Mobile phone addiction

Although it may seem exaggerated, numerous researchers are already warning that there are many people with mobile phones who are suffering physical and psychological problems such as anxiety, palpitations, and sweating When they forget their mobile at home, their prepaid card runs out, they run out of coverage or battery. We invite you to continue reading this Psychology-Online article if you want to know more about the mobile phone addictionl.

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.

Index

1. Definition of mobile addiction
2. What is mobile addiction
3. Mobile phone addiction in adolescents
4. How mobile addiction is generated
5. How we recognize an addicted person
6. Consequences of mobile addiction
7. How can we know if we are addicted or not? TEST
8. Solution to mobile phone addiction
9. How to overcome mobile addiction?

It is clear that there are many advantages to using a mobile phone, for example, to call home when I am going to be late, when notice to say that I am staying to study at Lucia's house- but many users have to start wondering if they are not becoming authentic "Mobile-dependent", not being able to be without his phone for a minute.

In addition, the advertising is especially aimed at boys and girls like you, and they teach the mobile as a instrument that gives independence, freedom, that allows to join a group, to strengthen ties with friends, but Are we sure all this is true? ... Have Many questions What is this addiction? Why can it happen to us? What people can be addicted?

To understand what mobile phone addiction consists of, 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 see many people hooked to his 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, right?

In the same way that it occurs in other types of addictions, the use of the mobile phone becomes an addiction when it becomes repetitive behavior and that gives us pleasure. Has come to call "Telefonitis" And it's an impulse that you can't control from using the phone over and over again during the day or 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 1 in 1,000 people who use the mobile, and say that it is affecting mainly young people and adolescents. It is for this reason, why it is important that each and every one of you know what this is about the mobile addiction, and that you know the answers to those questions that we asked ourselves at the beginning to be able to avoid it.

Unlike other addictions, such as alcoholism or gambling addiction (gambling), etc. the age at which it begins is very low, from eleven or twelve years, it is very easy to have a mobile, there are even mobile phones especially for children with pictures to them, and also the parents feel confident that their child has a mobile to be able to call at any urgency.

Therefore, it is not a problem of taking a substance, such as drugs, but rather the problem is behavior. Irrepressible, uncontrollable and exaggerated behavior that causes us to stop other activities, such as they can be reading, the conversation from you to you with our family, our friends, neighbors, etc...

A especially affected population for this addiction are teenagers. The idea of ​​"leisure and free time" seems to be linked to the mobile phone and it seems unthinkable that a teenager does not have this object.

Adolescence is a great moment 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 think my parents sometimes don't they understand? 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's a time when landmarks 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'd better ask my friend who knows more... ”and when you have a question, the best source of information may not be chosen for clarify it.

And all this confusion at this moment in the life of each one of us, makes teenagers are the goal 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.

For a person to have a mobile phone addiction, it is enough that they be a person who has affective problems, with difficulties speaking with others, or that you are in a difficult time in your life. In the latter case, what we have just talked about is related, that is, the period of adolescence in the that one is especially vulnerable to the multiple claims that invade advertising and that, in many occasions, are not truth. Like, for example, that it is fashionable to lose weight, get tied to video games, buy endless products and, of course, have the latest mobile phone model as soon as possible.

All this will cause a large number of people to fall victims of mobile dependency and therefore you will become addicted. And later, the addiction will cause the person to deviate from their family environment, from their friends, leading to great emotional suffering.

In this other article we will discover the symptoms and treatment of mobile addiction.

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 your device; every very little time, in a compulsive and uncontrolled way, 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 speaking through his mobile or sending a text message at breakneck speed... thousands of messages are sent to the day.

Some claim “spend all your free time"To handle the mobile. It is very common to find teenagers and children “typing” for minutes and minutes, playing some video game, communicating with strangers or taking photos and videos to later post them on the Internet. It is also common that 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 its use "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 after 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 it... Behind this, there are usually problems with self-esteem or insecurity, difficulty in relationships with other people, isolation, loneliness and other emotional factors.

Here we discover a list with the consequences of mobile addiction that are more worrisome.

There are many consequences of addiction and the ones that are most obvious are:

• Isolation of others and loneliness
• Altered behavior
• Alterations of the mood
• Compulsive behavior
• Communication problems
• Problems with language, Well, 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
• You can reach the 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 children there is also truancy or they do not respect study hours, they spend hours chatting instead of interacting with other young people their age.

You will start to feel stress, irritability, tiredness, sleep disturbances, and emotional disturbances. And, if you want to be even more sure, there are some very easy to detect signs 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:

1. Invoice as first advertiser: Do I spend more than 25-30 euros per month?
2. Change of actitud: When I talk on my mobile I behave differently than when I am face to face, for example, I no longer feel so shy?
3. Do not separate from the phone: Does the mobile always go with me? during lunch, at school, at the movies ...
4. Using the phone to communicate with friends or family Am I always aware of my mobile, even if I am with them?
5. Modification of sleep habits: Do I sometimes wake up at night and, in addition to going to the bathroom, I look at my mobile to see if a message has come in or I have a missed call? Am I talking to my cell phone late at night and sleep fewer hours?
6. Nervousness when the mobile is not available: Do you feel nervous or anxious when your mobile is not nearby or has it 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 ...

First of all we must ask for HELP and not thinking that it can be fixed with time, or denying ourselves the problem. Nothing happens and it can happen to anyone. And, if we have observed something in a friend of ours, we will not make any judgment about his behavior, because in many times it is not something voluntary, but perhaps he has not been able to avoid it and has not known how to overcome it. You may not know how to ask for help, so we must help you look for 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 such as, for example, in the institute, your tutor or with the teacher that you like best, the City Council of your city, passing through the Health Center and all the Specialized Organizations in dependencies, such as, for example, in the Project Men. 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 commented before, and they will teach us how 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!

For this, techniques will be used that will help you overcome it, and that will cause them to occur:

• Changes in your relationship with the 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 in a progressive way, so that it does not produce a shock and can cause anxiety and nervousness.
• Changes in what we think the mobile can give us_ The mobile should be a tool that helps us and not a device that controls our life. And, our belief about the 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 late in the treatment, they can come to the treatment parents and siblings, so that they too 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 category of Addictions.