Addiction to Mobile Phones

Have you ever felt that your mobile phone is a necessity?

Do you think the addiction to the use of mobile phones is real?

Join me throughout this article in which I will talk about what is currently happening and the real problems caused by the excessive use of mobile phones.

Is the addiction to mobile phones real?

What are the criteria to know if someone is addicted to the use of their mobile phone?

According to the Psychoactive page Blog: https://www.psicoactiva.com/blog/adiccion-al-movil/ , addiction to mobile phones still does not appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the investigation is compared with gambling addiction, which has clearer diagnostic criteria and is included in said manual.

It is believed that at least 4 of the following signs and symptoms meet the criteria for mobile addiction, causing significant damage to the person's life:

• Need to use the mobile more and more often to achieve the same desired effect.
• Repeated failed attempts when trying to use the mobile less frequently.
• Concern about the use of the mobile phone.
• Experiencing anxiety or depression when the mobile phone cannot be used.
• Excessive use of mobile phone characterized by loss of sense of time.
• Putting relationships or work at risk due to excessive use of the phone.

Do you feel identified with any of the symptoms mentioned above? Or do you know someone who is experiencing any of these symptoms? It is also proven that in most cases of phone addiction, there are different physical and psychological effects or consequences, such as:

Physical:

? Visual tension

? Neck problems

? Increase in diseases due to germs

? Male infertility

? Traffic accidents

Psychological:

? Sleep disorders

? Depression, General dissatisfaction

? Problems in interpersonal relationships

? Social isolation and communication problems

? Anxiety

? Affectation of work or academic performance

How important is this problem? Alarming data!

You will spend almost 9 years of your life looking at the smartphone screen! This was demonstrated by a study carried out by WhistleOut that ensures that people spend an average of almost nine years looking at the screen of their smartphone. A person spends an average of just over 76,500 hours on their cell phone throughout their life, which is equivalent to 8.74 years, according to the study. This is driven by the fact that the average age of a user to acquire a mobile phone is 10 years, giving it an average use of 3.07 hours daily. This study was carried out with a sample of 1,000 people of different age ranges and showed usage trends depending on the user’s generation.

But after reading this, how do we know how much time is appropriate to use our phones, how much is normal or when it is considered that we are spending a lot of time?

The American psychologist Jean Twenge says that there is a problem with the excessive use of devices and recommends that children, especially, reduce the time they spend in front of the screen. Twenge, from San Diego State University, California, is the lead author of research that was published in 2017 in the Association for the Advancement of Psychological Science journal Clinical Psychological Science. "Between half an hour and an hour a day. That seems to be the right scale for the mental health of young people in terms of the time they spend using electronic devices," says the specialist. According to Twenge's research, teens in the United States spend five hours or more each day on their devices and are 71 percent more likely to be at risk for suicide. And that's independent of the content they consume, she assures her. The greater the number of hours, the greater the chances of suffering depression.

Two hours a day carries a slightly elevated risk. And with three hours a day or more, there's a steep increase among those with at least one risk factor for suicide.

The two-hour-a-day rule is also recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and does not apply to children under the age of two years. This measure would also benefit adults. Twenge recommends putting your phone away after those two hours "and spending the rest of your time doing things that are more beneficial to your mental health and happiness, like sleeping, meeting friends and family in person, going outside, and playing sports.". "All these things are related to better mental health. Using the phone to make them easier instead of complicating them is a good idea," she said in an interview with the US station NPR.

Take a couple of seconds to think, How many hours a day do I spend using my phone? Is it really necessary?

How many times have you seen yourself scrolling without reason, or simply using the phone without really knowing what you are doing there?

In case you still do not believe that phone addiction is real, in the next point I will comment on some examples that will make you change your mind.

Real examples of mobile phone addiction in everyday life.

Here I would like to talk about 3 symptoms or actions that people carry out today, I am sure that at some point it has happened to you, and if it is not the case, you have seen it in someone around you:

A) Phubbing: This word arises from the combination of the English terms (phone) and snubbing (ignore). It could be defined as the action of neglecting the people around us and our own environment because we are using the mobile. This behaviour is becoming a very common act, not only in teenagers and children but also in adults. With their constant notifications, smartphones demand continuous attention. And, many times, serving them becomes our priority. Having all our social networks and unlimited Internet access on the same device has made our addiction increasingly high. One of the situations that causes the most phubbing is the after-dinner meal or meals as a couple or as a family. The most appropriate thing would be to establish the rule that it is not used unless there is a justified reason.

