are looking at their smartphones in the bus or subways. She said people are becoming addicted to their cell phones, just like alcoholics are addicted. “According to a study, people check their phones every six minute on average these days. They continue checking their phones fearing that they might be missing messages.”
She explained that dopamine, a kind of chemical in the brain, makes us get addicted to something. “When you drink alcohol, dopamine is secreted to excite you. However, when you get used to a glass of alcohol, you will then need two glasses to have the same amount of dopamine. It is the same with the cell phone. You probably checked phones every few hours in the past, but now you are checking it every few minutes.”
The problem is that this “drug” in our hands is making us tired, both physically and mentally. “Our brain has two modes — resting and concentrating. It needs to take a rest to function smoothly. The digital devices, however, are depriving the brain of rest ... Consequently, the brain doesn’t function effectively when it should be working,” she said.
What’s happening in our brain during sleep reflects how rest is essential for our brain. “Some people say that they don’t want to waste time by going to sleep, but that is silly. Do you know which organ of our body consumes the most nutrition, oxygen and energy? It’s the brain. It means the brain has so much work.” Contrary to what most people believe, the brain consumes more energy when we are asleep than when we are awake. The professor says the brain is organizing the information we got through the day while we are asleep. “That’s why students who sit all night to study without sleeping aren’t A students ... You should take a good sleep to recharge the brain,” she said, explaining how rest is essential for the brain.
While our brain needs to switch between two modes — resting and concentrating, the digital devices are hampering the rest mode.
Moreover, too much use of cell phones is working negatively on social skills. It is especially true among children and teenagers, according to the psychiatrist. They are communicating mostly through text messages or messengers. A study by Nielsen showed that American teens were sending or receiving over 3,300 text messages a month. “People read faces of each other to find out how they feel and think, and cope with it properly. This function can’t be substituted by any device, no matter how developed it is.”
However, this social skill has to be learned, according to the professor. “As you sit isolated in your room and communicate through Kakao Talk, you can’t read the faces of the other people. Smartphones thus make you lose social skills.”
Training for vacating brain
She advises that we should control digital devices instead of being controlled by them, citing one of her cases. After talking with a person suffering from insomnia, she found out that the patient had a computer in his bedroom and puts his cell phone next to his pillow when he goes to bed. He would get Kakao Talk messages when he was about to sleep. As he replied and looked at a few other things on the phone, he immediately feels awake. “My prescription was to ban digital devices after 11 p.m., turn off the computer and leave the phone outside the bedroom. Now he says he’s sleeping well.”
In the case of a couple who quarreled every day, the psychiatrist found out the husband was bringing his cell phone to the dining table. The wife wanted a conversation but the husband was concentrating on the phone. After the husband quit the habit, the couple’s problem was solved.
While one should give the brain time to rest by making it vacant, one may find it difficult due to ensuing thoughts. It is not easy to not think about anything. It takes training. The professor gave some tips. The first is to read signboards while on the street. The second is to observe other people. For instance, one can try to count five people wearing glasses, or five people wearing a red scarf. “I advise that you try it when you are muddled up with thoughts. You will find your head clearing up.”
Exercise is also helpful in making the brain vacant. However, if you stick to a thought while exercising, the brain doesn’t get a rest. Hence, she recommended saying, for instance, “one” for the left step and “two” for the right step while walking.
“People came to think that using digital device means you are smart and trendy ... However, what you really need is contact with people, not connection with smartphones.”