Separating youngsters from their mobiles ‘gives them post-traumatic stress’

An experiment has shown the terrible suffering faced by young people when they’re parted from their beloved phones – as their hearts go berserk, and they try to find their devices.

The patterns of heart activity are similar to those seen in people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, the researchers say.

Researchers at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest experimented on 87 smartphone owners aged between 18 and 26.

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The researchers took away some of the volunteers’ mobiles and placed them in a cupboard in a locked room – sparking panic.

The youngsters tried to approach the cupboard to get their phones back – while their hearts hammered in their chests.

Analysis found that the youngsters separated separated from their phones displayed heartbeat patterns associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – similar to what happens when a child is separated from a parent.

The researchers write, ‘The results support that humans form attachment toward their mobile: they seek the proximity of the mobile and show stress response upon separation.

‘Separated individuals had different heart rate responses compared to unseparated participants. Furthermore, separated participants tried to repair proximity to their mobile.

‘They approached the cupboard where their mobile was placed more frequently than unseparated participants.