RAúL SORIA

If you’re like many people, you may have decided that you want to spend less time staring at your phone.

如果你和許多人一樣，你可能已經(jīng)決定要少花點時間盯著手機看了。

It’s a good idea: an increasing body of evidence suggests that the time we spend on our smartphones is interfering with our sleep, self-esteem, relationships, memory, attention spans, creativity, productivity and problem-solving and decision-making skills.

這是個好主意：越來越多的證據(jù)表明，我們在我們的智能手機上耗費的時間正在干擾我們的睡眠、自尊、人際關(guān)系、記憶、注意力持續(xù)時間、創(chuàng)造力、生產(chǎn)力以及解決問題和決策的能力。

But there is another reason for us to rethink our relationships with our devices. By chronically raising levels of cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone, our phones may be threatening our health and shortening our lives.

但令我們重新思考與這些設(shè)備的關(guān)系的，還有另一個原因。通過長期提高身體主要的應(yīng)激激素——皮質(zhì)醇的水平，我們的手機可能會威脅我們的健康，并縮短我們的壽命。

Until now, most discussions of phones’ biochemical effects have focused on dopamine, a brain chemical that helps us form habits — and addictions. Like slot machines, smartphones and apps are explicitly designed to trigger dopamine’s release, with the goal of making our devices difficult to put down.

到目前為止，大多數(shù)關(guān)于手機生化效應(yīng)的討論都集中在多巴胺上，這是一種幫助我們形成習(xí)慣和上癮的大腦化學(xué)物質(zhì)。就像老虎機一樣，智能手機和應(yīng)用程序明顯是為了觸發(fā)多巴胺的釋放而設(shè)計的，目的就是讓我們難以放下手中的設(shè)備。

This manipulation of our dopamine systems is why many experts believe that we are developing behavioral addictions to our phones. But our phones’ effects on cortisol are potentially even more alarming.

這種對我們多巴胺系統(tǒng)的操縱，正是許多專家認(rèn)為我們正在對我們的手機產(chǎn)生行為上癮的原因。但我們的手機對皮質(zhì)醇的影響可能更令人擔(dān)憂。

Cortisol is our primary fight-or-flight hormone. Its release triggers physiological changes, such as spikes in blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar, that help us react to and survive acute physical threats.

皮質(zhì)醇是影響戰(zhàn)逃決策的主要激素。它的釋放會引發(fā)一些生理變化，比如血壓、心率和血糖的飆升，這些變化會幫助我們對緊急的人身威脅做出反應(yīng)并存活下來。

These effects can be lifesaving if you are actually in physical danger — like, say, you’re being charged by a bull. But our bodies also release cortisol in response to emotionalemotional stressors where an increased heart rate isn’t going to do much good, such as checking your phone to find an angry email from your boss.

如果你的身體確實存在危險，比如一頭公牛正在向你沖來，這些反應(yīng)將可以挽救你的生命。但我們的身體也會釋放皮質(zhì)醇以應(yīng)對情緒壓力，在這種情況下，心率加快并沒有多大好處，比如查看手機時發(fā)現(xiàn)老板發(fā)來的一封憤怒的郵件。

4 Hours a Day

4小時一天

If they happened only occasionally, phone-induced cortisol spikes might not matter. But the average American spends four hours a day staring at their smartphone and keeps it within arm’s reach nearly all the time, according to a tracking app called Moment. The result, as Google has noted in a report, is that “mobile devices loaded with social media, email and news apps” create “a constant sense of obligation, generating unintended personal stress.”

如果這只是偶爾發(fā)生，手機引起的皮質(zhì)醇激增可能并不重要。但據(jù)一款名為Moment的追蹤應(yīng)用顯示，美國人平均每天要花四個小時盯著自己的智能手機，而且?guī)缀鯐r時刻刻都把它放在觸手可及的地方。正如谷歌在一份報告中所指出，其結(jié)果是，“裝有社交媒體、電子郵件和新聞應(yīng)用的移動設(shè)備”會產(chǎn)生“一種持續(xù)的責(zé)任感，進(jìn)而形成意想不到的個人壓力?！?/span>

“Your cortisol levels are elevated when your phone is in sight or nearby, or when you hear it or even think you hear it,” says David Greenfield, professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction. “It’s a stress response, and it feels unpleasant, and the body’s natural response is to want to check the phone to make the stress go away.”

