Mobile Addiction Signs and Symptoms

Although it may seem exaggerated, many researchers are already warning that there are many people with mobile phones who are suffering physical and psychological problems such as anxiety, heart palpitations, and sweats when they forget their mobile phone at home, their prepaid card stays at zero, they are left without coverage or without battery. We invite you to continue reading this article of Psychology-Online if you want to know more about the mobile addiction.

Next, we will analyze what this type of addiction is so modern and current. But also, we will discover the consequences of and solutions to this situation. Above all, young people and adolescents are the most vulnerable to this addiction. Therefore, we must take extreme precautions to the maximum.

Definition of mobile addictionMobile Addiction

It is clear that there are many advantages in the use of the mobile phone, for example, to call home when I am going to be late, when I notice that I stay to study at Lucia’s house – but many users have to start thinking about whether they will not be turning into authentic “mobile-dependents”, not being able to spend a minute without their telephone.

In addition, advertising is especially aimed at boys and girls like you. And teach the mobile as an instrument that gives independence, freedom. That allows to join a group, 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 the mobile addiction?Mobile Addiction

To understand what is the addiction to the mobile phone we have to understand the reality we live. Every day, millions of SMS messages are sent all over the world, everywhere we hear sounds of ringtones 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 phone in order to be continuously communicated. It can be worn up to the neck! Mobile is very important in our lives, is not it?

In the same way that occurs in other types of addictions, the use of the mobile becomes an addiction when it becomes a repetitive behavior that gives us pleasure. It has come to be called “Telefonica” and is an impulse that can not be controlled by using the phone again and again during the day or night. For the first time, it begins to talk about the 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 every 1,000 people who use their mobile phone, and they say it is affecting mainly young people and teenagers. It is for this reason, why it is important that each and every one of you, know what is this mobile addiction, and know the answers to those questions we did at the beginning to avoid it.

Unlike other addictions, such as alcoholism or addiction to gambling (pathological gambling), etc. the age at which it begins is very low, since eleven or twelve years, it is very easy to have a mobile, there are even mobile phones especially for children with drawings for them, and also parents feel confident that their child / a has a mobile phone to call an emergency.

Therefore, it is not a problem with taking a substance, such as a drug, but the problem is behavior. An irrepressible, uncontrollable and exaggerated behavior that makes us stop other activities. Such as reading, the conversation of you to you with our family, our friends, neighbors, etc …

Teenage mobile phone addictionMobile Addiction

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 a teenager does not have this object.

Adolescence is a great moment of change (you will have noticed something, right?): Many doubts arise now: who am I? What will I be when I grow up? Why do all these physical changes happen to me? Why do I find that my parents sometimes do not understand me? I do not like my body and they will reject me because I am chubby or I am short, Why am I not as cool as my friend Pepe? and, above, my parents do not have time to take care of me…

It is a time in which the reference points change, it is very normal to begin to produce distance and lack of communication with parents: “… I’m not going to ask for help, I’d better ask my friend know more … “and when you have a doubt, you may not choose the best source of information to clarify it.

And all this confusion at this time in the life of each one of us makes teenagers the target of the big advertising companies to try to convince them of all their messages. Some are good, but many others only respond to their own economic interests. And we already know that even for adults it is not easy to differentiate them.

How mobile addiction is generatedMobile Addiction

For a person to have an addiction to the mobile phone, it is enough for him or her to be a person who has emotional problems, has difficulties talking with others, or is in a difficult time in their life. In the latter case, what we 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 that, in many cases, are not true. Like, for example, that it is fashionable to lose weight, to tie oneself to video games, to buy endless products and products and, of course, to have the latest mobile model as soon as possible.

All this will make a large number of people fall victims of mobile dependence and, therefore will become addicted. And then, the addiction will cause the person to deviate from their family environment, from their friends, arriving at a great emotional suffering.

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

How we recognize an addicted personMobile Addiction

In front of the people who use the mobile in an appropriate way, in people with addiction we will be able to see how they are continuously “watching” the device, always waiting for any signal coming from their device; every very little time, in a compulsive and uncontrolled way, consulting the mobile, even if it is doing something else.

Other recent studies have shown that people “addicted” who stop using their cell phones, have as a consequence of 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 will have observed, in your own group of friends, the image of gangs of boys walking together. But each one speaking through his cell phone or sending a text message at a dizzying speed.

