I'm a doctor and these three ways you use your phone are negatively impacting your health

A doctor has warned of three ways using your phone is 'killing your brain' and what you should do if you 'don't want to live a stressful life'.

Stress expert Dr. Harvard's Aditi Nerurkar, from Boston, Massachusetts, explained the negative effects our cell phones have on our brains while speaking with podcast host Steven Bartlett on an episode of his show, The Diary of a CEO.

She explained that excessive use of high-brightness phone screens and exposure to graphic content can contribute to stress, anxiety and depression.

The doctor also stressed that creating 'digital boundaries' with our phones is 'essential for our mental health and wellbeing'.

Here, FEMAIL reveals the three phone habits Dr. Nerurkar mentioned that are negatively impacting our daily lives.

Night scrolling

The specialist discussed how constant cell phone use can negatively impact mental health through a phenomenon known as “popcorn brain.”

This happens when the user has difficulty disconnecting from the continuous stream of online information.

She claimed that our desire to scroll on our phones is a “primal urge” to look for danger, which stems from a feeling of stress.

She explained: 'There has been a lot of bad news lately. In fact, it feels like the onslaught of bad news, one after another, whether it's a climate disaster or a conflict in some part of the world or something else, is happening all the time now.

'The flow of information is fast and unprecedented, which is why we are constantly scrolling and scanning for danger.

'When we were all cave people, there was a night watchman. That person sat by the fire while the tribe slept and that person scanned for danger to keep the tribe safe.

'In modern times, we have all become that night watchman and scroll incessantly when we feel a sense of stress because it is our primal urge.

'It's our amygdala's way (parts of the brain responsible for processing emotional stimuli) to sense a sense of security because we're looking for danger.

'But we are no longer part of a tribe, we are no longer cave people. So what do we do? We scroll, that's how we look for danger, especially when we feel stressed.'

She explained the negative effects our cell phones have on our brains while speaking to podcast host Steven Bartlett (pictured) on a recent episode of his show, The Diary of a CEO

Check your phone regularly

Dr. Nerurkar urged people to stop checking their phones immediately after waking up as this leads to increased stress and dependence on mobile phones, making stress even worse.

She said: 'Most of us check our phones 2,600 times a day, that's a statistic… When you wake up, before your second eye is even open, you're scrolling.

'Research shows that 62 percent of people check their phone within 15 minutes of waking up and about 50 percent in the middle of the night. “I am guilty of this,” she said.

Dr. Nerurkar recommends limiting your phone use to 20 minutes per day, “and setting a timer for interaction and consumption if necessary.”

Consuming traumatic content

The doctor said consuming traumatic content on social media can lead to emotional distress, PTSD and indirect trauma, especially for those who work in journalism.

She explained: 'Graphics and videos on your phone can increase the risk of PTSD and mental health problems because they trigger the fight or flight response and can lead to indirect trauma.

'Research shows that your risk of PTSD increases when you consume graphic images, even if what you're consuming is happening thousands of miles away, like in any conflict, any climate disaster, whatever.

“If you start consuming graphic images and videos, you increase your risk of PTSD, even if you haven't had direct trauma, because it's indirect trauma you're seeing.

“And so it's a cycle. The more videos you consume or the more graphic content you consume, your amygdala gets activated, your primal urge to scroll starts to go haywire, and then you scroll some more, and then you scroll some more, because you you don't feel safe. This is a common phenomenon.'