“當(dāng)你的手機在你的視線范圍內(nèi)或附近，又或者當(dāng)你聽到它，甚至認(rèn)為你聽到它時，你的皮質(zhì)醇水平就會升高?！笨的腋翊髮W(xué)(University of Connecticut)醫(yī)學(xué)院的臨床精神病學(xué)教授、互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和科技成癮研究中心(Center for Internet and Technology Addiction)的創(chuàng)始人大衛(wèi)·格林菲爾德(David Greenfield)說?！斑@是一種壓力反應(yīng)，它讓人感到不舒服，而身體的自然反應(yīng)是想要看看手機，讓這種壓力消失?！?/span>

But while doing so might soothe you for a second, it probably will make things worse in the long run. Any time you check your phone, you’re likely to find something else stressful waiting for you, leading to another spike in cortisol and another craving to check your phone to make your anxiety go away. This cycle, when continuously reinforced, leads to chronically elevated cortisol levels.

雖然這樣做可能會讓你暫時平靜下來，但從長遠(yuǎn)來看，它可能會讓事情變得更糟。每次你查看手機的時候，都很可能發(fā)現(xiàn)，一些其他的壓力正在等著你，這會導(dǎo)致皮質(zhì)醇再次飆升，并產(chǎn)生另一種想要查看手機讓你的焦慮消失的渴望。如果這種循環(huán)不斷加強，將導(dǎo)致皮質(zhì)醇水平長期升高。

And chronically elevated cortisol levels have been tied to an increased risk of serious health problems, including depression, obesity, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, fertility issues, high blood pressure, heart attack, dementia and stroke.

而皮質(zhì)醇水平的長期升高已被發(fā)現(xiàn)與多種嚴(yán)重健康問題的風(fēng)險增加有關(guān)，包括抑郁、肥胖、代謝綜合征、乙型糖尿病、生育問題、高血壓、心臟病、老人失智和中風(fēng)。

“Every chronic disease we know of is exacerbated by stress,” says Dr. Robert Lustig, emeritus professor in pediatric endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, and author of “The Hacking of the American Mind.” “And our phones are absolutely contributing to this.”

“我們所知的各種慢性病都會因壓力而惡化，”加州大學(xué)舊金山分校(University of California, San Francisco)兒科內(nèi)分泌學(xué)榮休教授、《美國人心智的黑客》(The Hacking of the American Mind)一書作者羅伯特·拉斯蒂格(Robert Lustig)說?！岸覀兊氖謾C無疑在加劇這一點?！?/span>

Smartphone Stress

智能手機壓力

In addition to its potential long-term health consequences, smartphone-induced stress affects us in more immediately life-threatening ways.

除潛在的長期健康不良影響之外，智能手機引起的壓力還會以直接威脅生命的方式影響我們。

Elevated cortisol levels impair the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain critical for decision-making and rational thought. “The prefrontal cortex is the brain’s Jiminy Cricket,” says Dr. Lustig. “It keeps us from doing stupid things.”

皮質(zhì)醇水平的升高會損傷前額皮質(zhì)，這一大腦區(qū)域?qū)Q策與理性思考至關(guān)重要。“前額皮質(zhì)是大腦的小蟋蟀吉明尼（Jiminy Cricket，《木偶奇遇記》里的重要角色，以智慧、風(fēng)趣和樂觀著稱?！g注）”魯斯提說。“它能讓我們避免做蠢事?！?/span>

Impairment of the prefrontal cortex decreases self-control. When coupled with a powerful desire to allay our anxiety, this can lead us to do things that may be stress-relieving in the moment but are potentially fatal, such as texting while driving.

前額皮質(zhì)受損會導(dǎo)致自我控制力降低。若同時伴有減輕焦慮的強烈欲望，會使我們做一些當(dāng)前或許能減緩壓力，卻有致命隱患的事情，比如邊開車邊發(fā)信息。

The effects of stress can be amplified even further if we are constantly worrying that something bad is about to happen, whether it’s a physical attack or an infuriating comment on social media. (In the case of phones, this state of hypervigilance sometimes manifests as “phantom vibrations,” in which people feel their phone vibrating in their pocket when their phone isn’t even there.)

如果我們時常都在擔(dān)心什么壞事就要發(fā)生，壓力的影響可能會被放大，無論是身體受攻擊還是社交媒體上惹人發(fā)怒的評論。（就手機而言，這種過度警覺有時表現(xiàn)為“幻覺震動”，即人們感覺手機在口袋里震動，而其實口袋里根本沒有手機。）

“Everything that we do, everything we experience, can influence our physiology and change circuits in our brain in ways that make us more or less reactive to stress,” says Bruce McEwen, head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at The Rockefeller University.

