SMARTPHONE ADDICTION

SMARTPHONE ADDICTION

Smartphone addiction,  also known as “nomophobia” (fear of being without a mobile phone), is often caused by an Internet overuse problem or Internet addiction disorder. Nonetheless, it’s rarely the phone or tablet itself that creates the compulsion, but rather the games, apps, and online worlds it connects us to.

FACTORS THAT CAUSE SMARTPHONE ADDICTION

SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE

This is where people try to look for agreement and validation from others. It is human nature that we are always seeking people’s agreement and validation. When you post or share something online, you want others to agree and like. This is why whenever you post a photo on our social media account, you will check it constantly to see if people react to your photo. 

Every time you get a like on social media, you feel good. This results in increases in dopamine levels. Eventually, your brain will accept this act of constantly checking your phone and it becomes a habit. Imagine you are an influencer and you posted a beautiful photo on your account. People like and comment on it and you feel happy. This makes you happy and you will want to work even harder to post more photos to get more likes.

Statistic of The World's Most-Used Special Platform in 2020

Statistic of The Most Active Social Media Platforms in 2019

GAMING

Pathological video gaming, like any other addiction, is a maladaptive coping mechanism. Video games are designed to distract humans. Sometimes, the distraction is used to escape emotional pain which may overwhelm the emotional state of a teen. Everyone needs some form of entertainment for relaxation. Playing video games is just another form of recreation which helps the players relieve stress. It is similar to playing a board game or cooking. The time spent is rewarded with a sense of well-being. In fact, it is a cheap and convenient way to keep oneself entertained. Players can choose to play on their own or with their friends. They can play in their own homes so no extra cost for transportation or rental of space or equipment is necessary. 

However, if a person struggles to control how long and how often they spend gaming; prioritizes gaming over healthy activities like sports, spending time with friends and self-care; and continues these behaviours despite negative consequences, she or he is struggling with a gaming addiction.

王者荣耀手游

Playerunknown's Battlegrounds

Among Us

AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET

Nowadays, the Internet makes things easier. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo will help us to find anything and everything. The Internet is one of the major factors which attracts people to use smartphones more frequently. Some people have an intense hunger for knowledge and the internet provides instant access to tons of information that can be very attractive for information addicts. Thus, users stay on their smartphone for hours a day to keep themselves updated on the latest information. Furthermore, the type of reward that the Internet offers, immediate and unexpectable, makes it easier to be addicted to this activity than others that may offer inflexible and long-term rewards. Unpredictable information that is offered by the Internet makes the person entertained and coming back for more.

Availability of The Internet

EFFECTS OF SMARTPHONE ADDICTION

SHORT-TERM EFFECTS INCLUDE:

INCOMPLETE TASK

Mobile phones can be addictive leading to users spending too much time playing and neglecting their works and studies. The constant stream of messages and information from a smartphone can overwhelm the brain and make it difficult to focus and pay attention to anything for more than a few minutes. The more dependent people are on their phones, the stronger the distraction effect. The users can be interrupted at any minute while doing their works and tend to procrastinate their works. Finally, they cannot complete their tasks on time. 

NEGLECTED RESPONSIBILITIES

Smartphone addiction can cause people to neglect their tasks and goals. For example, child neglect. Parents can let children feel neglected when they are physically present but their attention is on their phone.

BACKACHE

The head puts more strain on the spine and back muscles when looking at a phone because those parts of the body need to work harder to support it. Normally, your neck is in line with your shoulder. When you look down at your phone, your neck moves forward and more pressure is experienced by your neck. This causes tremendous strain on the muscles that are still supporting your head when it’s moved forward.

NECK PAIN

Looking down at a phone sitting in a lap is equal to at least 20-30 pounds of pressure on the neck and can reach up to 50-60 pounds the closer the chin gets to the chest. The neck muscles are stretched, the neck vertebrae (cervical spine) are out of alignment with the rest of the spine and the spine and back muscles are strained.

LONG-TERM EFFECTS INCLUDE:

CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a medical condition due to compression of the median nerve as it travels through the wrist at the carpal tunnel. Scientists have found just five hours on smartphones and tablets a day may increase the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome.

VISION PROBLEM

A new study says that smartphones may ruin your eyesight. Researchers at the University of Toledo, in Ohio, have found that exposure to blue-light — the glow emitted from most smartphones promotes the growth of “poisonous molecules” in your eyes, leading to macular degeneration. His team explains that blue light is especially dangerous for our eyes because, unlike other types of light, the eye’s cornea and lens cannot block or reflect it. The light gives the light a straight shot to the eye’s photoreceptors — light-sensitive cells in the retina and overburdening those cells.

