Bangalore: How smartly are you using your smart phone? A new study revealed that the increasingly popular use of Web-enabled mobile phones increases stress levels among the users. The study conducted by University of Worcester psychologist Richard Balding revealed that the time spent checking Facebook and other ‘personal’ social networks are what actually stressing you out.

Blackberries, Androids, iPhones, etc are originally meant to help workers manage their workload by giving them access to messages and alerts while they are away from the office. But instead these phones are noted to stress people as they become so obsessive about checking their emails and social networking sites.

Surprisingly, investigators did not link stress to the professional use of smartphones for work purpose but instead to the personal use of the devices which help keep a tab on social networking news. The research was conducted on more than 100 volunteers including students and employees from a variety of professions including retail and the public sector. Questionnaires were issued to them and psychometric stress tests were carried out. It was noted that some were so hooked to their devices that they even began to experience "phantom" vibrations where they mistakenly believed their phone was buzzing in their pocket.

The findings suggested that the problem is a self-created one. It was seen that in most cases people had acquired smart phones to help them keep on top of their work. But eventually the benefits these phones brought to the user's workload were outweighed by a greater pressure for them to stay up to date with messages, emails and social networking sites. This in turn results in the vicious cycle where in the more stressed people become; the more they compulsively feel the need to check their phone.