Cellphone Addiction

Nomophob or Not? 

The entire world is available in the palm of your hand. Access to limitless information attainable in the matter of minutes or even seconds. How is this possible? Now a day all of this is available through the cell phone. The cell phone has made everything easy to do and handy. Just about everyone has a cell phone and most have smart phones which allows the carrier to do anything from place their dinner order to set up an important doctor’s appointment. The cell phone is an amazing little tool necessary in everyday operation and functioning in today’s society, but has this little tool become a debilitating addiction for some? Along with those that use cell phones, there are those that are dependent on cell phones to do everything for them. Not only has it been tested by researches and named nomophobia, but I have actually met a nomophobic. Although cell phones are helpful in carrying out many daily tasks they have created a new kind of user, a new kind of abuser cell phones have, as a side effect of their existence, created a new kind of addict.

Some may disagree with the thought of a cellphone being addicting and ask, how could a cellphone be addicting, it’s not a drug. Although that may be true, there have been studies performed on various subjects ranging in age, sex, and ethnicity and in each case, there have been subjects who exhibit signs of nomophobia. Nomophobia is now the term used to describe the specific fear losing or being without your phone. It was first coined in 2008 by British researchers who were conducting the social experiments and noticed this pattern. In the experiments, subjects between the ages of 18-24 were the ones who expressed this fear most. The symptoms of nomophobia include anxiety, worry of their battery dying out, losing their phone and even not being able to go to the restroom without it. A sort of dependence is built on the phone simply because of all it does. The cellphone is such a handy device that allows its user to perform many tasks that before took a lot more time to complete such as, paying bills, ordering that birthday present for your son or daughter, or even its most basic function, making a phone call. This is why the cellphone has become so addicting because it can do just about everything we need it to. I do feel though that there is a good side to the cellphone and its accessibility.

There are many who say that the cellphone is bad and addicting because as you look around you see person after person with their face peering into the empty screen looking for something interesting to pop out at them instead of looking at reality right in front of them. Just as there are down sides to anything and everything there are also the upsides. A cellphone has evolved to the point where it is a mini super computer in the palm of your hand. The first computer ever created took up an entire room and had the processing power of today’s simplest calculators. Now think about what the modern day cellphone can do; you need to pay your phone bill, it can be done from your phone. You need to place an order for dinner or make a reservation because you just don’t feel up to making dinner tonight; you can do it from your phone. Nowadays you can even turn lights on and off in your house from your phone or adjust your thermostat while you’re at the office, all from the palm of your hand. The cellphone is such a big part of everyday life that now, just about every big corporation or company will give you a phone simply because the job requires it. One of the biggest components of the cellphone today is the internet. Having the internet there in the palm of your hand allows for access to the world, and not just your world of facebook, twitter, or instagram but to the actual world.

Having the internet there in your pocket at all times makes for some very interesting effects on society. How often do you go out with friends or family and there is always that one person who either has their face buried in their screen or it seems that their pockets are constantly vibrating? It is somewhat difficult to go out today and not see someone with their face in their phone scrolling through their facebook or twitter trying to occupy their time. Yes that is what the cellphone is there for but as a side effect the ones around you. Having your entire virtual world in the palm of your hand makes it that much easier to neglect those around you, especially with being able to share everything that you are doing every second of the day. Many feel it is important to keep their virtual world informed and up to date on what they are doing at that very second as opposed to sharing thoughts with those around them. The cellphone has also created this ability to isolate one’s self from any situation or person simply by turning their attention to their cellphone instead of them. It acts as a shield by allowing the user to neglect everything around them or the person trying to talk to them. It may seem that there is no way to change this direction in which society is heading by growing more and more dependent on the cellphone but there is a hope.

What kind of treatment could there possibly be for nomophobia? Well other than the obvious stopping ”cold turkey” there is now a rehabilitation center in California where a doctor has designed the very first treatment plan of its kind to treat nomophobia. Dr. Elizabeth Waterman brainchild program in the Morningside Recovery Center focus only on treating those suffering from nomophobia and its affects. The program focuses on getting to the root of the persons reliance and vulnerability on mobile technology and their need to share information with the virtual world.

As handy and useful as the cellphone is, it has created a new kind of “user.” The cellphone has created a nomophobe and in turn itself become a substance that can be abused by anyone who has one. Some scientists have gone as far to call the cellphone a gateway drug like marijuana and alcohol in order to ignore what a person is really feeling and keep unpleasant emotions or realities at bay. Even though the cellphone is needed for just about every task today, there are ways of moderating the usage and reliance of the cell phone; for example, instead of texting or emailing someone as part of a conversation, call them so that way you won’t feel the need to “kill time” while waiting for a reply. There is no need to go to either extreme of this argument because there is a way to live in a balance with using and not using.

Want to know a bit more on nomophobia, the fear of being without your cellphone? Take a look at this brief clip describing what exactly it is.

The New Normal

Just how much have people become addicted to cellphones? This picture depicts a scary but real sight that anyone can see driving down the street. People have become so reliant on their cellphones that they forget the danger it creates to be using their cellphones while driving, putting themselves and others at risk.

Are smartphones ruining our lives? Take a look at this video.