Smartphones dominate our daily lives. Always. More. Everywhere, people stare at their phones. Often, even in the middle of conversations with other people. A study by the University of Bonn found that smartphone users turn on their smartphone an average of 88 times a day and unlock their phone 55 times. According to a survey by the German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW), smartphones are used by people between 16 and 34 years old for about 80 minutes a day.
Did Steve Jobs suspect this when he introduced the iPhone as the first smartphone in January 2008? In September 2018, according to a DPA report, children in Hamburg even protested against their parents' excessive phone use. True to the motto: "Play with me and not with your phones!" Whether it's just a fleeting glance at the time, a message, an article, or even an entire video: Whenever parents do this, it's lost time for the child. No wonder sons and daughters complain and speak up – but unfortunately, far too rarely.
In Silicon Valley in the USA, there are even the first digital detox camps where stressed people want and are supposed to learn to live without smartphones, mobile phones, computers, and the internet. But just living without messages, without a video, or the latest sports results in your pocket? For more and more people, that's not so easy...
Of course, it's also true that people have always been afraid of new things. For example, when book printing was invented: Parents were afraid that children would only stare at books and do nothing else. Nowadays, many parents would probably be happy if their children would read a book and not check news on their Apple or Samsung phones so often! However, it must also be taken into account that parents are role models for their children. Children watch exactly what their parents do, who are now well over 18 - and especially how. As I said, constantly looking at the display again and again, even if it's just the time or comments from friends on Facebook and Instagram or a quick video on YouTube...
By the way, the prosperity of the world can be seen, among other things, in the development of telecommunications. The richest countries in the world, such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Macau, or Hong Kong, have the highest mobile phone usage worldwide. State-of-the-art telecommunications technology with internet access will also be a top priority there in 2019.
Fact: Mobile phones and the internet are part of our everyday lives. Whether for pleasure, boredom, enjoyment of technology, or sometimes even out of obligation. Games, social networks, communication, online shopping, photo & video on the smartphone – who doesn't grab their phone when there's a quiet moment? Unfortunately, often completely irrational, like a reflex. Children, teenagers, and adults alike.
Mobile phone addiction is now even a recognized illness that affects between 2% and 3% of all people. And more and more often, it's children or one's own child.
For less smartphone stress & against phone addiction: Put down your phone – not as easy as you think
So honestly, who doesn't spend too much time on their phone? Just checking WhatsApp or Facebook? But what is too much and what is right? One hour a day? Two or even four hours? When are you addicted to your phone? Do you want answers?
Basically, it is recommended to set up so-called offline times every day: When can you completely do without your phone for a while? Many are now looking for answers to this – often on the internet. Simple advice: Don't take your phone with you when you leave the house. Parents can certainly ask their children to do this.
Become aware of your phone consumption and check how it makes you feel! Especially at night, you should turn off your phone and certainly not put it next to your bed. It is also advised not to touch a phone, tablet, or computer two hours before going to bed. This is because the blue light component in screens inhibits the release of the sleep hormone melatonin. In addition, the eyes are quickly irritated, tired, or even dry from using phones. The eyes particularly resent it if you constantly stare at the screen at the same short distance. Frequent videos or even the smartphone as a substitute for TV? A very bad idea that will probably soon take its revenge with stronger spectacle lenses.
Try to develop a healthy relationship with your smartphone! You don't have to immediately buy a feature phone to avoid phone addiction!
Measure the time you spend on your phone each day with an app
Check how much time you actually spend on your smartphone every day. Since iOS 12, you can find an overview on every Apple device. Under the settings, you will find the menu item "Screen Time". It is worthwhile to look at the overview. Don't be alarmed!
On Android, there are also numerous apps like "Quality Time", "AppDetox" or "Space", which offer roughly the same functionality. Use the information from these apps and consider whether you really want this consumption.
If, due to phone consumption, you can no longer maintain your social contacts or work/study/go to school, you should urgently contact a counseling center for computer and internet addicts. Don't let it come to digital burnout! Less smartphone, more quality in life is the short formula. Whether as children at 10, 14, or 18 years old or as adults much later. Say yes, just take the test!
A first step to helping yourself can be to delete the apps you use most. Or just turn off online notifications on your phone. If you don't receive information about a new WhatsApp message on your smartphone display, you - perhaps - won't check it as often. Often, it's the not knowing that makes a difference. Mobile phone addiction doesn't mean just watching a quick video in between. But you can prevent mobile phone addiction - for a better life.
Funnily enough, there are many apps that are supposed to prevent phone addiction. Among them are apps from the sports or health sector. In addition, these apps are quite popular with many people.
WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Pokémon Go, Spotify & Co.
