Healthline: Signs Your Child May Have Developed a Smartphone Addiction

“What these statistics do is show a troubling reality: adolescents can’t seem to escape their phones. When asked how prevalent this over-reliance on technology is for today’s young people, Tara Peris, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the UCLA Semel Institute, told Healthline that “a big issue for all tweens and teens is learning to develop a healthy relationship with digital technology.” Peris, who is also the associate director of the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and co-director of the UCLA Child OCD, Anxiety, and Tic Disorders Program, explained that “Kids this age need to learn to make responsible choices and to create balance in their lives between their time with technology and their time spent with friends, family, and other in-person activities.” “The big issue is really about educating them and helping them to observe their own habits and own emotional responses to smartphone/technology use,” added Peris, who is unaffiliated with Nagata’s research.

As with any addictive behavior, there are some common signs and symptoms of unhealthy reliance on one’s smartphone. Nagata said that some common signs and symptoms to look out for include “when screens adversely affect a teen’s quality of life, relationships, and daily functioning.” A teen in your life might be unable to curb or reduce their screen use, for instance. They also might lose interest in non-smartphone or technology-related activities.

For these young people, screen use might “preoccupy their thoughts,” he explained. “Warning signs of smartphone addiction include if a person becomes distressed at the thought of being without their phone, thinks about their phone when not using it, interrupts whatever else they are doing when contacted on their phone, or has arguments with others due to phone use,” Nagata said.

“Some of the hallmark signs of addiction are things like difficulty limiting use, significant interference (such as negative consequences at school, in friendships, family arguments, etc.), and irritability or anxiety when not using,” she stressed. “It can also be helpful to consider whether smartphone use is affecting sleep, as insufficient sleep can have a cascade of effects on mood, cognition, and relationships with others.””

Some Insights From This Article

• Sure this article may be targeted to address the teen/tween population but I believe there are applications throughout age groups. With the advent of phones and hyper accessibility of wifi and online content, media consumption and phone usage has skyrocketed over the past decade. With time-devouring algorithms such as Tik-Tok and Youtube, our phones can quite command the entirety of our day and our minds. Scary thought.

• On the other hand, phone and electronic devices have increased interaction and helped people across the world access entire data sets and studies with a click of the button or push of the screen. Education accessibility and the potential has drastically increased with technology opening up countless doors of efficient teaching.

• However, more so than others, most apps want you to drain as much time as possible with ever-increasing content turnover to glue your eyes onto the screen (and the ads). As the article said this manifests into many signs of addiction such as difficulty limiting phone usage, significant social interferences (ever look at your phone instead of having to deal with an awkward conversation?) and emotional/mental instability when not using.

What is your relationship with your phone/electronic device?

Full article is here!

#Phone #Addiction #SocialMedia