Smartphone Or Internet Addiction Can Also Negatively Impact Your Life By:
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. A 2014 study found a correlation between high social media usage and depression and anxiety. Users, especially teens, tend to compare themselves unfavorably with their peers on social media, promoting feelings of loneliness and depression.
Fueling anxiety. One researcher found that the mere presence of a phone in a work place tends to make people more anxious and perform poorly on given tasks. The heavier a persons phone use, the greater the anxiety they experienced.
Increasing stress. Using a smartphone for work often means work bleeds into your home and personal life. You feel the pressure to always be on, never out of touch from work. This need to continually check and respond to email can contribute to higher stress levels and even burnout.
Exacerbating attention deficit disorders. The constant stream of messages and information from a smartphone can overwhelm the brain and make it impossible to focus attention on any one thing for more than a few minutes without feeling compelled to move on to something else.
When You Are Running Out Of Battery You Run For Your Charger
Do you find yourself running after your charger instantly as soon as you get that low battery notification every time?
If so, then you might be addicted to your phone.
Some people are so obsessed with their phones that they will use it constantly until their battery is running out and then immediately run for the charger to charge it before their phone dies on them.
In some of the cases, they will sit right next to where their phone is charging so that they can use it as it charges.
Important Parenting And Screen Time Issues In Screenagers
The impact of screen time on kids and teens. According to a study done by the movies authors an average child spends about 6.5 hours a day at screen and more than 11 hours a week playing video games . Among the problems being addressed in the movie are:
- general phone addiction
- teens obsessive desire to take photos of themselves for social media and their worry about how they look
- how too much screen time at a certain age can cause damage to the development of some brain functions
- kids being distracted at school because of their smartphones
- problems associated with multitasking and self perception even though kids were performing worse and worse they were sure that they were actually doing well and even improving
- parents and other relatives noticed many times that some kids almost literally turn into a different person while playing computer games
- computer and video game violence and similar issues it is interesting, that some kids think the video game experience is more important and relevant for their future than things like math or school in general.
Parental authority and the way you should assert it, especially in questions of screen time is another important topic of the documentary. This includes exploration of:
You May Like: How Long To Break Alcohol Addiction
Use Apps To Bolster Self
There are apps for almost every problem in life. In fact, there are even some wonderful apps built to help us limit our time on our devices. Here are some of my favorites:
Space. Set goals and track your daily progress to manage your habits.
Forest. Stay focused, be present. Forest is a beautifully designed app that brings gamification to productivity and results in real trees being planted based on your personal phone use habits.
Moment. Through short, daily exercises, Moment helps you use your phone in a healthy way.
Flipd. Lock away distracting apps for complete focus.
Screentime. Set daily usage limits on your phone or specific apps.
Try Productivity Apps To Help You Have Self
Just as there are apps for getting car rides and renting rooms, there are apps thatll help you have self-control too. Here are few you might like:
- Flipd It uses a lock screen thats on a timer to help you not use distracting apps.
- Forest You earn credits not using your phone and get a chance to plant real trees with them.
- Offtime It shuts down everything except important contacts youve white listed.
- Appdetox It locks your apps and also reminds to take a break from them.
- Space You can set phone use goals and track your progress
- Freedom Block all websites and apps while you work
- Moment Similar to Fitbit, it tracks the amount of time you use your phone and helps you create daily limits
You May Like: How Long Does It Take To Become Addicted To Xanax
Dont Lose Sleep Over It
If you find yourself up late at night playing on your phone, whether it is video games, Facebook, or text messaging, you are losing precious sleep over your addiction. The moment you stop putting energy into caring for your basic needs and pour your time and energy into your phone, you are allowing the phone to dictate your health and well-being. If you catch yourself in this scenario, my advice is to power off your phone an hour before bed time to ensure that your last hour is spent in a meaningful way, and that you get to bed on time to start the next day afresh. Your phone is just not worth losing sleep over.
Now its your turn. Do you find yourself in one of these scenarios? Whats your plan of action to ensure that your phone isnt dictating your life? Please share in the comments below, and lets inspire each other to live healthier, happier, more meaningful lives by not caving into a phone addiction.
