Do you regularly wake in the middle of the night to take a glance at your phone?
Or, have you noticed that while out for lunch, your attention is more on your phone than the friends, family, or colleagues you are out with?
If so, do you notice how a quick glance to check messages can quickly become a thorough scrolling of social feeds or news?
More important do you notice how a one-minute check becomes a two-hour deep dive into Snapchat, emails, hot deals, and more?
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Well, it’s not your fault. Apps are built to be addictive. But, so are phones!
Are Cell Phones Addictive?
First of all, cell phones can fit in any pocket, so it is always with you. This is how phones aid in addictions, but they are not actually addictive by themselves.
The addiction is driven by the communications and information being delivered via the device. Without this accessibility to the online world, a phone would have nothing to drive addictive behavior.
The likes of Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram have become so ubiquitous in our society and provide immense social environments right at our fingertips 24 hours a day, which increases phone addiction.
It’s worth noticing that smartphones provide a lot of benefits to society. However, experts have begun to notice several drawbacks, which include; anxiety and depression, poor sleep quality, and increased risk of injury or death.
It’s no surprise that many people feel too dependent on their phones.
Experts have found that many people want to spend time off their phones but feel that it is incredibly challenging to disconnect. This can be very telling because these benefits don’t compare to the harm that smartphones are slowly doing to us as a whole.
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Is Cell Phone Addiction Bad?
According to Pew Research Center, almost 81% of people in America have a smartphone. It’s been a significant increase in the number since 2011 when it was only 35%.
Also, the Google trends graph for query “cell phone addiction” has seen a rise in searches. And, scientifically, cell phone addiction has introduced humans to some new terminologies, including:
- Nomophobia: The fear of losing your phone
- Textaphrena: The fear that you cannot communicate via text
- Phantom vibrations: The weird feeling of vibrations of your phone when it’s not.
It indicates that the increasing popularity of cell phone usage is concerning. However, you should also keep in mind that cell phone addiction is quite similar to gambling or other addictions. It causes things like:
- Behaviorally uncontrollable
- Lack of consistency or having trouble limiting the addiction
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The Symptoms Of Cell Phone Addiction
So, how would you know if you’re addicted to your phone? Well, there are some symptoms that you can feel;
- Your phone is the first thing you reach for when you’re bored or alone.
- You wake up in the middle of the night to check notifications.
- You feel anxious when offline, and constantly check for friends online.
- You prefer to be on your phone with people than with people in a social setting.
- If you panic of feel anxiety when you cannot check your phone.
Is There Any Cure to Cell Phone Addiction?
- Remove time-consuming apps like Facebook or Instagram. Just access them on a device that you don’t have all day with you, like a desktop computer.
- Turn-Off non-human notifications.
- Use Apps to lock your phone, like (Lock My Phone) and set a timer.
- Develop hobbies that fill your time and attention.
- To understand and accepted that you are addicted to your cell phone.