A bit of chocolate here, a few minutes on Instagram there – these daily rituals bring us little boosts of happiness. But only in the short term. Sooner or later, feelings of overstimulation and stress start to creep in. — Photo: Zacharie Scheurer/dpa
BERLIN: What do you do while sitting in a doctor's waiting room? Or after settling into a train seat on your commute home from work? Or standing at the kitchen stove as the noodle water creeps towards a boil?
If you're like many people, you reach for your smartphone to check the latest on social media. From a psychological standpoint, it's an easily explicable behaviour: Video snippets are entertaining and ever-ready diversions. They give you a quick hit of happiness, but it quickly subsides.
