If you've never picked up your phone to do one thing and half an hour later found yourself trawling through Instagram, having forgotten what you originally meant to do with your "just a tool", you are in a tiny minority of incredibly focused people.
The majority of us, through no fault of our own, find these 'tools' regularly sucking us into a vortex of distractions and time-wasting. The struggle against cheap dopamine hits is real.
The number of medical ‘professionals’ who just automatically dismiss possible connections like this is utterly depressing. I’m sure they must hear plenty of crackpot theories, but that’s no excuse for failing to help people who can be helped. I’m glad you managed to find a professional who was willing to take the time to actually consider your suggestions and help you.
Hmmm, it was within a week or two of getting AirPods Pro (and heavily using the noise cancelling mode) that I developed a strange dull ache/pressure throughout my sinuses and upper jaw. Stopped using noise cancelling and it seems to have improved a lot but hasn’t completely gone away.
Some googling suggests noise cancelling tech has negative side-effects for quite a lot of people.
I strongly suspect that many others must be suffering from environment-/diet-/tech-induced ailments but are simply not inquisitive enough to experiment and identify the sources of discomfort.
The majority of us, through no fault of our own, find these 'tools' regularly sucking us into a vortex of distractions and time-wasting. The struggle against cheap dopamine hits is real.