Smartphones have become very evolved during the last years, and whether we admit it or not, it’s very difficult to imagine our lives without them. Scrolling through your bank account, sending an important mail, viewing posts on social media, or simply playing a game so that time will flow faster for you – all of these are activities that anybody has done on his smartphone at least once. But what if you do such things for hours, without being able to stop?
Let’s face it: it’s sad to see almost everybody starring at their phones in a bar, restaurant or in any other crowded place. Communication should be a priority when people meet, not doing something you had plenty of time of doing until that moment.
Smartphone addiction can lead to severe issues
And this shouldn’t be treated with indifference. The new study has been made at King’s College London and published in the BMC Psychiatry, and it pulls the alarm of the fact that smartphone addiction can lead to serious mental issues like anxiety, bad mood, stress, depression, and insomnia.
During the research, there have been analyzed 41 studies that involved 42,000 young people in an investigation called “problematic smartphone usage”. The study found that 23% of the subjects had behavior strongly related to an addiction, like anxiety, and not being able to moderate the time spent. Therefore, such addictive behavior is also related to lack of sleep, poor performance at school, and other bad things, according to the research.
It’s vital to note the fact that addictive behavior is a really serious issue involving mental health, and it has to be dealt with accordingly. There are lots of trained counselors who are skilled in helping patients overcome any type of addiction and other mental health0related issues such as depression, stress, anxiety, and more. It’s extremely hard to overcome mental hardships on your own; that’s why it’s always recommended to seek professional help which you can get from a psychologist. You cannot achieve the goal of living a balanced, happy, and healthy life if the crucial component represented by mental health is missing from the puzzle.
One of the report’s authors, Nicola Kalk, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, stated:
We don’t know whether it is the smartphone itself that can be addictive or the apps that people use,
Nevertheless, there is a need for public awareness around smartphone use in children and young people, and parents should be aware of how much time their children spend on their phones.
Co-author Samantha Sohn also warned that addictions could have serious consequences on mental health and day-to-day functioning.
Of course, nobody says that smartphones are basically something harmful and that we should throw them in the garbage can. The problem is when we become addicted to them.