“我們所做的每件事，所經(jīng)歷的每件事，都會對我們的生理機能產(chǎn)生影響，并改變我們的腦回路，使我們對壓力的反應(yīng)程度增強或減弱，”洛克菲勒大學(xué)(Rockefeller University)哈羅德和瑪格麗特·米利肯·哈奇神經(jīng)內(nèi)分泌學(xué)實驗室(Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology)主任布魯斯·麥克尤恩(Bruce McEwen)說。

Dr. McEwen also notes that our baseline cortisol levels ebb and flow in a regular 24-hour cycle that is thrown out of whack if we get less than seven to eight hours of sleep a night, which is all too easy to do if you’re in the habit of checking your phone before bed. This in turn leaves our bodies less resilient to stress and increases our risk of all the stress-related health conditions mentioned above.

麥克尤恩還指出，在規(guī)律的24小時周期中，我們的基礎(chǔ)皮質(zhì)醇水平上下起伏，如果夜間睡眠不足7至8小時，這一運行節(jié)奏可能會陷入混亂，而如果有睡前查看手機的習(xí)慣，這種情況極易發(fā)生。這到頭來導(dǎo)致身體對壓力的恢復(fù)能力減弱，增加患上述所有壓力相關(guān)健康狀況的風(fēng)險。

Put this all together, and the hours we spend compulsively checking our phones may add up to much more than a waste of time.

綜合來看，我們花許多時間不由自主地查看手機，最終可能遠(yuǎn)不只是浪費了時間。

Breaking the Cycle

打破這一循環(huán)

The good news is that if we break this anxiety-driven cycle, we can reduce our cortisol levels, which in turn may both improve our short-term judgment and lower our risks for long-term stress-related health problems. Over time, says Dr. McEwen, it’s even possible to retrain our brains so that our stress responses are no longer on such a hair-trigger to begin with.

好消息是，如果我們將這一焦慮驅(qū)動的周期打破，便能降低皮質(zhì)醇水平，進(jìn)而有望改善短期判斷能力，并降低患上長期壓力相關(guān)健康問題的風(fēng)險。久而久之，麥克尤恩說，甚至有可能對大腦進(jìn)行重新訓(xùn)練，使我們對壓力的反應(yīng)不再從一開始就進(jìn)入一觸即發(fā)的緊張狀態(tài)。

To make your phone less stressful, start by turning off all notifications except for the ones you actually want to receive.

為了讓你的手機少制造些壓力，可以從關(guān)閉所有消息通知開始，只留下你真正想接收的那些。

Next, pay attention to how individual apps make you feel when you use them. Which do you check out of anxiety? Which leave you feeling stressed? Hide these apps in a folder off your home screen. Or, better yet, delete them for a few days and see how it feels.

接下來，留意一下你在使用不同應(yīng)用時的感受。哪些是你出于焦慮查看的？哪些讓你感到有壓力？把這些應(yīng)用隱藏到主屏幕之外的文件夾里。能把它們刪掉幾天時間看看感覺如何，那就更好了。

Regular breaks can also be an effective way to rebalance your body’s chemistry and regain your sense of control. A 24-hour “digital Sabbath” can be surprisingly soothing (once the initial twitchiness subsides), but even just leaving your phone behind when you get lunch is a step in the right direction.

有規(guī)律的休息也是重新找回身體的化學(xué)平衡、重獲控制感的有效方式。實行一次24小時的“數(shù)字安息日”可能會有意想不到的安撫功效（一旦開始的焦躁不安平息下來），不過哪怕是在午餐時把手機擱在一旁，也是朝正確的方向邁了一步。

Also, try to notice what anxiety-induced phone cravings feel like in your brain and body — without immediately giving in to them. “If you practice noticing what is happening inside yourself, you will realize that you can choose how to respond,” says Jack Kornfield, a Buddhist teacher at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. “We don’t have to be at the mercy of algorithms that are promoting the fear of missing out.”

此外，盡力去留意焦慮引起的玩手機的欲望在大腦和身體里的感受是怎樣的——而不是立即順應(yīng)它們?！叭绻闳ゾ毩?xí)留意身體的內(nèi)部過程，你會意識到你可以選擇如何作出回應(yīng)，”加州靈石禪修中心(Spirit Rock Meditation Center)的佛教導(dǎo)師杰克·康菲爾德(Jack Kornfield)說?！拔覀儧]必要讓自己被一些算法所牽制，它們會增強害怕錯過的心理?！?/span>

Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to create healthy boundaries with devices that are deliberately designed to discourage them. But by reducing our stress levels, doing so won’t just make us feel better day-to-day. It might actually lengthen our lives.

不幸的是，建立健康的界限并不容易，畢竟這些設(shè)備是專門設(shè)計用來模糊這些界限的。但通過降低我們的壓力水平，建立健康的界限將不僅會使我們一天天感覺好起來。它可能真的會延長我們的生命。