You use your smartphone twice as much as you think you do, an average of five hours a day – that is roughly one-third of your total waking hours.

Do you use your smartphone because you are bored or because you are trying to avoid dealing with stressful or unpleasant things in your life.

Excessive smartphone use is a sign of mental health problems.

The fact that we use our phones twice as many times as you think you do indicates that a lot of smartphone use seems to be habitual, automatic behaviors that you have no Awareness of.

But the important thing is not how often you use your smartphone but your motivation for using it.

If you are surfing the Internet to keep your mind occupied while you are waiting in line at Starbucks or sitting on the bus, then your mental health probably is not at risk.

But if you are on Facebook to avoid thinking about a recent break-up, there may be a bigger issue. It is more than plausible to expect that usage affects your attitude, thoughts and behavior.

Usage has an impact on your brain. Whether or not this effect is beneficial or harmful depends on how you use your smartphone and for what you use it.

Usage impairs your attention, productivity and memory, dampens your creative thinking, increases your stress level, reduces sleep quality and leads to cognitive errors like forgetting meetings and walking into people.