Make Your Smartphone Less Appealing
You can also make your phone less visually engaging, by changing the screen to grayscale or turning off notifications, for example. Dr. Alter suggested periodically rearranging the apps on your phone so that they become harder to find and less likely to lure you into a mindless loop of checking and rechecking simply out of habit.
Both experts advised deleting certain types of apps especially the ones you know that you have a hard time avoiding .
Use apps that enrich your life, that add value and meaning or that you need for work, not ones that take you down a rabbit hole, Dr. Lembke said. And if the apps that add value to your life are the same ones that you feel addicted to, Dr. Lembke recommended creating some space using the tips above.
The big question to ask yourself with screens is: What else could I be doing right now? Is there something I could be doing that would be better for me? Dr. Alter said. Thats important now more than ever because of how much time weve been forced to spend on screens during the pandemic.
Annie Sneed is a science journalist who has written for Scientific American, Wired, Public Radio International and Fast Company.
Also Check: How To Tell If Someone Is Addicted To Pills
Leave Your Phone In Your Bag
If your phone is not in your sight, it is easier to stay away from it. When I arrive at work, I simply leave my phone in my bag and forget about it for half of the day. When I get home, I also leave my phone in my bag. It is an easy way to use your phone less. If something urgent happens, you will still hear your phone ringing.
Out of sight, out of mind.
When To Seek Professional Help
If you feel your smartphone use is having an impact on your mental health, your relationships, or your ability to take part in everyday life, it may be time to seek professional help.
If you have a good relationship with your primary care doctor, you can start by discussing your concerns with them.
Alternatively, you could go directly to a therapist, who can help you to manage your symptoms, create coping mechanisms, and address any underlying issues that may be contributing to your cellphone use.
Read Also: How To Stop Being Addicted To Games
The Cost Of Distraction
Before I go any further, I already know that youre different. Youre good at multitasking, right? You can do intense creative work while also keeping up with email, text notifications, your Twitter feed, and all breaking news notifications.
But heres the thingyoure not good at multitasking.
The human brain is simple not capable of focusing on more than one complex task at a time, and every time you allow yourself to be interruptedyour productivity plummets by over 40%3.
Moreover, if you do happen to be in an uninterrupted state of Deep Work, every single time you take just a second to check your phone because of a notification , it takes you an average of 23.5 minutes to get back into your state of deep work4.
If you find yourself working 60 hours or more a week trying to meet your deadlines yet you feel like all you do is spin your wheels, it could be because upwards of 25 of those hours were mostly wasted by either checking in with your smartphone or spending the extra time necessary to re enter your state of creative flow.
Set Aside One Day/week
This is, by far, the most common approach I see among people who have taken intentional steps to curb their cell phone habit nowadays. But I credit Tammy Strobel for being the first person I heard talk about italmost ten years ago. Choose one day each week and set your phone aside. Thats it, make a habit of it.
Also Check: How To Talk To An Addict
Dressing Up For An Important Occasion Can Wait But Your Phone Cant
Phone addicts would normally be on their phones until the last minute, even if they have to dress up for an important occasion.
Their phones are extremely important to them and they would be on it all the time.
Once they are completely satisfied with the amount of time they have spent on their phones, only then will they get off their couch or bed to get ready for their special occasion.
You Will Be Caught Using Your Phone During Exams Or An Important Meeting
If you are a phone addict, then chances are that you will be caught using your phone while you are sitting through an exam or attending an important meeting.
Exams and meetings are not places where phones should be used as you could get into a lot of trouble for it.
However, addicts just cannot seem to help themselves and they will use it whenever they get their hands on it.
Phone addicts usually show most, if not all, of these 25 signs that are stated above.
While phone addiction is very much real, very few people are actually aware about their addiction.
This essentially means that they will keep about their addiction unknowingly, and thus would not do anything to reduce its effects.
It is not that difficult to get rid of your phone addiction, provided that you take the necessary steps and seek help, either professionally or from the people around you.
Don’t Miss: How To Rid Of Addiction
Keep Your Phone Literally Away
Its easier to forget about checking your phone when its physically out of sight and reach. After coming home, I just leave the phone in my bag and put it in the cupboard. Nothing terrible ever happens. Ill hear an urgent call or notification, and at the same time, I can cope with most of the sudden urges to check my phone. Who wants to get up and walk to the other part of ones apartment all the time?
