The Alarming Rise Of Cell Phone Addiction In New Jersey

How addicted to cell phones are people in New Jersey? Hey I know! Why don’t you look that up on your phone? I mean, you’re looking up everything else.

Some crazy stats just came out from research done by Recovered, a rehabilitation and addiction treatment directory. If you take all states in the Northeast and look at their rate of what experts say is a cell phone addiction, New Jersey is double the average.

They arrived at this by analyzing Google search volume data for hundreds of keywords related to phone addiction and screen time addiction.

A TikTok logo is shown on a phone in San Francisco, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

“What’s particularly alarming about New Jersey’s data is that our state shows search rates 103% higher than the Northeast average, with Newark topping all Northeastern cities at 82.6 searches per 10,000 residents," stated Dr. Nicolette Natale of Recovered. "Even more concerning, while the state's overall trend shows some improvement, three major cities − Paterson, Woodbridge, and Newark − are actually seeing significant increases in addiction-related searches."

What’s driving it? Social media.

Credit: ponsulak

Studies find TikTok to be the most addictive platform. Users can develop dependency within just 35 minutes of use.

58% of heavy users suffer from poor sleep, worsening mental health conditions. Do you sleep with your cell phone right next to you? Guilty.

Canva / TSM Illustration

Teenagers who use social media more than five hours per day are 71% more likely to experience suicidal thoughts. Let that one sink in.

College students using social media over three hours per day report 30% lower GPAs. Bye-bye scholarship.

The worst cities in New Jersey for phone addiction are Newark, Woodbridge, Edison, Paterson, and Jersey City.

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Do you think you have a phone addiction? National surveys show 56.9% of Americans admit they do. As for me I’ll answer that question if you DM me on Instagram and only after I’m done scrolling Facebook and finishing today’s NYT’s Connections.

Ignore these calls, NJ! Area codes you should never pick up

While dodging scam calls can feel a bit like playing “Wack a mole” on the boardwalk, there are some area codes that are giant red flags, as collected by the Better Business Bureau and socialcatfish.com:

Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt

Don't get fooled: Here's 25 scam texts I received in just one month

Yes, some of these may be humorous, but some do appear legit and often can fool you.

Spam texts are listed in the same order that they were received.

Gallery Credit: Mike Brant

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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Source: Cell phone addiction is out of control in NJ