B) Nomophobia: Nomophobia is a disorder that arises in the 21st century, derived from globalization and technological advances that we have experienced in the field of communication. This disorder is defined as the fear of not being in contact with a mobile phone or smartphone. We use these devices on a daily basis to communicate, inform ourselves, watch videos, listen to music, take photos and a host of other things, at any time and in any place. We have information and communication just one click away, making our lives easier and more practical. In fact, the number of people who own smartphones is increasing every year: it is currently estimated that 3.8 billion people are users of these devices. However, this accepted daily use in our society also has its negative consequences. One of the main and most problematic is nomophobia. Nomophobia has also been shown to cause the development of other mental or personality disorders, as well as self-esteem problems, seriously affecting people's happiness, especially in the younger population.

C) Phantom Syndrome: It is known as phantom vibration syndrome or phantom ringing to a kind of false perception that the phone vibrates or receives a notification when in reality it does not.

This is a phenomenon that is currently experienced by hundreds of people each year, but according to the latest studies, it can occur more easily at certain times of the day.

Specifically, this false perception is more likely to occur during the development of some physical activity, when we are in a noisy place or watching television. Moments in which our brain is especially alert.

A false perception of our brain that according to psychologists would be related to an unusual activity that represents precisely that great connection that we have daily with new technologies and more specifically with our telephone. Precisely because nobody likes to find an unread notification or a missed call on the phone, we unconsciously cause our minds to be permanently alert and biased to check the phone regularly throughout the day.

Addiction to social media and its consequences.

Another of the consequences directly related to phone addiction is addiction to social media. Although we use our phones for different things in our daily lives, much of the time we spend using them is to be connected to social media. This is having an impact on the development of new generations and on interpersonal relationships, including self-esteem and communication problems.

According to psychologist Raquel Rodriguez Cortes, in her blog on the Psiquion website, in which she refers to various scientific studies, she comments that the increase in the use of social media is something that has become problematic in recent years. More and more people are using these platforms and the age is getting younger, knowing that young people are more vulnerable and tend to perceive a greater sense of attachment than adults.

In addition, as can be read in various investigations, such as the one carried out by Jiménez and Pantoja in 2007, this excessive use of social media could generate psychological dependence. The problem here, as we have already mentioned, is that these types of addictions are not included in the main diagnostic manual of mental disorders. For this reason, it is difficult to establish a diagnosis or comment on the main symptoms.

What are the symptoms and consequences of social media addiction?

Actually, they are quite related to those of mobile addiction, some of them are even the same, but in general, we find the following:

Symptoms:

• Significant increase in the time spent on social networks.
• Psychological dependency. Need to have a few "likes" to feel happiness.
• Need to spend more time or post more to get the same sensations.
• In addition, other symptoms may also appear, such as emotional instability, impulsiveness, and the need to always have exciting or strong emotions.

Consequences:

According to various authors, the most common consequences derived from excessive use or addiction to these devices are:

• Anxiety
• Emotional dependence
• Low self-esteem
• Extroversion problems

In conclusion, what can we do about this problem?

The problem of addiction or excessive use of mobile phones is real, and it is occurring more frequently, especially in younger generations. If one of your family members or friends is experiencing this problem, the ideal would be to seek professional help, but you can also recommend applying one of these recommendations on a day-to-day basis:

• Monitor mobile phone use: Keeping track of the times and number of hours we use the phone is the first step. There are specific applications that help us do this monitoring and they even have an alarm that will notify us when we have been using it for a long time. This simple act will help us to become aware and significantly reduce the use of it.
• Disable notifications or silence the phone: Hearing one notification after another is not only distracting but also creates the need to check what has just arrived. It is recommended to mute all sounds and vibrations, or at least those that are less important. Social networks and game applications can be a good start.
• The further away the better: If you are a person who needs to look at your mobile phone every two seconds even though no notification has arrived, the best thing you can do is not carry it with you. Tip: Leave it at home, in the car, in the desk drawer, give it to someone to keep for you. We know that at first, it will be very hard, but after a few hours, you will see how you feel more relaxed.
• Do not use your mobile during meals: It is very common to eat while looking at your phone, watching videos, checking if you have calls, whatsapps, comments on social media... This behaviour, in addition to not letting you enjoy the food, is disrespectful towards the other people with whom you share the table
• Respect your friends: This is a trend that is becoming common in the new generations, groups of friends who meet up to be on their phones without paying any attention to the people they are with... incomprehensible. To remedy these situations, you could include a rule in your group: leave your mobile phones in the same place and do not look at them under any circumstances (except for emergencies or special occasions). Being with a friend, family member or partner and being on the phone all the time without paying attention to the person in front of you is quite annoying and disrespectful.

In conclusion, there is a lot of evidence telling us that addiction to mobile phones is real, and it can become a serious problem, causing discomfort in our lives.

It is very important to accept technology as a tool that we can use to our advantage, but for this, in some cases, the guidance and supervision of parents or relatives is necessary, since in turn, it is a very powerful tool, that in the hands of children or people in vulnerable situations, can get out of control.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this article and find it useful at least in an informative way.

Daniel de Sousa