As the number of people that have cell phones is rapidly growing, so is the number of people that are becoming addicted to their phones. When these phones were invented, they were intended to make life easier. Today there are some people that do not have a life because they do not know when to turn them off.
You probably know a person who is a cell phone addict. It could be the person who leaves his phone on in the hospital even if it is against the rules because he is afraid he will miss a call. Or the phone user who sends text messages all day from work when he should be doing his job. These same people will have an anxiety attack if they forgot their phones at home and cannot enjoy what they are doing until that phone is back in their hand.
Unfortunately, cell phone addiction may become more widespread as greater numbers of children are using cell phones. One study showed that Japanese children didn’t make friends with peers who didn’t have the phones. Another showed that three quarters of Hungarian children owned cell phones. A study in Italy showed that one quarter of the adolescents had multiple cell phones while in Great Britain 36 of college students surveyed admitted that they could not live without their cell phones. An unexpected result form the British study was that 7 of the students stated that they had lost a job or a relationship over their cell phone use.
There are questions as to whether cell phone addictions are actual addictions, such as an addiction to drugs would be. There are some similarities. Cell phone addicts use their phone to make them feel better. These users even seem to increase their phone use over time to get the same feeling that they had when they first began using them. There are also some anxiety issues when the user does not have his phone available. With regular addictions, there are usually some changes to the brain, from alcohol addiction to food addiction. There may have to be a study done on the brain of a cell phone addict for this trend to be considered an actual addiction.
Until then, you may have to look for the signs yourself if you are worried about a loved one being a cell phone addict. Again, the signs of an addict are someone that can not stay off his cell phone for any length of time. The person may become irritated if someone does not answer his voicemail or text message quick enough. He refuses to turn his phone off, even in areas where cell phone usage is restricted. If he has forgotten his phone at home, he can think of nothing else until he can get home to get it.
If this sounds like one of your children, there is something that you can do. If you have a premium cell phone plan, you can drop it back to the basics and limit the amount of time the child can spend on the phone. The youngster may not like it but will become adjusted to less cell phone usage as time goes by.
Cell phones do make life easier, but you should not lose sight of the fact that there is a life without them. |
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