Table of contents:
- Definition of mobile addiction
- What is mobile addiction
- Mobile phone addiction in adolescents
- How mobile addiction is generated
- How we recognize an addicted person
- Consequences of mobile addiction
- How can we know whether or not we are addicted? TEST
- Solution to mobile phone addiction
- How to overcome mobile addiction?
Rating: 4.3 (9 votes) 9 comments By Lic. Rosa Vera García. Updated: 18 May 2018
Although it may seem exaggerated, numerous researchers are already warning that there are many people with a mobile phone who are suffering physical and psychological problems such as anxiety, palpitations and sweats when they forget their mobile at home, their prepaid card is left at zero, they are left without coverage or no battery. We invite you to continue reading this article on Psychology-Online if you want to know more about mobile phone addiction.
Next, we will analyze what this modern and current type of addiction means, but we will also discover the consequences and solutions to this situation. Above all, young people and adolescents are the most vulnerable to this addiction, therefore, we have to take maximum precautions.
You may also be interested in: How to overcome mobile addiction Index- Definition of mobile addiction
- What is mobile addiction
- Mobile phone addiction in adolescents
- How mobile addiction is generated
- How we recognize an addicted person
- Consequences of mobile addiction
- How can we know whether or not we are addicted? TEST
- Solution to mobile phone addiction
- How to overcome mobile addiction?
Definition of mobile addiction
It is clear that there are many advantages to using the mobile phone, for example, to call home when I am going to be late, when I notice to say that I am staying at Lucía's house to study - but many users have to start asking whether They will not be becoming authentic “mobile-dependent”, not being able to be without their phone for a minute.
In addition, advertising is especially aimed at boys and girls like you, and they teach the mobile phone as an instrument that gives independence, freedom, that allows to integrate into a group, to strengthen ties with friends, but are we sure that all this is true? ?… We have many questions What is this addiction? Why can it happen to us? What people can be addicted?
What is mobile addiction
To understand what is mobile phone addiction we have to understand the reality we live in. Every day, millions of SMS are sent around the world, everywhere we hear the sounds of bells and melodies constantly and almost anywhere: restaurants, the supermarket queue, the institute, the park, etc. and we see many people hooked to their faithful mobile to be able to be continuously communicated. It can even be worn around the neck! The mobile is very important in our lives, or is it?
In the same way that it occurs in other types of addictions, the use of the mobile phone becomes an addiction when it becomes a repetitive behavior that gives us pleasure. It has come to be called “Telefonitis” and it is an impulse that cannot be controlled from using the telephone over and over again during the day or at night. For the first time, it is beginning to be said that new technologies have become part of the so-called psychological addictions or addictions without drugs.
According to experts, mobile addiction is suffered by 1 in 1,000 people who use mobile phones, and they say that it is mainly affecting young people and adolescents. It is for this reason, why it is important that each and every one of you know what this mobile addiction is, and that you know the answers to those questions that we asked ourselves at the beginning in order to avoid it.
Unlike other addictions, like alcoholism or gambling addiction (gambling), etc. the age at which it begins is very low , from eleven or twelve years old, as it is very easy to have a mobile phone, there are even mobile phones especially for children with little pictures for them, and also parents feel confident that their child / a have a mobile to call in any emergency.
Therefore, it is not a problem of taking a substance, such as drugs, but the problem is behavior. An irrepressible, uncontrollable and exaggerated behavior that causes us to stop other activities, such as reading, talking one-to-you with our family, our friends, neighbors, etc…
Mobile phone addiction in adolescents
A population especially affected by this addiction are adolescents. The idea of "leisure and free time" seems to be linked to the mobile phone and it seems unthinkable that an adolescent does not have this object.
Adolescence is a great time of change (you may have already noticed something, right?): Now many doubts arise such as who am I? What am I going to be when I grow up? Why do all these physical changes happen to me? Why do I find that my parents sometimes don't understand me? I don't like my body and they will reject me because I am chubby or short, how can I change it? Why am I not as cool as my friend Pepe? and, on top of that, my parents don't have time to take care of me…
It is a time in which the reference points change, it is very normal that distancing and lack of communication with parents begins to occur: “… I am no longer going to my father to ask for help, I better ask my friend for help. know more… ”and when you have a question, the best source of information may not be chosen to clarify it.
And all this confusion at this moment in the life of each one of us, makes adolescents the target of large advertising companies to try to convince you of all their messages. Some are good, but many others only respond to their own financial interests. And we already know that even for adults it is not easy to differentiate them.
How mobile addiction is generated
For a person to have a mobile phone addiction, it is enough that he or she is a person who has emotional problems, with difficulties speaking with others, or who is in a difficult time in their life. In the latter case, what we have just talked about is related, that is, the period of adolescence in which one is especially vulnerable to the multiple claims that invade advertising and which, on many occasions, are not true. Like, for example, that it is fashionable to lose weight, get involved in video games, buy endless products and, of course, have the latest mobile model as soon as possible.
All this will cause a large number of people to fall victim to mobile dependence and, therefore, will become addicted. And later, the addiction will cause the person to deviate from their family environment, from their friends, reaching great emotional suffering.
In this other article we will discover the symptoms and treatment of mobile addiction.
