Technology is increasingly becoming useful to people around the world where thousands of people can access it around the world, due to its easy accessibility, many have become addicted to it. Technology addiction is an impulse control disorder; it involves the excessive use of technological devices such as mobiles phones, video games despite the negative effects they cause to the user of the devices (Robert, 2014). This paper seeks to expound more on technology addiction.
Problems Associated with Mobile Device Separation Anxiety
Mobile device separation anxiety has become a major problem in society today; people experience panic emotions when not able to locate their mobile devices. Different individuals suffer differently from the problem; one of the problems caused by mobile device anxiety separation is lack of self-esteem. Mobile devices have contributed in making a majority of the youths to be anti-social, they are immersed in online platforms, and the indifferent to the surrounding environment causes one to lose self-esteem when he or she is separated from the device. It has also brought about the difficulty in the interaction between other people because mostly the interactions are held online.
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Device separation anxiety has also become a problem in that it causes people to neglect many aspects of personal life. It has impacted the work life; there are no good working relationships at the workplaces as a result of this problem. Good working relationships are brought by communication between employees, but many people are more concentrated on their devices, and most are anxious about being separated from them, there is no meaningful communication, therefore, no good working relationships.
The anxiety of the idea of not accessing a mobile device and having the need to check from time to time produces nervousness in the individual; these can escalate in different situations leading to the conditioning of a person’s mind. An example is that of a person who is so used to mobile device internet, can fail to travel to areas where internet is not conducive or may fail to go to a place because there is no power source available to connect the device, and this conditioning is majorly due to the fear of being separated from their device. Insomnia is another problem caused by mobile device separation anxiety (Cheever, 2014). People wake up at night just to check if they are still connected to their device and also to update themselves on their social platforms, and insomnia can cause harmful consequences to individuals.
Increased in dept is a problem brought about by mobile separation anxiety, this is because when a person is so much attached to their mobile devices, they use them to purchase items online which leads to serious financial problems. Overusing mobile devices may also cause physical damage such as sore elbows and hands.
Symptoms of Mobile Device Separation Anxiety
There are many symptoms to this problem, one of the symptoms is decreased number of face to face interactions with other human beings, this is replaced by the growing communication through technological devices, another symptom is the irrational reactions, and this may be experienced when one has the anxiety of being separated from mobile devices. Respiratory alterations is another symptom of mobile device separation anxiety, anxiety causes difficulties in the breathing system and therefore being anxious about being separated from a person mobile device can alter the respiratory system. Depression is also a symptom; victims of mobile device separation are mostly depressed in situations when separated from their devices. The problem also has psychological symptoms such as the feeling of being lost and disconnected. Other individuals as a result of being separated from their devices suffer from increased blood pressure and heart rates. More physical symptoms of this problem are neck pains.
Solutions to Mobile Device Separation Anxiety Problem
Different solutions can help one to cope with this problem; one of the solutions is finding certain moments to disconnect. Since this problem conditions the brain, the habit of separation is used to make the brain have the idea of disconnection moments, these may be moments such as sleeping hours, meals must be fully be committed to and completely no mobile phone used (Konok, 2016). Another solution to the problem is distinguishing between real life and virtual life; mobile device separation caused by the idea of giving the real-life experience a status. The status may be greater than what is experienced in life. Nevertheless, individuals should understand that virtual life is just part of real life.
Putting a limit on the information one receives is another way of solving this problem, by this, one can remove the features that bring so much anxiety. Features that bring different notifications of whether messages have been read should be deleted; it will help an individual not to spend all day wondering about what other people are doing. Using apps that are in need, this is another solution to anxieties brought about by mobile separation; this will entail uninstalling several social network apps, this is because when one has so many social network apps on their devices, it increases the rate of communication options leading to feeding of addiction problems from time to time. Being alert is also another solution, when one is aware of the anxiety-provoking ways of the mobile phone, will help in regulating behavior. Taking a step away from the phone is an initiative one can employ to solve separation addiction, because the presence of the device can be so distracting, hindering activities such as face to face communication, keeping the device far away from sight can reduce anxiety.
The nudging theory is another way to solve mobile separation anxiety problems; the theory employs a change in environment as a way of changing behavior. For example, one may create a central charging place in the house which in turn will act as an enticement to disconnect from the devices.
Conclusion
In conclusion, mobile device separation anxiety has increasingly become a warring problem in society. A study conducted by researchers concluded that mobile separation anxiety would become a wider problem for people in the future, as the rate of technology growth is higher and personalized and more people are becoming reliant upon it. Today, the problem is already bigger to the extent of causing different effects to the users, anxiety disorder is one of the effects, by this, and people become anxious and tremble by the realization that they cannot access their mobile device. The problem is also associated with different symptoms and signs such as connection deprivation where internet users are cut off from the world, another symptom of the problem is an inconvenience, this is seen when users are taken off their ability to continue with activities when they cannot access their mobile phones. To sum up, mobile device separation has different solutions which include; putting a limit to the information one receives from the device and also employing the separation habit.
References
Roberts, J., Yaya, L., & Manolis, C. (2014). The invisible addiction: Cell-phone activities and addiction among male and female college students. Journal of behavioral addictions , 3 (4), 254-265.
Cheever, N. A., Rosen, L. D., Carrier, L. M., & Chavez, A. (2014). Out of sight is not out of mind: The impact of restricting wireless mobile device use on anxiety levels among low, moderate and high users. Computers in Human Behavior , 37 , 290-297.
Konok, V., Gigler, D., Bereczky, B. M., & Miklósi, Á. (2016). Humans' attachment to their mobile phones and its relationship with interpersonal attachment style. Computers in Human Behavior , 61 , 537-547.
