Is Mobile Screen the New Cocaine?
In 2017, Frontiers in Psychiatry published “An Update Overview on Brain Imaging Studies of Internet Gaming Disorder ” as part of their research on IGD or Internet Gaming Disorder. The conclusion was startling:?
“There is an emerging evidence that IGD is associated with similar brain mechanisms responsible for substance use disorders. The brain imaging studies in IGD show similarity in brain mechanisms between IGD and substance use disorder and therefore support the classification of IGD as a behavioral addiction.”
In simple words,
In short, there may be an irreversible long term impact on the brains of children addicted to Internet games. However the question arises if only internet games are to be blamed or the problem is broader. In 2019, researchers made an attempt to bring together all the use cases under the umbrella of SmUD (Smartphone Use Disorder).
It was the research of Jo?l Billieux who provided clear pathways into problematic mobile phone usage. He emphasised on the following four pathways for SmUD:
Billieux further broke down cyber addiction into online gambling, online video games, online sex, social networks and mobile phone, thereby defining a spectrum of cyber addictions
Fig 1: spectrum of cyber addictions
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Many parents despair at the amount of time their kids spend glued to screens, as a recent study by Kantar for Amazon India showed. However, they may not be in a position to co-relate symptoms in a child's behaviour with cyber or mobile addiction.??
A research published by national library of medicine suggests that both physical and mental wellbeing can be adversely affected by too much screen use. It divided students into low cellphone usage and high cellphone usage groups and came up with the following conclusions.
In short, excessive phone usage is going to do you and your children harm. And what you may be passing off as a lifestyle aberration, may be the symptom of a larger disorder taking shape for e.g. eye strain and lack of concentration may be the trigger point for ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) aggravated by years of mobile phone usage.
At this point, it is important for us to introduce neurotransmitters, especially dopamine commonly called the happiness hormone. But sudden surges in dopamine release causes addiction, this is exactly what cocaine or narcotics do inside our body. They release a lot of dopamine, the brain responds less to the excess dopamine. Then we consume more to release more dopamine. Eventually this cycle leads to mania, hallucinations and delusions. Now, here is the fun fact: the reason you can't put that mobile phone down is because it releases cheap and plentiful dopamine in your brain. So you are on a high without consuming anything, just by spending more and more time on a mobile screen on gaming, gambling, sex or social networks!
A logical question therefore is how many hours a day is classified as addiction. A few researchers came up with a limit of 20 hours a week. But, this is hotly contested and WHO has refrained from providing an hours based classification of mobile addiction. Among practitioners a generally held view is that the behaviour of the addict should be such that spending time on the phone comes at the expense of normal life commitments. An often cited example is that you have an exam or an assignment submission but you skip it because you were unable to keep your mobile phone away.
You may start wondering if this is such an important problem, considering that 70% of India’s population has smartphones. What is being done to solve the problem? To begin with, is it being identified as a problem? The bugle was sounded by the honourable Prime Minister in his Pariksha pe Charcha wherein he highlighted the distractions mobile phones may cause students preparing for exams.?
There is a lot that needs to be done by different stakeholders like Educators, Health Practitioners, Mobile Device Manufacturers, Mobile Gaming Companies.?
However, the biggest question to ask is for a parent themselves. When you hand over a phone or a mobile device to a young child, are you aware you may be starting a one way cycle for impairing the potential of your own child? What do you think you can do as a parent to change course midway? If you are just starting out, what may be your alternatives to entertain your newborn beyond the mobile screen? To all parents, the question is “are you making your child addicted to cocaine”?
We look forward to your answers to our questions, and would like to feature a few of them in the next article on this series.
Global Talent Acquisition Manager @ Sopra Steria | XLRI Alumni
8 个月Very recently, My 4 year old son complained about itchy eyes and frequent blinking in his class reported by his teacher. We consulted the doctor and found the cause to be phone usage. What we did to get away with his phone Usage: 1. Started Spending more time with him outdoors everyday. 2. Made him aware about the ill effects of phone usage (although he is too small to understand all this but a honest approach to this will do some good). 3. Regulating the content he is watching. Some content like reels are so much addicted that adults are falling in that trap. Removed all such apps. 3. A lot of parent themselves are addicted to phone and this gives the opportunity to kids. We need to be good example for our kids first. 4. A clear phone usage policy is in place at home where daily 30 minutes is permitted in total. Above has resulted in a good jump in his productivity and overall personality in last 2 weeks.