We can not deny that new technologies have changed our way of communicating and understanding society. Nowadays, if you go down the street you will see people with their heads down, looking at their mobile. If you go to a cafeteria, you will see the sad image of people who, instead of interacting with each other, are with their mobile phones talking to other people through WhatsApp or looking at their social networks … instead of being connected in the present, they are disconnected from here and now.
They miss out on the opportunity to connect with others because of mobile addiction. Many of these people do not even realize they have an addiction. People who feel fear or dread to leave home without having their mobile phone is called nomophobia and it can be a more severe problem than you think.
If you go out without your mobile phone, are you able to go home and pick it up? Do you feel anxiety every time you run out of battery? Think these answers well because it is important to know if you have mobile addiction or not. Although if you really want to know, then keep reading and do the test that we have prepared for you. You may be surprised …
TEST: How to know if I have an addiction to the mobile
If you want to know if you are an addict to the mobile phone, do the following test. Rate each item on a scale of 1 to 7 where 1 is completely disagree and 7 is completely in agreement. Once you have all the answers pointed, you will have to calculate the total score to know if you are or not, a person addicted to the mobile. It is very important that you be totally honest in each of the questions.
- I would feel uncomfortable if I do not have constant access to information through my mobile phone.
- I would be upset if I could not find information on my mobile phone when I wanted to.
- If I did not receive news on my mobile phone it would make me nervous.
- I would be upset if I could not use my smartphone and / or its capabilities when I wanted to.
- Running out of battery on my smartphone would scare me.
- If I ran out of data or access to the Internet, I would panic.
- If I did not have a data signal or could not connect to a Wi-Fi network, I would constantly check if I have a signal or if I can find a Wi-Fi network.
- If I could not use my smartphone, I would fear being stuck somewhere.
- If I could not check my phone for a while, I would like to verify it.
- If I did not have my smartphone with me …
- I would feel anxious because I could not communicate instantly with my family and / or friends.
- I would worry because my family and / or friends could not contact me.
- I would be nervous because I could not receive text messages or calls.
- I would be anxious because I could not keep in touch with my family and / or friends.
- I would be nervous because I could not know if someone had tried to contact me.
- I would feel anxious because my constant connection with my family and my friends would break.
- I would be nervous because I would be disconnected from my online identity.
- I would feel uncomfortable because I could not keep up with social networks.
- I would feel uncomfortable because I could not verify my updates notifications of my online connections and networks.
- I would feel anxious because I could not verify my emails.
- I would feel weird because I would not know what to do.
Test score
Once you have all the written answers (and that they are sincere), you can begin to add the points that you have written. Add the entire amount and then look for your score:
- 20 points. You’re nothing nomophobic. You have a healthy relationship with your mobile phone and you have no problem separating yourself from it. It does not give you anxiety at all.
- From 21 to 60 points. You get a little nervous if you forget your mobile phone one day or if you run out of internet, but you can control anxiety well and it does not generate major emotional problems.
- From 61 to 100 points. You are too attached to your mobile phone. You are one of the people who look at your mobile phone when you are with other people, no matter how rude it is. When you walk down the street you do not enjoy the ride and you have your phone in your hand looking for updates or talking with other people. You feel anxiety when you run out of Internet. You need a digital disconnection as soon as possible.
- From 101 to 120 points. You have severe nomophobia and you may have to go to a therapist because you are not able to spend 60 seconds without looking at your device. It’s the first thing you look at in the morning and the last thing when you get into bed.
Consequences of being addicted to the mobile
Being addicted to mobile can have serious consequences that are necessary to take into account to work on them. As nowadays any person and at any age can have access, it is necessary to review the consequences bearing in mind whether they are children, adolescents or adults.
Consequences in children
Children may be addicted to the mobile phone with serious consequences for their health and development. Some of the consequences are:
- Eye problems
- Obesity problems due to sedentary lifestyle
- Poor social development due to lack of correct social skills
- Inappropriate behaviors
- Sleep disorders
- Fatigue, fatigue, apathy
- Danger of cyber-bullying
- Inappropriate use of the Internet
- See online content that is not able to understand or process due to lack of maturity
- Incompetence to perform activities appropriate to their age
- Poor social and emotional development
- Inability to entertain oneself for not having external stimuli
Consequences for adolescents
Teenagers are the most dangerous to suffer addiction to the mobile, they are really vulnerable to these social problems because they can not separate real life from life through the mobile phone. But they will also have serious consequences:
- Eye problems
- Obesity problems due to sedentary lifestyle
- Poor social development due to lack of correct social skills
- Innapropiate behaviours
- Sleep disorders
- Fatigue, fatigue, apathy
- Danger of cyberbullying or sexting
- Danger of meeting dangerous people through social networks
- Inappropriate use of the Internet
- See online content not suitable for minors
- Inapetencia to perform activities appropriate to their age
- Poor social and emotional development
- Social anxiety
Consequences for adults
Adults can also have addiction to the mobile phone and it is necessary that they realize it as soon as possible since they are the reflection of society and what children and adolescents see and learn. In adults, there are also consequences that must be borne in mind when assessing an intervention as soon as possible in order to find a solution to mobile addiction.
- Health problems
- Muscle problems of the neck and back
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Depression
- Worse physical condition due to the sedentary
- Social anxiety
- Isolation
- Sleep disorders
How to overcome the addiction to the mobile
If you want to overcome your addiction to the mobile, it is important that you keep in mind the following tips. With willpower and with desire to be able to overcome the safe addition that you can achieve without having to go to therapy. Do not miss how to get it!
Download the application ‘Forest: Stay focused’
The Forest : Stay focused application is a life-changing application for mobile phone use. The premium version is quite better and it only costs 2’19 euros, but if you only want the free version it can also help you. The application tries to go planting trees during the time that you do not touch the mobile phone.
If you do not touch the mobile during the time you assign, you will receive virtual coins. If you are in the premium version when you arrive at a certain amount of coins, a real tree will be planted in Africa. It is worth leaving the mobile aside for the health of our planet! It is ideal to leave the mobile parked while you work, study or you are with your friends … Your mental health will also be reinforced!
A schedule without a telephone
Have a daily schedule in which you can not use the phone and turn it off. It can be nap time, two hours before going to bed, when you are spending time with your partner or your children, when you are exercising … your mind needs to disconnect from the phone!
Have your phone in silence or in vibration
If you leave your phone in silence you will not be tempted to pick it up every time a notification arrives. If you are anxious to leave it in silence, at least put it on vibration, so if you are called and it is important you can feel it and listen to it, but if they are only notifications they will be able to wait. At the same time you leave the phone in silence or vibration, put it on a table or other place where you are not. Do not always have it on you.
In this way, you can dedicate only one time in your day. Increase the notifications or the mail and you will not be looking at it every once in a while generating anxiety and addiction. Use a part of your day to do this and answer emails. WhatsApp groups are better to be quiet because they usually talk about banalities and you can catch up when you go to read the entire conversation.
If after all this, you are still addicted to mobile, then go to a professional who works with addictions to give you guidelines according to your daily life and your way of relating to your mobile.
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