How to Tell If Your Digital Addiction Is Ruining Your Life

Finding balance between the benefits of staying connected and being distracted by our devices can be tricky

There is no question that our devices have changed our social lives, both for good and for ill. Song_about_summer/Shutterstock

The fear that digital distractions are ruining our lives and friendships is widespread.

Consider the 2,600 times we touch our phones every day, our panic when we temporarily misplace a device, the experience of “phantom vibration syndrome” and how merely seeing a message alert can be as distracting as checking the message itself.