DAMAGED RELATIONSHIPS

If you put a cell phone into social interaction, it does two things: First, it decreases the quality of what you talk about, because you talk about things where you wouldn't mind being interrupted, which makes sense, and, secondly, it decreases the empathic connection that people feel toward each other

SOLUTIONS TO SMARTPHONE ADDICTION

THE FIRST AND LAST 60 MINUTES OF YOUR DAY 

Professors have shown that the first 60 minutes when you wake up and the last 60 minutes before you fall asleep play a crucial role in your life.

Therefore, do not spend time using your smartphone during these hours. Instead, use it for other helpful and positive activities such as meditation, cooking, reading or learn a new skill.

More importantly, never bring your smartphone to sleep with you. If can, distance yourself from your phone and never bring it to your bedroom. Use an alarm clock instead of using your phone as a clock.

Alarm Clock

SET LIMITS

If you are spending too much time playing phone, you need to set time limits. This may be hard initially to somebody, but you have to be tough and stick to your decision. Decide in advance how many hours and days you want to spend playing games. We can use the available features on our phone in helping us to manage our time too. This includes the Screen Time feature, which is designed to help you track your time and aid you in bringing down your smartphone addiction. One feature that helps users in reducing their app addiction is the App Limits feature.

App Limits

 

TURN OFF NOTIFICATIONS UNRELATED TO COMMUNICATION

Smartphones were invented to increase connectivity to other people, so we should keep it that way. Turning off notifications from unimportant apps such as games and social media apps can avoid us picking up our phone all the time. Most notifications from our phone are irrelevant to us and there is no need for us to check our phone so frequently. Moreover, we can even delete non-essential apps from our phone altogether so that we will not easily be addicted to smartphones.

Turn Off Notification

REFERENCES:

1. Sophia, T. T. W. (2018, January 23). Cell Phone Addiction: Meaning, Symptoms, Causes, Effects, and Treatment. The Wisdom Post. Retrieved from https://www.thewisdompost.com/essay/addiction/mobile-addiction/cell-phone-addiction-meaning-symptoms-causes-effects-and-treatment/1045#2-the-second-type-of-reward-is-known-as-the-reward-of-self-

2. Ghauri, M. (2019, November 12). Text Neck: How Smartphone Use Addiction Can Cause Neck Pain. Spine and Pain Clinics of North America. Retrieved from https://www.sapnamed.com/blog/neck-how-smartphone-use-addiction-can-cause-neck-pain/#:%7E:text=So%20much%20smartphone%20use%20is,the%20neck%20while%20hunched%20over

3. Epic Healthcare. (2019, November 9). Back & Neck Pain from Cell Phones | Do Cell Phones Ruin Good Posture? Epic Healthcare & Physical Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.epichealthflowermound.com/cell-phone-back-pain/   

4. Zimmerman, K. (2017, March 26). Is Your Cell Phone Killing Your Productivity At Work? Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kaytiezimmerman/2017/03/26/is-your-cell-phone-killing-your-productivity-at-work/?sh=3e50915c605c 

5. Elgan, M. (2017, August 12). Smartphones make people distracted and unproductive. Retrieved from https://www.computerworld.com/article/3215276/smartphones-make-people-distracted-and-unproductive.html

6. Sparks, H. (2018, August 13). Your phone is blinding you, scientists warn. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2018/08/13/your-phone-is-blinding-you-scientists-warn/#:~:text=A%20new%20study%20says%20that,eyes%2C%20leading%20to%20macular%20degeneration

7. Suttie, J (2015, December 7). How Smartphones Are Killing Conversation. Retrieved from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_smartphones_are_killing_conversation

8. Bhat, A., Dr. (2017, October 06). Cell Phone Addiction Treatment: Addiction Signs, Causes, And Withdrawal Symptoms. Retrieved from https://www.lybrate.com/topic/treatment-for-cell-phone-addiction 

9. Varela, E. (2019, October 16). Causes of Internet Addiction: Hospital Clínic Barcelona. Retrieved from https://www.clinicbarcelona.org/en/assistance/be-healthy/addiction-to-the-internet/causes-and-risk-factors 

10. Carpal tunnel syndrome. (2020, November 11). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpal_tunnel_syndrome 

11. Allen, V. (2017, June 22). 5 hours on mobile increases risk of carpal tunnel syndrome. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4628506/Why-mobile-phone.html 

12. Robinson, L., Smith, M., M.A., & Segal, J., Ph.D. (2020, September). Smartphone Addiction. Retrieved from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/addictions/smartphone-addiction.htm