REVEALED: The staggering number of times Americans check their phones every day - as experts warn the nation's tech addiction is ruining lives

A startling study revealed that most Americans have been caught in the web of phone addiction.

Americans check their phones a staggering 144 times a day on average, with nearly 90 percent reaching for their device within the first ten minutes of waking up.

The alarming data comes from Reviews.org's study on Americans' cellphone habits in 2023. 

With over half of the participants admitting to feeling addicted to their phones, experts are now sounding the alarm. 

Excessive phone usage may have detrimental effects on friendships, relationships, and mental well-being, they say. 

 Americans check their phones a staggering 144 times a day on average, with nearly 90 percent reaching for their device within the first ten minutes of waking up

Thousands of videos have been posted under the hashtag #phoneaddiction, with one user capturing their family engrossed in their phones while sitting on the sofa

In another video, hundreds of people are seen turning on their phone cameras instead of immersing themselves in the 2024 New Year fireworks

Anastasia Dedyukhina, a digital wellbeing expert who has ditched her phone for a year and half, told CNBC that constantly checking phones could impact the depth of conversations with friends. 

 'If I had my smartphone next to me, it would attract my attention, consciously or unconsciously,' Dedyukhina said. 

Americans spent an average of four hours and 25 minutes each day on their cell phones in 2023, which equates to approximately two months of the year. 

Additionally, 60 percent of participants sleep with their phone at night, and more than half said they have never gone longer than 24 hours without their cell phone. 

It's not all doom and gloom - Americans are driving safer than the year before with 27 percent saying they use their phones while driving, a 14percent decrease since last year. 

Even on the most addictive social media platform TikTok, users are sharing tips on how to break free from their phones and refocus on real life.  

Thousands of videos were posted with the hashtag phone addiction, with one user capturing their family staring scrolling on their phones on sofa. 

In another video, hundreds of people turn on phone cameras as they gather together for the 2024 New Year fireworks, as one user wrote in the caption: 'This is just sad...'

Even on the notoriously addictive social media platform TikTok, users are spreading tips on breaking free from phones and reconnecting with real life.

Thousands of videos have been posted under the hashtag #phoneaddiction, with one user capturing their family engrossed in their phones while sitting on the sofa.

In another video, hundreds of people are seen turning on their phone cameras instead of immersing themselves in the 2024 New Year fireworks. 

The caption on the video reads: 'This is just sad...

 'When I hear my phone ringing and make a notification, for my mind, it's the same as if you were calling me by my name,' Dedyukhina said.

'I would also keep thinking about it because for our minds, a smartphone and the sound of a smartphone is a highly attractive stimulus.' 

Dedyukhina offered three tips to cultivate healthier cellphone habits: spend more time outdoors, move your body often, and schedule time to hang out with family and friends

Previous research suggested that using your cell phone for a couple of hours a day may lower the risk of mental health problems. 

People aged 13 to 18 who used their phone for less than two hours a day had a lower risk of depression, sleep issues, stress, suicidal thoughts and alcohol addiction than their peers who did not use one at all, the study found. 

Another landmark study involving 50,000 people across the world found that a third of the global population used their phones in an addictive manner.

Dedyukhina offered three tips to cultivate healthier cellphone habits: spend more time outdoors, move your body often, and schedule time to hang out with family and friends. 

'Rather than trying to limit the bad habit, I would very much encourage you to have more good habits,' the health expert said.