Mobile addiction: 3 signs that you are hooked

Being hooked on your smartphone can bring you psychological and relational consequences.

In the age of technology and communications, there is a phenomenon that is worrying mental health professionals: there are more and more people with mobile addiction.completely "hooked" to their smartphone.

We can see them engrossed in their day-to-day lives, messaging each other on WhatsApp, unable to take their eyes off the screen. This leads them to be constantly checking if they have any new notification, preventing them from enjoying their day-to-day activities, since they always have a part of their mind pending the positive reinforcement provided by social networks or instant messaging apps. This is known as FOMO Syndrome, as described by psychologist Jonathan García-Allen.

What is cell phone addiction?

Cell phone addiction is becoming more and more common and is a sign that we are becoming more and more dependent on technology. Some people do not make a rational and positive use of them, but end up maintaining a dependent relationship with gadgets. This addiction is sometimes referred to as nomophobia.

This addiction can lead to serious problems and discomfort.

Symptoms

Some of the symptoms and signs that may indicate that you are suffering from addiction to your cell phone are as follows (o cell phoneas it is known in Latin America), are the following:

• The affected person is not able to eat, hold a conversation, work or perform pleasurable activities without frequently checking to see if they have been texted or called on their cell phone.
• They are not able to sleep if they do not have their smartphone turned on.
• They wake up frequently to check their cell phone for new messages or calls.
• They routinely check the WhatsApp status of their friends and family.
• They get anxious or sad if they lose or forget their cell phone.
• They feel uneasy, anxious or upset if their battery runs out.
• They check too often to see if someone has texted or called them. They are also aware of any notifications on their social networks.

Consequences and effects

There are a number of negative consequences resulting from cell phone addiction. These negative effects can be classified according to several characteristics.

1. Anxiety

As it is a dependency, it can be linked to states of anxiety and compulsion. When the person forgets the cell phone at home, for example, he/she feels that something is missing, feels uncommunicated and this can generate anxiety and discomfort. Specifically, this discomfort has recently been conceptualized as technostress.

2. Compulsion

The tendency to check the cell phone every few minutes can be considered a compulsion. It is a behavior, an acquired habit that is neither adaptive nor brings us anything positive, but that the addicted person cannot avoid.

3. Deterioration of personal relationships

There are also negative effects of cell phone addiction linked to the deterioration of interpersonal relationships.. Many experts point out the paradox that, in the historical era in which we are most connected to other people and cultures, we suffer the most from the effects of loneliness, isolation and misunderstanding.

We have all noticed that gatherings among friends have changed in the last decade. It is almost unthinkable that friendly chats are not constantly interrupted by one of the friends, who can't stop checking his cell phone, answering messages, calls...

It is even possible to observe how in groups of friends, each and every one of them is more aware of their cell phone than of the people in front of them. This kind of collective autism makes us not enjoy the interactions in person, as we are in multitasking mode and paying attention to the smartphone, which ends up distorting the sense of the meeting, generating frequent pauses, and therefore not allowing us to flow and keep a fresh and dynamic conversation.

Friendly presenteeism

In another old article by work psychologist Jonathan García-Allen published in Psychology and Mind we talked about presenteeism. This phenomenon occurs when a worker goes to work but, for some reason, spends a large part of the day on issues unrelated to his or her job functions.

In a way, cell phone addiction is causing a similar phenomenon in interpersonal relationships. Our friendly or romantic encounters are marred by constant interruptions. This disrupts the magic and the unique and unrepeatable character of each interaction.

The image we show with this attitude is very negative.. We have normalized it, but let's stop and think for a second: how would we feel if someone we were meeting was constantly losing focus on us to look at another individual sitting several meters away, or at a TV screen? We would probably hold it for a few minutes, until we would get angry and leave the place.

Of course, there are people who don't have the bad habit of checking their cell phone while eating or going out for a drink with a friend. This is to be appreciated. And, of course, they deserve our respect and that we stop acting like we are dividing our attention between real conversation and virtual conversations. Es una cuestión de respeto, de educación y de valorar a la otra persona y ofrecerle nuestra atención plena. Su tiempo es igual de valioso que el nuestro.

Referencias bibliográficas:

• Davey S, Davey A (2014). "Assessment of Smartphone Addiction in Indian Adolescents: A Mixed Method Study by Systematic-review and Meta-analysis Approach".
• Gibson, E. (2011). Smartphone dependency: a growing obsession with gadgets. Disponible en: USA Today.
• Jonathan K. J. (1998). "Internet Addiction on Campus: The Vulnerability of College Students". CyberPsychology & Behavior. 1 (1).