Social worker Toni Dowdy. Screenshot courtesy of KYTX TV.

The nation has gone crazy over texting and Facebook, according to this article and TV news segment from KYTX TV in Tyler Texas.

Americans send 2.5 billion text messages a day, or eight for every person in the United States. And Facebook said users have posted a comment or clicked “like” six billion times since January.

According to the KYTX report some people are waking up several times a night to answer text messages on their cellphones.

Sleep is not the only thing that suffers.

Social worker Toni Dowdy said social media also puts a damper on relationships.

“There’s a loss of closeness in relationships because you can’t develop that if you’re constantly just texting,” said Dowdy, LCSW, who works for East Texas Medical Center Behavioral Health.

Dowdy recommends people wean themselves off their texting addiction by making a list of people important to them and a second of people they can wait a day or longer to respond to.

“You have to prioritize, finally and decide ‘Who do I answer today?” she said. “Do I have time to answer this person?'”

Social workers help clients build stronger relationships. To learn more visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Relationships website by clicking here.