MOBILE ADDICTION

 

MOBILE ADDICTION:-

The rapid advancement in technology has made many gadgets, a mobile  is one of them. People spend their time more likely on social media, do business emails, academic search, finding answers to questions, and playing games. 

smartphones were used by 1.85 billion people in 2014 which is expected to be 2.32 billion in 2017 and 2.87 billion in 2020. Such too much dependency makes us “Mobile addictive”. 

Pathological phone use has given rise to a raft of new terminology, such as: 

•Nomophobia: The fear of going without your phone 

•Textaphrenia: The fear that you can’t send or receive texts

•Phantom vibration:: the feeling that your phone is alerting you when it really isn’t.

 

Mobile addiction is not yet listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5^th Edition (DSM-5), research has compared it to gambling addiction, which has clearer diagnostic criteria and is included in the DSM-5.

The following signs and symptoms are thought to comprise criteria for mobile addiction:

• A need to use the cell phone more and more.

•Turns to cell phone when experiencing unwanted feelings such as anxiety or depression.

• Excessive use characterised by loss of sense of time.

• Feelings of unease when unable to use the phone.

Such addictive behaviour could be linked to other problems, says the study, such as stress, a depressed mood, lack of sleep and reduced achievement in school.

"Smartphones are here to stay and there is a need to understand the prevalence of problematic smartphone usage," says one of the report's authors, Nicola Kalk, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London.

The following are the psychological effect of mobile addiction:-

• Cell phone addiction has been linked to an increase in sleep disorders and fatigue in users.

•Using your cell phone before bed increases the likelihood of insomnia.

•Light emitted from the cell phone may activate the brain.

•Offline relationships may suffer as a result of neglect in favour of excessive cell phone and social media use.

^•Research has found that college students who use their cell phones the most are more likely to feel anxious during downtime.

•Increasing loneliness and depression. While it may seem that losing yourself online will temporarily make feelings such as loneliness, depression, and boredom evaporate into thin air, it can actually make you feel even worse

Whether you meet the criteria for a full-blown phone addiction or simply want to reduce your emotional dependency on technology, there are lots of helpful strategies for breaking this bad habit:

• Outsmart your smartphone by using technology to limit your technology use.

• Get your phone out of the bedroom. 

• Put yourself on a digital diet.

• Set up a digital schedule.

• Get drastic with a digital detox.  

Amy Orben, research fellow at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge, warned against assuming there were causal connections between problematic smartphone use and outcomes such as depression.

Nevertheless, there is a need for public awareness around smartphone use in children and young people, and parents should be aware of how much time their children spend on their phones