The same trick can help you at work, school, and family dinners. When theres no phone on the table in front of you, its much easier to focus on the things you need to do, be it finishing some work or chatting with your loved ones.
Modify Your Smartphone Use Step
For most people, getting control over their smartphone and Internet use isnt a case of quitting cold turkey. Think of it more like going on a diet. Just as you still need to eat, you probably still need to use your phone for work, school, or to stay in touch with friends. Your goal should be to cut back to more healthy levels of use.
Recommended Reading: How To Talk To An Addict In Denial
When To Seek Help
Its always OK to reach out for help when youre dealing with any issue that concerns you, or that you feel you dont have control over.
If youre noticing symptoms of addiction or dependence, or if the people in your life are talking to you about the amount of time you spend on your phone, it may be a good idea to ask for help.
Consider reaching out to a therapist or your doctor, checking out a self-help guide, or following a digital detox program.
How Is Mobile Phone Addiction Treated
The cause and effect of smartphone addiction have many parallels with alcohol addiction, drug addiction and the other addictions we treat at Delamere. There is always a reason for addictive behaviour, and we like to work closely with our guests to get to the root causes, identify any triggers and develop strategies to cope with unhealthy habits.
The first part of the process is helping you to stop the undesired behaviour. In this case, the overuse of your mobile phone. We will then apply evidence-based treatments to help change your mindset and develop techniques to prevent a relapse. We use a wide range of innovative therapeutic processes, from psychoeducational workshops to somatic healing, to bring about positive, lasting change.
People who come to stay with us at our wellness retreat beside Delamere forest benefit from high levels of personalised care from a qualified team of doctors, counsellors and therapists who are there to support you during your stay and for 12 months after you leave us.
References
1. Sebire, K. The 2020 Conversation. The coronavirus lockdown is forcing us to view screen time differently. Thats a good thing.
You May Like: How To Treat Alcohol Addiction
Causes And Effects Of Smartphone And Internet Addiction
While you can experience impulse-control problems with a laptop or desktop computer, the size and convenience of smartphones and tablets means that we can take them just about anywhere and gratify our compulsions at any time. In fact, most of us are rarely ever more than five feet from our smartphones. Like the use of drugs and alcohol, they can trigger the release of the brain chemical dopamine and alter your mood. You can also rapidly build up tolerance so that it takes more and more time in front of these screens to derive the same pleasurable reward.
Heavy smartphone use can often be symptomatic of other underlying problems, such as stress, anxiety, depression, or loneliness. At the same time, it can also exacerbate these problems. If you use your smartphone as a security blanket to relieve feelings of anxiety, loneliness, or awkwardness in social situations, for example, youll succeed only in cutting yourself off further from people around you. Staring at your phone will deny you the face-to-face interactions that can help to meaningfully connect you to others, alleviate anxiety, and boost your mood. In other words, the remedy youre choosing for your anxiety , is actually making your anxiety worse.
Hack #: Set Your Phone Out Of Reach When Doing Creative Work
Youve turned off notifications, your phone is painfully boring in black & white, and your home screen is no longer any fun. Yet you STILL feel the need to just check the time, your email, or whats happening on Facebook or Snapchat. Or perhaps while doing creative work you suddenly find yourself unlocking your phone not even because you want to but because its just become muscle memory.
Dont panic, you can still overcome this addiction. All you have to do is physically remove your phone from site and place it somewhere out of arms reach. As long as your phone is far enough away that you have to remove your hands from your keyboard and step away from your workstation, the likelihood that youll want to check in every two minutes drastically drops.
I charge my phone on a side table next to the couch in my office. This introduces just enough friction that to check it would require me to walk all the way around my workstation to the other end of the room. Given that my phone is always in DND mode, once its out of sight its out of mind, and Ill go an hour or two before I realize I havent checked it at all .
BONUS: If you want to go to the next level and start your day off with creative thoughts rather than immediately getting sucked into other peoples agendas, charge your phone outside of your bedroom.
Don’t Miss: How To Handle An Addict In Denial