But how many hours of consumption per day are, please, normal for social media? This also cannot be answered universally. If you maintain your contacts, which you cultivate via messenger, also in real life, you should not worry. However, you can consider whether it makes sense to write back and forth with a person for an hour. Wouldn't it be nicer to simply meet up or call? In personal contact, news can be exchanged much more pleasantly! Like a Face2Face newsletter instead of surfing in the online shop :-).
In addition, according to ophthalmologists, excessive use of smartphones, tablets and computers in early childhood leads to more myopia in young people more quickly! In recent years, the number of myopic young people in industrialized countries has increased significantly overall. In Germany, the rate among young adults is now almost 50 percent. In Asian countries, the rate of those who need glasses for life is already over 90 percent. These figures are primarily due to the very early and intensive use of PCs, smartphones and tablets. The smaller the display, the more our eyes usually strain. This has consequences for a lifetime!
What fascinates people about smartphones?
A mobile phone offers almost everything: finding vouchers, listening to music, playing games, information and news, photos – there's an app for every topic and a need is quickly satisfied on the phone. Many even look for their next partner via app or for products that other users recommend! Especially with games, there is always a great satisfaction through success, for example, rising in level. This triggers chemical processes in the human brain and you feel good. Our brain gets used to the happiness hormone dopamine and wants more and more of it. Parents should know: This is how an addiction develops. But one video after another can also fuel mobile phone addiction in people.
By the way: There are already apps as a substitute for therapy against mobile phone addiction, such as Hypnobeep. However, these often cost hundreds of euros and experts at least doubt their usefulness. But for the sake of one's own health, one could still dare to try the test and simply try not to be constantly online with the smartphone. Come on, who dares, who would volunteer for such an experiment? There is a way back to life!
TV Report on Mobile Phone Addiction
Want more info on phone addiction? Here's news from research
With a new specialized outpatient clinic for addictions, the Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (https://www.uniklinikum-dresden.de/kjp) expanded its range of therapies about a year ago. Here, not only minors and young people with drug, alcohol, or gambling addiction problems find help - it also deals with mobile phone addiction. An interesting approach by the Dresden addiction therapists: they assume that two-thirds of all children and adolescents with an addiction disorder have a secondary illness. This means: other child and adolescent psychiatric disorders such as conduct disorder, ADD or ADHD, trauma-related disorder, as well as depression or anxiety are also involved.
Did you know that 12- to 25-year-olds in Germany spend an average of about three hours online every day? On weekends, it's an average of four hours. And that's not even the group of children and young people who have problematic phone behavior! They spend significantly longer on their PC or mobile phone. And what about contact with other children? Anyone who wants to help their children deal with computers and smartphones in a meaningful way can take time with their offspring, put an end to phone addiction, and get information from the Federal Centre for Health Education, where experts recommend many useful details: https://www.ins-netz-gehen.de
Recognizing phone addiction with the Menthal app for Android
Can an app warn of phone addiction? The Menthal project at the University of Bonn aims to achieve this. The results of studies prior to the app's release had already given cause for thought. According to these, average users picked up their smartphone every twelve minutes and activated it around 80 times a day. With social networks like Facebook or WhatsApp, (often hours-long) games, and other uses, many hours accumulated each day. That's a lot of time. However, people only made calls with their mobile phones for an average of about 8 minutes daily.
Any questions? According to the Bonn researchers, excessive mobile phone consumption can lead to neglecting daily tasks and social surroundings. And in the absence of mobile phone use, withdrawal symptoms can even occur. The Menthal app not only aims to address the issue of mobile phone addiction but also to research a connection between excessive mobile phone use and depression. Menthal is not yet available for iOS and is currently only available for Android smartphones: https://menthal.org
Just switch off: often not so easy
"Just switch off" is recommended by researchers from IfADo - Institute for Occupational Research at TU Dortmund (https://www.ifado.de/blog/2018/12/06/einfach-mal-abschalten-die-schnelle-erholung-zwischendurch/). And by that, they also mean the smartphone. However, many find this difficult, especially in the professional sphere, and still read work emails or talk to colleagues and superiors after work. Yet it would be so much more sensible to spend free time on meaningful activities instead of phone addiction - for example, doing sports or with friends, the scientists recommend.
Professional mobile phone addiction: Always being reachable burdens relationships
Always being available – this can also be a form of mobile phone addiction. As a current study by the Hans Böckler Foundation has shown (https://www.boeckler.de/pdf/p_wsi_wp_210.pdf), relationships noticeably suffer when one wants or needs to be professionally reachable at all times. According to the study results, about a third (36 percent) of executives deal with business communication in their free time, and among simple workers, it is even 38 percent. Almost one in five from both groups says they feel obliged to be always online – or are even forced to do so by their boss.
The demand to always be reachable mobile also burdens us health-wise, as industrial psychologists from IfADo have found (https://www.ifado.de/blog/2018/08/30/smartphone/). The consequence of professional mobile phone addiction: severe exhaustion.
