The usage of smartphones, tablets, and computers is increasing day by day. Whether it’s for business purposes or personal purposes, the overconsumption of these tools is bound to make us addicted. These tools can be highly productive, but the overuse of these devices interferes with our work, school, and even relationships. Smartphone addiction is when you can’t stop yourself from playing games or waste time on social media rather than interacting with real people. Or when you keep checking up your apps, texts, and emails. For those who use smartphones to that degree where it gets hard for them not to use it and it’s like a fuel for them to breathe, a term can define them: ”nomophobia” means fear of being without a mobile phone. The overuse of the Internet often causes this, or you can say internet addiction as well. Smartphone addictions can result in many problems, and some of them are discussed below.

Virtual Relationship:

Getting addicted to social networking and the overuse of the dating apps and texting to the point can make online friends of a person more important than a real-life friend. It is quite common to see nowadays that couples can be sitting on the table facing each other, but instead of interacting with themselves, their focus is more on their smartphones. The Internet and social media are a great way to connect with people, whether new or old, but getting involved with online relationships is not a healthy course of action nor a good substitute for real-life interaction.

Information Overload:

We can see how less and less productive we are becoming regarding our school or at work by overusing the consumption of smartphones. We usually waste our time by surfing over the Internet, playing games or checking newsfeeds. This behavior is causing us to neglect our aspects of life, whether it is a real-life relationship or hobbies.

Cybersex Addiction:

Compulsive use if the sexting, nude swapping, or pornography can negatively impact anyone’s real-life relationship. The availability of such facilities over the Internet has made people addicted to it. It is not just unhealthy for the brain, but it ruins the current relationship of a person or even the future one. Excessive use of these dating apps can affect an ability to be in a long-term relationship. People can waste time and hurt their emotional health at one point if they keep getting involved with such activities.

Online Obsession:

Misuse of smartphones and the Internet can create obsessions like gaming, getting involved in gambling, bidding, and shopping. This can often lead to financial and job-related problems. Gambling has been a big problem worldwide, and the availability and accessibility of online gambling have further worsened this addiction. People even end up buying things they don’t need or can’t purchase to experience the thrill of winning a bid.

How Does Smartphone Addiction Negatively Impact Our Life:

People often use and overdose themselves with smartphone usage to escape from loneliness and depression, but little do they know, they are making it far worse for themselves. The excessive use of these tools can fuel depression and anxiety, especially in teens, as they tend to compare themselves with their peers on social media.

Increasing Anxiety:

It can be seen that when a person is faced with smartphones during their working hours, they tend to focus and divert their attention on their phones rather than performing their tasks. This fuels their anxiety when they are unable to perform their task or performs it poorly.

Increasing Stress:

Using smartphones for work can often cause or increase the stress in a person. It is like we are inviting stress in our own lives, focusing on smartphones, checking nonstop if there is an email from work or not. This behavior affects not only us but also our relationship with the family as we tend to spend less and less time with them.

Source Of Distraction:

one of the negative impacts of usage of smartphones and the Internet is that it distracts us from doing any action. Usually, the time to finish a task is, let’s say 1 hour, but instead of completing it in 1 hour, we take up to one and a half hours. Why is that? When you are working, and you see your phone ringing or a sound of text message pop out, what do you do? The temptation to open the phone and check who it is from and the purpose of the text makes it hard to bear, and we end up responding to it. We are often tempted to check our news feed or check Instagram every 5-10 mins even if we are in the middle of work, and this distracts us from performing our task and taking up more time than usual.

Overload The Brain:

When someone gets involved in a constant stream of messaging and repeatedly exchanges text, it puts pressure on their brain and quickly overwhelms it. Too much information in such a short time can cause a person to lose their focus on a task they were performing, and this can quickly tire out a fresh person for merely a few minutes. You might have observed when you sit on your chair and are about to start your task, there is a pop-up message from a friend or even a group chat and if you end up replying, then the text will keep coming over repeatedly. The next thing you know is you lost your focus, and if you were in the middle of your work, then you have already forgotten what your next step is, and you often think back or review the process that consumes your time and efforts.

Disturbing Your Sleep:

You often use phones when you lie down and try to sleep, but the excessive usage and the curiosity of what your friends might have posted can keep you awake late at night. This disturbs your sleep pattern and overall affects your mental health. It even impacts your memory and your ability to think clearly, and you wake up worn out since you didn’t get enough sleep.