Cellphones are incredible. They are so useful that it is crazy to think we survived without them.

Although cellphones are important tools in the professional world, there are drawbacks. Financially, it is expensive to continue upgrading both the phone and plan. Emotionally, having constant access to social media and information is overwhelming.

To aid in becoming a healthier and happier cellphone user, you must recognize the problems with it. Here are nine ways cellphones are killing you.

1. Driving with a cellphone can kill you.

According to the National Safety Council, 27 percent of car crashes were caused by cellphone use in 2013. This means that one in four car crashes are because of texting. Half of all fatal crashes involved cellphone use. In short, using our cellphones on the road is killing us.

Take the pledge to end texting wrecks by “Dancing the Wookiee” at EndTextWrecks.org.

2. Tourism with a cellphone can kill you.

Modern culture is set in its ways, though. Today, if you don't have the picture, then you didn't do it. You must have photographic evidence that it happened or nobody will believe it.

People take it too far, though.

Wikipedia has an extensive list of people who have been injured or killed in the name of a selfie.

3. Cellphones kill creativity.

There is a reason people have epiphanies in the shower. This is because they are alone. They can't bring their cellphone in there.

With constant access to any Pinterest feed, recipe, answer to problems and picturesque look at perfect lifestyle blogs, people are no longer alone with their thoughts.

4. Cell phones kill relationships.

People cannot live without their cellphones. According to the Huffington Post, 71 percent of American adults admitted to sleeping closer to a cellphone than a significant partner. In fact, a 2014 survey showed Americans feel their cellphones are more important than intimacy.

Not only that, the new term “phubbing”—phone snubbing—has been the culprit of ruining relationships with others.

5. Cellphones kill reality.

Social media is riddled with lifestyles dwelling in fantasy. Within the reach of society's fingertips are the unattainable lives of the rich and famous and the strange "lives" of the insta-famous. Ironically, none of it is real. It may be in photographic form, but it is not genuine.

The gravity of this problem has motivated a popular trend on Instagram, comparing "truth" with "Instagram-fantasy." It is common to see physical trainers posting pictures of themselves after eating to show the "food baby," demonstrating they are not perfect all the time.

6. Cellphones kill culture.

Art museums, concerts and national parks are plagued with people looking at their cellphones. Famous paintings are documented with a cellphone instead of being looked at with the naked eye. Concerts are seen through phones filming videos people may not watch afterward.

Singer Adele famously told off a fan filming one of her concerts and asked the fan to live in the moment and put the phone down.

7. Cellphones kill bodies.

Tilting your head to look at your phone puts anywhere from 27-60 pounds of pressure on your spine. Medically, that could damage your back and require an office visit.

There is even something called De Quervain syndrome, which is caused by too much strain on your thumb from cellphone use. It is a painful disease involving inflammation of the muscles in your thumb and requires physical therapy and, in some cases, surgery.

8. Cellphones kill the ability to reproduce.

The radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation emitted by cellphones kept in the front pocket can seriously affect male reproductive abilities.

The Huffington Post reported on a study that found men who kept their cellphone in their front pocket were 36 percent more likely to have a low sperm count than the rest of the population. These cellphones are cooking or over-heating the sperm.

9. Cell phones kill sleep (and happiness).

With over half of America sleeping with their cellphones — see point 4 — we wake up to every buzz or ding.

Also, falling asleep right after using your phone kills hopes of healthy sleeping patterns. Ohio State University found that the blue light from cellphone screens keeps the brain activated, so you take longer to fall asleep. The alerts throughout the night make it difficult to stay asleep.

Without cellphones, life would be more complicated and a bit slower. Maybe it would also be a bit safer. Next time you are hiking or talking to your friend, consider what you are looking at more — scenery and your friend, or your cellphone?

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