Phone Addiction
Introduction
Have you watched Ready Player One before?
- It is a 2018 American science fiction adventure film where in 2045, people seek to escape from reality through the virtual reality universe called the OASIS (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation).
Modern Day Problem
Today, smartphone is such a useful device where it has infiltrated our modern lives seamlessly.
- In social gatherings, out of boredom, we may automatically reach for our smartphones to look at social media or play games.
The rise in phone use has us questioning our cellular habits.
- Is mobile phone advancement connecting or disconnecting people?
Phone Addiction
Phone addiction can be seen as the obsessive use of a smartphone. As of today, it is neither listed in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders nor officially recognized as a form of behavioural addiction.
- Nomophobia - The fear of being without a mobile device.
- Virtual relationships - Some of us may spend more time on a virtual life (social media) than interacting with real people near us.
- The fear of missing out - We are compulsively checking news feed and web surfing. This may put us in dangerous situations (e.g. while driving) or lead to lower productivity at work.
- More and more time using a phone without a meaningful purpose.
Strike a Healthier Balance
Phone addiction has been a constant struggle for me. Nonetheless, every now and then, I will try to cut down on my phone usage because I realise that
- There are many more important tasks to fulfil than browsing internet purposelessly such as exercising, interacting with nearby people (social gathering), learning something, travelling or having a proper rest.
- There is no need to keep your mobile data on all the time, just because you are worried that people cannot reach you or you want to know the latest news. You are not needed 24/7, and if there is something urgent, people can still reach you by phone call.
- In fact, there is literally no one waiting for you in the virtual world. So, please live in reality.
- Even if I spend hours on phone to know every recent updates, there is no thing change in my life.
Having said all of these, I am not advising you to keep away from mobile phone, but to restrict the usage to when needed.
- Phone should complement our life, but NOT we become phone slaves.
Summary
Do not believe everything that you see on social media.
- It can be just another edited, sugar-coated, selective parts of lives.
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