Is Your Phone Hijacking Your Stress Response?

The average person taps, swipes, or clicks on their phone over 2,500 times a day. Heavy users? More than 3,500. It might feel harmless — but to your brain and body, every headline, ping, and scroll can register as a threat.

In this video, Rebalance CEO and Co-Founder Justin Hai explains how constant digital stimulation keeps our cortisol system on high alert, and how small shifts can help us reclaim calm in a world that won’t stop buzzing.

“Your stress response isn’t just reacting to life — it’s reacting to your screen," explains Justin Hai CEO of Rebalance and author of Stress Nation.

Every notification or breaking headline lights up the brain’s fear center, surging cortisol and shifting the body into fight-or-flight mode. Over time, this digital stress doesn’t just make you anxious — it can impair memory, weaken the immune system, fuel insomnia, and trap you in a feedback loop where the more stressed you feel, the more addicted you become to the very thing causing it. 

How to Interrupt the Loop

Justin offers practical ways to reset:

• Do a notification audit: Turn off non-essential alerts, especially news and social.

• Doomscroll detox: Avoid news after 7 p.m.

• One-screen rule: No phones in the bedroom.

• 30-minute mind buffer: No social, email, or news in the first 30 minutes of your day.

• Anchor your attention: Replace stress-inducing apps with calming cues like music, breathing apps, or silence.

“You’re not broken — you’re simply overstimulated,” Justin reminds us. The solution isn’t throwing away your phone, but learning how to reclaim your nervous system from the algorithm.

Because while the noise will never stop, your body can learn to find calm again.