Some affirm “to dedicate all their free time ” to handle the mobile. It is very common to find teens and children “typing” for minutes and minutes, playing a video game, communicating with strangers or taking pictures and videos and then uploading them to the Internet. It is also common to use the mobile at all times: at home, in the classroom, between class and class, with friends, … can not be separated from the mobile. They consider that without the mobile they could not have friends. Relate it to “being more important”. They believe their use is “mandatory”. They take pictures constantly. Videos are exchanged at all hours. They send messages and hear music during all their free time. They can not 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 phone, which in many moments makes no 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’s the economic issue. Many boys and girls spend a large sum of money each month on the use of mobile phones. And large telecommunications companies, who know it, take advantage … Behind this, there are often problems of self-esteem or insecurity, difficulty in relations with the other people, isolation, loneliness and other emotional factors.

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

Consequences of mobile addictionMobile Addiction

There are many consequences of addiction and those that are most evident are:

Isolation from others and loneliness

Altered behavior

Alterations of the state of mind

Compulsive behavior

Communication problems

Problems with the language, because we no longer stop to write well, but the important thing is the speed

The danger of making not-so-good contacts such as meeting strangers, which can have negative consequences

The addictive behavior makes it very sensitive to the judgments and assessments of others and increases the feelings of insecurity

It can be school failure or aggressiveness

In the most serious cases, you can get to steal and lie to have a mobile. Because the addiction is able to cancel all our control as people

In some children, school absenteeism is also produced or they do not respect study schedules. They spend hours chatting instead of interacting with other young people their age.

How can we know if we are addicted or not? TEST

You will start to feel stress, irritability, tiredness, sleep disturbances, and emotional disturbances. And, if you want to be even surer, there are some very easy signals to detect that they will confirm it. Or at least they will be an indication to ask us for help immediately. This test, which is presented below, is very simple and quick to do:

Bill as the first advisor: Do I spend more than 25-30 euros per month?

Change of attitude: when I speak on the mobile do I behave differently than when I am face to face, for example, do I no longer feel so shy?

Do not separate from the phone: does the mobile phone always go with me? during lunch, in high school, at the movies …

Using the telephone to communicate with friends or family, am I still waiting for the mobile, even with them?

Modification of sleep habits: do I sometimes wake up at night and, in addition to going to the bathroom, look at the phone to see if a message has entered or I have a missed call? Am I late at night talking on my cell phone and sleepless?

Nervousness when the mobile is not available: do you feel nervous or distressed when you do not have your mobile close or have turned off because I no longer have a battery?

If you answered YES to most of the questions, we should start to worry, and then …

Solution to mobile addictionMobile Addiction

First of all, we must ask for HELP and not think that it can be fixed with time. Nothing happens and anyone can do it. And, if we have observed something in a friend of ours, we will not make any judgment about his behavior. Because on many occasions it is not voluntary. But perhaps he has not been able to avoid it and has not been able to overcome it. You may not know how to ask for help and, therefore, we should help you find the solution.

The ideal will be to ask for help from our closest environment, parents, siblings, family, even my friends. But, if still, we feel ashamed or distressed, there are many like. For example, in the institute, your tutor or with the teacher that best suits you, the City Council of your city, going through the Health Center. And all the Specialized Organizations in dependencies, as for example, in the Project Man. In all these places, they will understand you and they 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 said before. And they will teach us to look for other activities in which the mobile phone is not present. That will also be very pleasant for us. And very important, avoid that you can relapse!

How to overcome the addiction to the mobile?

To do this they will use techniques 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 do not need it, go out without it !!!!. Everything progressively, so that it does not produce a shock and can produce anxiety and nervousness.

Changes in what we think the mobile can give us_ The mobile should be a tool to help us. And, not a device that controls our lives. And, our belief about the mobile must be correct, so that we can be free.

We will understand the reason that led us to this addictive use _ Through our conversations with the professional, will help us understand what is the root of the problem that has led us to misuse the mobile.

A little-advanced treatment, parents, and siblings can come to the treatment. So they also participate, understand the problem, share it and, it is possible, they also have to modify something to prevent it from happening again.

This article is merely informative, in Online Psychology we do not have the faculty to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your case in particular.

Jeffrey Wilson

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