How we recognize an addicted person
In the face of people who use the mobile in an adequate way, in people with addiction we will be able to see how they are continuously “monitoring” the device, always waiting for any signal that comes from their device; every very little time, compulsively and uncontrollably, consulting the mobile, even if he is doing something else.
Other recent studies have shown that "addicted" people who stop using their mobile phones have as a consequence what can be called the "Psychological and physical withdrawal syndrome". This syndrome has symptoms such as great anguish, anxiety, nervousness, irritability, etc. And all this disappears when, again, they have the opportunity to use their mobile. Surely you have observed, in your own group of friends, the image of gangs of boys walking together, but each one talking through their mobile or sending a text message at breakneck speed… thousands of messages are sent a day.
Some claim "to spend all their free time " to handle the mobile. It is very common to find teenagers and children “typing” for minutes and minutes, playing a video game, communicating with strangers or taking photos and videos and then posting them on the Internet. It is also common for them to use the mobile at all hours: at home, in the classroom, between class and class, with friends,… they cannot be separated from the mobile. They consider that without the mobile they could not have friends. They relate it to "being more important." They believe their use is “mandatory”. They take photos constantly. Videos are exchanged at all hours. They send messages and listen to music during all their free time. They cannot spend 5 minutes without checking if there is a missed call.
And what is all this? Indeed, a compulsive and repetitive use of the mobile, which in many moments does not even make sense. If you are going to see a friend in five minutes, would it make sense to call him to say “Hey, Manolo, I have 4 and a half minutes to see you”?
And then there is the economic issue. Many boys and girls spend a significant sum of money on mobile phones each month, and the large telecommunications companies, which know it, take advantage of this… Behind this, there are usually problems of self-esteem or insecurity, difficulties in relationships with women. other people, isolation, loneliness and other emotional factors.
Here we discover a list with the consequences of mobile addiction that are most worrying.
Consequences of mobile addiction
There are many consequences of addiction and the ones that are most obvious are:
- Isolation from others and loneliness
- Altered behavior
- Alterations in the mood
- Compulsive behavior
- Communication problems
- Problems with language, because we no longer stop to write well, but the important thing is speed
- Danger of making contacts that are not too good, such as meeting strangers, which can have negative consequences
- Addictive behavior makes you very sensitive to the judgments and evaluations of others and increases feelings of insecurity
- It can lead to school failure or aggressiveness
- In the most serious cases, it is possible to steal and lie in order to have a mobile because addiction is capable of canceling all our control as people
In some boys / as there is also truancy or they do not respect study schedules, they spend hours chatting instead of interacting with other young people their age.
How can we know whether or not we are addicted? TEST
You will begin to feel stress, irritability, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and emotional disturbances. And, if you want to be even more sure, there are some very easy to detect signals that will confirm it, or at least that they will be an indication to consider asking for help immediately. This test, which is presented below, is very simple and quick to do:
- Invoice as the first advertiser: Do I spend more than 25-30 euros per month?
- Attitude change: when I talk on my mobile I behave differently than when I am face to face, for example, I no longer feel so shy?
- Do not separate from the phone: does the mobile always go with me? during lunch, at school, at the movies…
- Using the telephone to communicate with friends or family. Am I always looking for my mobile, even if I am with them?
- Modification of sleeping habits: do I sometimes wake up at night and, in addition to going to the bathroom, check my mobile to see if a message has been entered or if I have a missed call? Am I talking on my mobile until late at night and sleep fewer hours?
- Nervousness when the mobile is not available: do you feel nervous or anxious when your mobile is not nearby or has it been turned off because I no longer have a battery?
If you've answered YES to most of the questions, we should start to worry, and then…
Solution to mobile phone addiction
First of all we must ask for HELP and not think that it can be fixed over time, or deny ourselves the problem. Nothing happens and anyone can. And, if we have observed something in a friend of ours, we will not make any judgments about their behavior, because on many occasions it is not something voluntary, but perhaps they have not been able to avoid it and have not known how to overcome it. You may not know how to ask for help, so we need to help you find the solution.
The ideal would be to ask for help from our closest environment, from parents, siblings, family, even my friends, but, if even so, we feel ashamed or anguished, there are many, for example, in high school, your tutor or with the teacher that you like best, the City Council, passing through the Health Center and all the Specialized Organizations in dependencies, such as the Man Project. In all these places, they will understand you and will know how to give you a telephone number or an address that will help you.
Through this help, basic problems can be solved, as we have mentioned before, and they will teach us to look for other activities in which the mobile is not present and that will also be very pleasant for us. And very importantly, avoid that you can relapse!
How to overcome mobile addiction?
For this, techniques will be used that will help you overcome it, and that will cause them to occur:
- Changes in your relationship with your mobile _ One day, you will start using it only at certain times of the day, you can turn it off when you don't need it, go out without it !!!!. All progressively, so that it does not cause a shock and can cause anxiety and nervousness.
- Changes in what we think the cell phone can give us_ The cell phone should be a tool that helps us and not a device that controls our lives. And, our belief about mobile must be correct, so that we can be free.
- We will understand the reason that has led us to this addictive use _ Through our conversations with the professional, it will help us to understand what is the root of the problem that has led us to misuse the mobile.
A little later in the treatment, parents and siblings will be able to come to the treatment, so that they too can participate, understand the problem, share it and, it is possible, that they too must modify something to prevent it from happening again.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Mobile Phone Addiction, we recommend that you enter our Addictions category.