Warning: Dropping your smartphone is hazardous to your health

When you got yourself a nice new smartphone, that is the moment you feel most happy....., however, imagine dropping that smartphone, a week or two later....*horrors!!*

 The phone screen might not be the only thing that shows cracks. Did you know the fear of losing or breaking your smartphone creates an actual stress response inside the human body that is stronger than the fear of public speaking?! Yeah!! No kidding!!!

The study, conducted by a Hong Kong academic in collaboration with leading device protector OtterBox, uncovered how emotionally attached we are to our devices in Asia.

‘The 21st Century Scale of Stress Report’ showed that a person’s heart rate increases by an average of 15 percent (an increase of 7.45 beats per minute) when their phone is dropped - three times the amount that it increases when giving a public speech. A person’s cortisol level - the hormone released by the body when under stress - increases an average of 32 percent beyond the normal rate (from 8.19 to 10.82 ng/ml) when a person sees their phone crash to the floor.

During the experiment, some assistants appear to accidentally drop what the subjects thought was their phone and measured their physiological reactions. Out of all the tests, dropping the smartphone came out as most stressful and produced the most drastic physiological changes in all the measures.

Bonnie Soon, General Manager of OtterBox Asia Pacific says: “We all know that feeling, when your smartphone flies from your grip and you watch in horror as it falls to the floor. The moments before assessing the damage can feel like a lifetime. The tension and ‘stress’ we feel shows just how emotionally attached we’ve become to these devices.”

What happens to the human body when a smartphone drops - the main findings

Researchers studied subjects via measuring a number of bodily stress responses such as heart rate, respiration rate, finger pulse and cortisol concentration levels. The live experiments compared the effects of a smartphone dropping to three other everyday stressful events - being exposed to sudden loud noises, completing a task under a strict deadline and public speaking. Dropping a device is definitely the most stressful thing a human can endure.

1. The heart skips more than just a beat

If a person has a sudden increase in heart rate, it can mean he/she is heavily stressed, excited, or anxious. When the subjects saw their smartphone being dropped, heart rate variability increased by 15 percent on average - about 7.45 beats per minute - three times more than other stressors. This increase rate is three times more than when they were asked to perform tasks under a short deadline, or to give a public speech. (1.7 beats per minutes).

2. The body releases the stress hormone

Cortisol is a stress hormone that the body releases when a person feels stressed or in danger. When a subject’s smartphone fell to the floor, the cortisol concentration level increased an average of 32 percent (from 8.19 to 10.82 ng/ml) from a normal state.

3. Taking a deep breath

An increase in respiratory intake is a sign that a person needs more oxygen to handle stressful or dangerous situations. When subjects saw their phone dropped on the floor, their respiration rate increased by over 15 percent compared to a resting state. This is four times more than when asked to give a speech in front of a group of strangers.

Men vs Women - the findings

Women might have a smaller heart physically, but they are the more fearless gender when reacting to modern stresses. The study reveals that male participants experienced bigger stress in all four tasks than female participants.

Men’s cortisol level increased by 22% when their phone was dropped, while women’s changed just 16%. Women, however, did find dropping their phones twice as stressful as public speaking. When measuring respiration rate, men breathe three times as quickly when they drop their phones compared to when they were asked to deliver a speech.

A report commissioned by OtterBox in 2015³ revealed just how attached we’ve become to our devices, perhaps showing why we experience such high levels of stress around the mobile world. It is said that 75% of Malaysian smartphone users have damaged their smartphones over 2.8 times in the past 5 years and 20% of them did not have any form of protection such as protective case or screen protector on their smartphones when damage occurred. And yes, that includes yours truly here... my XiaoMi  note was cracked and so did my heart.... huhuhu

When we do break a phone, 76 percent of people say that personal data loss or changing information (e.g. bank accounts) are the most irritating things to deal with. About 72 percent of smartphone users say that not being able to remember important phone numbers is the most frustrating aspect of breaking a smartphone. 

Now I am wiser as I have gotten myself one of the Otterbox Achiever series with streamlined protection ....The OtterBox Achiever Series is custom-designed to provide superior dual-layer protection for our beloved smartphones against any bumps, drops and shock. 

Achiever Series is a custom-designed to provide superior dual-layer protection against bumps, drops and shock. Confidently handle your phone on the go with a secure and slim case that easily slides into your back pocket.

Having one protecting my smartphone gives me the confidence and assurance my phone is now safe and secure against any falls, heck, I can even drop my phone on purpose just to gauge other people's reactions....LOL...

The OtterBox Achiever Series is custom-designed to provide superior dual-layer protection against bumps, drops and shock. Now I can confidently manage my phone on the go with a secure and slim case that easily slides into my back pocket, my bag or even front pocket

I am so in love with my OtterBox Achiever Series which now gives me a much more stress free life, even when my phone accidently drops... so I seriously highly recommend it to everyone who has invested in their dream phone, the latest Samsung or the latest iPhone to get and invest in one of this and save themselves a lot of stress in the unforeseen future... 

For more information, visit otterbox.com. 

Their motto is "Protecting your mobile world", but personally I have to say that they protect my stress levels too... LOL

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