Let’s see if this feels familiar. The moment you wake up, half awake, with eyes barely open, the first thing you do is reach out for your phone. You scroll through social media mindlessly, whenever you get a spare moment in the day. You are compelled to keep checking your phone even when you are doing something or with someone. The first thing you think of doing when you start to relax or unwind is to be on your phone.
At night, you always exceed your sleeping time because you find it difficult to let go of your phone. If you can relate to some or all of these, then we may have a problem on our hands. And it may be a concerning one.
• What’s the Big deal?
It is natural to think that it is not that big of a deal because everyone, everywhere is always on their phone. Any party, lunchtime at office, while travelling, eating, people are always on their phones! In today’s time, a person may be able to stay without alcohol or cigarettes but not without their phone.
Smartphone addiction has taken over the world so subtly, so slyly that no-one seems to even think that it is problematic. But it is indeed a problem that has been normalized to a great extent. Just because everyone is doing it, doesn’t make it okay. It is affecting us in more ways than we realize. This article aims to highlight the different ways in which smartphone addiction manifests and what it is doing to our us psychologically.
• Ways in which Smartphone Addiction manifests:
1. Compulsive Social Media Usage
Endless scrolling on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, dating apps, networking sitesu or any social media site, compulsive need to keep checking, replying to messages, comments or just being online are all ways in which smartphone addiction shows itself. This negatively affects our self esteem and creates anxiety as we only see people as living the perfectly curated beautiful life on social media and tend to draw comparisons with our own life. It is also related to increased distractibility and poor attention span in the long run. It is also true that the more compulsively one uses social media to stay connected the harder it is to stay connected and have meaningful bonds in one’s real life.
2. Media Consumption
‘Binge watching’ is the term that got coined once people started consuming more and more movies, videos, series one after the other. Many people feel like they can’t stop watching content many times to the extent of sacrificing other hobbies, work or social interactions. The compulsive need to fill our lives with more and more content is detrimental to our mental health. We are constantly seeking stimulation and that makes us avoid our reality, our feelings and gives us an escape from them. It is a suppressive as well as an addictive need for consuming that can create many issues for us.
3. Information overloading
Some of us consistently seek more and more information through news, articles, blogs or e-books. This gets missed as a negative behavior because most people think that knowledge is important and one must keep informed and updated. But at the same time, any compulsive act is dangerous. Constant compulsive seeking of information overloads our brain, makes it retain less information and overtime produces stress. The key words are constant and compulsive. If you feel like you ‘have’ to do it it, it is a sign of a problem. Intellectualizing everything around us is a defense mechanism that our minds use to avoid feeling and go on suppressing unpleasant responses. In addition, morning and more of the news is disturbing which makes us feel more fear, anxiety and stress, consciously or unconsciously.
4. Cybersex addiction
Addiction to sexting, consuming pornography, swapping nude pictures or adult messaging services is a very serious concern. It becomes a way to channel one’s sexual energy into a virtual world where it is easier to get the rush or the thrill without making the effort of achieving it in real life. It is problematic because it keeps a person living in their fantasy world, which can easily become a comfort zone and keep one from forming real connections in life. In addition, it creates unrealistic sexual expectations, makes one think excessively about sex which in turn affects how one views their relations with others, and also creates sexual anxiety about one’s performance, stamina or even one’s own body and in general contributes to a decline in mental and sexual health. Sex becomes a commodity, the need overtakes other areas of one’s life and sexually objectifying people becomes more easy to do.
5. Other Compulsive behaviors
Online gaming, shopping, gambling, stock trading or bidding on auction sites can also become an addiction. Each has a different but debilitating impact on one’s psyche. We live life on autopilot, barely present in our day to day activities and our awareness totally consumed with the object of our addiction. Life revolves around these compulsions and we lose interest in other areas of interest. This drastically affects our moods, our emotional and thought patterns and our levels of awareness, progressively getting worse with time.
• What are the consequences? What can be done?
There are a multitude of negative consequences resulting from smartphone addiction in the areas of mood, quality of thought, attention span, distractibility, quality of relationships in real life, socializing, and over all well-being. Anxiety, especially social anxiety, stress, mood shifts are pretty common. Compulsive behavior co-occurrs with ruminavtive or negative thinking, excessive validation and approval seeking and fitting ourselves into a box or an image instead of allowing our authentic self to manifest. Attention and concentration suffers so that other tasks are affected badly. Emotional suppression is also a major factor that delineates us from our own minds and results in increased impulsivity and feelings of frustration. Our levels of awareness become so low that we unable to figure out what even is causing any negative state of mind at all. An individual becomes less mindful, and increasingly loves life on autopilot.
At Zorbacare Rehabilitation center, we get multiple clients and their primary issue may be Substance Use disorder, depression or anxiety but smartphone addiction is also a secondary problem that they face. Just like any addiction, it needs to be taken seriously and treated with care, whether at home or in the rehab. A Digital detox is recommended for smartphone addiction, preferably starting with a couple of hours everyday. It may be hard for those who work using their phone but it is not impossible. It can also be done for a day in the week. Or half a day to begin with. During the digital detox it is important to observe the impulse to use the phone, without judgement and instead of suppressing it, allowing it to pass. Noting down ones thought at that time is also effective in overcoming craving. So is engaging oneself in a fun activity.
In addition, a lifestyle is required to overcome any addiction. Finding new hobbies, Journaling, physical exercise, meditation are different ways in which this lifestyle change can be achieved. Giving yourself a creative outlet is extremely helpful in ways of art, music, dance, photography, etc. Journaling makes one more aware of one’s dysfunctional thoughts, suppressed emotions and needs, giving clarity on how one can balance one’s body and mind. These are simple ways to help one out of smartphone addiction. But it is always advisable to seek some proffesional support so as to know that one is going in the right and efficient way. Counselling is a great and exploitative way to improve one’s well-being.
It is never too late to begin one’s journey towards better mental health!