3 in 4 Americans Admit to Using Their Phone Whilst on the Toilet

You heard it right! The data is out, and it says 3 in 4 Americans cannot go to the bathroom without their smartphones. BankMyCell, a data company in the electronics recycling market, had surveyed 06/01/2018 to 08/31/2018 to find out the exact number of Americans who use their smartphones in their toilets. The study itself sounds bizarre but the company intended to make people aware of changes in their behavior.

They concluded a lot of stuff from this survey but one fact that stands out from the rest is “1 in 5 women have taken their phone for a toilet swim and dropped it in the can“. How is this even possible? Why are these women nonchalantly trashing their phones? According to the survey, these women come in the “Generation Z” demographic. In short, females born between the mid- to late-1990s.

According to the survey, 66.7% of the world’s population has access to smartphones connected to high-speed internet. Generation Z was born and brought up in the smartphone era. It makes sense for a lot of these people to be fully reliant on this device. But things get worrisome when they start carrying their phone into their bathrooms. This is a telltale sign of a phone addict.

How often do people use their smartphones in their toilet?

The data shows that the number of men who use their smartphones in the toilet is far greater than females. BankMyCell surveyed 2,114 people in the U.S to build this report. Half of the participants were men and the rest were females. Out of those 1057 men, 15% agreed to use their smartphones every time they went to the toilet. Whereas, only 5% of women agreed to do so.

Furthermore, 34% of men agreed to use their smartphones “quite often” in the toilet and on the other side, 27% of women did the same. Even the percentage of women who never carry their smartphones in their toilets is greater than men. In conclusion, an alarming number of men carry their smartphones in their toilets and they do it quite frequently.

Besides, BankMyCell had previously done a study to find out how smartphone addiction impacts a user’s life. Back then, they didn’t get into the demographics of the users but still came to some useful conclusions. They had concluded that 87% of smartphone users check their phones 1 hour before going to bed and 69% do the same within 5 minutes of waking up. In 2019, things don’t seem to have improved.

What is smartphone addiction? How to deal with smartphone addiction?

You will be surprised to learn that there is even a medical term for smartphone addiction. “Nomophobia” is a symptom of digital media misuse. Smartphone addiction exhibits similar symptoms as to “separation anxiety” one feels when they are away from their loved ones. You feel like something is missing in your life and you desperately need to fill the inner void by one means or the other.

Here are some of the best ways to deal with smartphone addiction:

1) Keep your phone away 1 hour before bedtime.

2) Delete addictive apps from your phone.

3) Indulge in activities like reading or meditation before bedtime.

4) Put your phone on airplane mode minutes before going to sleep.

5) Replace your smartphone with an old fashioned flip phone for the next few days.