iStock/Georgijevic

Technology can be addictive. I got to a point where I felt like I needed to check my phone even though Id only checked it five minutes before.While I knew that didnt make sense, I still checked it. I was frustrated with myself. But what I didnt know was that the feeling I was having was well-designed and predictable. Tech companies pay for us to develop app addiction.

While Dopamine Labs typically designs apps to be addictive, the company also created an app called Space Because You Need a Breatherto combat app addiction. This past week, I gave it a shot and talked to Matt Mayberry, Dopamine Labs head of business development, about how Space works.

Dopamine Labs uses artificial intelligence and neuroscience to help tech companies design apps and software. Essentially, the goal is to make you want to use technology as often as possible. The API (an app-intelligence program) gives users the perfect burst of dopamine to keep them hooked, says Mayberry. Dopamine Labs co-founder Dr. Combs holds a PhD in neuroscience.

One example of how Dopamine Labs API works is Instagram likes. When you post a photo on Instagram, in reality, most of your likes come in at about the same time. But Instagram is designed to hold back likes. The app only shows them to you when youve been away from Instagram a while. This way, you keep coming back for more.

Its mischievous, says Mayberry, but its also brilliant.

One night, the team at Dopamine Labs began to discuss what it would be like if someone built an anti-dopamine. In other words, what would happen if the team built an app that stopped the addictive dopamine rush? What they came up with was Space Because You Need a Breather, an app that fights app addiction.

Space reverses the work Dopamine Labs typically does, re-wiring your instant gratification sensors to not go off every time you check an app. Anti-dopamine is simple: Instead of giving you instant gratification when you check an app, it makes you wait for a brief pause. Just this moment of waiting decreases the addictive effect of instant gratification you typically get when you see another flood of likes. In effect, instant gratification is being replaced with a moment of mindfulness.

When I got Space Because You Need a Breather, the app allowed me to choose certain apps or websites I wanted space from. I chose my email, Facebook, and Instagram. Then, every time I clicked one of those apps, a screen of deep space popped up and asked me to take 1 deep breath beforeI started.

Thats literally all the app does. It makes you wait a little longer than you typically would to use an app. Because youre forced to wait for one deep breath (sometimes more), your instant gratification sensors dont get the happy rush theyre used to. After using the app multiple times with this pause, you brain will stop expecting the instant gratification. As a result, ideally, youll begin to use the app less.

One thing I noticed is that, depending on how often I used an app, the breathing pause would become even longer. This is because artificial intelligence automatically adjusts the wait time, depending on how addicted you are to an app. The more you use an app, the longer it forces you to wait.

While the app hasnt made a drastic change in my thinking or feeling about my app use in just one week, I do feel less emotionally dependent on Instagram likes. Maybe part of this is knowing that a computer program is withholding likes from me, and that ultimately, the number doesnt matter.

According to Mayberry, Dopamine Labs is one of the few if not the only company using our technology for good. Its Dopamine Labs goal to help us modify our behavior in positive ways. Space was originally blocked from the Apple app store because Apple didnt want to sell anything that made people use their phones less. Then, as Mayberry puts it, Apple decided they wanted to be on the right side of history. Now, it offers the app Space.

Kicking app addiction can be hard and it makes sense, considering how much money goes into paying companies like Dopamine Labs to keep us hooked. On my laptop, I found myself changing tabs to go to different websites rather than breathing one breath with the app because I still needed that instant gratification. Hopefully, continuing to use Space and taking more moments of mindfulness will help me snap out of that. Ive found one new app addiction, but I think its a good one.

Space is available in Apple iOS,Android, and on Chrome as an extension.

Related on Organic AuthorityDo You Have a Smartphone Addiction?5 Ways High-Tech Gadgets Ruin Your Body5 Signs Your Exercise Addiction Might Make You Obsess Over Fitness Trackers and Nutrition Apps

Lauren Krouse is an autodidact, travel addict, amateur Buddhist philosopher, and proud black lab mama. She believes in sounding her barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world Whitman-style and is frequently found writing in the woods perched on a log or reading on the coast with her belly in the sand.

More:
I Tried a Mindfulness App to Fight My App Addiction - Organic Authority