Cell Phone Addiction
By REBECCA CROSS
Over a billion results in half-a-second; contact with billions of people with the click of a button; and access to whatever one desires is all available within reach.
Cell phones: what once began as a portable tool for communication has evolved into a technology much greater. However, coupled with the mobile devices’ benefits, is the shrewd psychological manipulation of the modern tech-world. It is important to analyze the detrimental aspects of the never-ending, rapid conduit of information that cell phones provide.
Cell phones have more and more been described as catalysts for anxieties and behavioral problems. For instance, The National Center for Biotechnology Information claims certain phobias are more prevalent among mobile phone users, specifically: “”Nomophobia” (No-Mobile-Phobia); “FOMO” (Fear Of Missing Out) – the fear of being without a cell phone, disconnected or off the Internet; “Textaphrenia” and “Ringxiety” – the false sensation of having received a text message or call that leads to constantly checking the device; and “Textiety” – the anxiety of receiving and responding immediately to text messages.
Interestingly, cell phones might not be to blame more than the fears people have regarding being absent in the modern, ubiquitous web of interconnectedness. Meanwhile, cell phones might be the innocent character in the general story of people simply fearing being separated from the world. Thus, cell phones do not create the phobias, but rather accelerate the rate at which they manifest (and in whatever regard). Cell phone addiction could simply arise from the dependence many have to the seemingly limitless stimulation the device provides.
Additionally, The National Center for Biotechnology also claims, “There exists, however, a broad spectrum of positions taken by researchers, ranging from the absolute existence of addiction to a broader interpretation of these symptoms, as the result of an impulse control disorder or of problematic or psychopathological personality traits, which offer a greater range of behavioral possibilities beyond addiction itself.”
Clearly, the issue requires further contemplation; however, it should be at least considered - to what extent do people rely on cell phones, and how could they become addicted to the rapid satisfaction of the device’s ability to fill their every need?
Works Cited
José De-Sola Gutiérrez,, et al. "Cell-Phone Addiction: A Review." The National Center for Biotechnology Information, US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5076301/. Accessed 16 Dec. 2019. Taneja C. The psychology of excessive cellular phone use. Delhi Psychiatry J (2014) 17:448–51.