Put your phone down and say hello.
Hello, my name is Richard and I’m an addict. My addiction is linked to social disorders, inability of networking skills, is a cause of insomnia and could result in death. It’s not a drug or alcohol related addiction, but something we suffer from, but don’t know all too well.
I’m talking about cell phone addictions.
Cell phone addiction is a problem that we ignore daily. The attachment to your phone is referred to as “Nomophobia.”
Nomophobia means the fear of not being able to use your cell phone or other smart devices, according to Sandee Lamotte’s article posted on CNN.
I am one of many college students who has a phone addiction. I work in social media, but even when not working on something, I chose to ignore the world and focus on my phone.
I get into a panic mode where nothing else matters if I misplace my phone. My phone is a personal reflection of me. It is like my best friend that holds all my secrets and personal information.
When I don’t have my phone, I start to feel the vibration as if it was in my pocket. This is known as phantom vibration syndrome. According to Mental Health daily, this is falsely perceiving that a cell phone is either vibrating or ringing when it clearly isn’t.
As college students, we should be preparing ourselves to have success in the real world. Our goals are to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to help us with our career.
One skill that seems to be lacking is face-to-face social interactions.
According to a Baylor University study posted on Science Daily, 60 percent of college students are addicted to their phones and this leads to poor academic performance.
Look around at other students. I’m guessing you got a pretty good look at the top of their heads, right? Now, say hello when walking by other students. Don’t worry, they aren’t being rude by ignoring you. They can’t hear you because they have headphones in their ears listening to music.
It’s important to start building your professional social profile here in college to meet new people, network and to improve your health and safety.
One can never have too many friends or acquaintances. A friend can be there for you to talk to and give advice.
Some acquaintances from classes can provide classrooms assistance or study groups to help with the class material.
You can be walking by your future lifelong best friend, but miss out all because you were too busy reading about the latest gossip on Facebook or tweeting the trending hashtag of the day. According to an article from Huffington Post, Facebook conducted a study of their users and it showed that more than 28 percent of married couples met their spouse through college.
Accidentally finding your future love while getting an education is a better “how did you meet story” than swiping right on your phone and “sliding into the DM’s.”
According to a survey by LinkedIn, 85 percent of all jobs are found by networking. “…It’s pretty clear that finding candidates or getting a job today needs to emphasize networking,” said Lou Adler of performance-based hiring learning systems.
Networking is so crucial these days. Knowing people that know people can help get your foot in the door at your dream job. The more people you know the more opportunities can open up. You could potentially get that job because you started networking and all it took was putting your phone down and talking to your fellow students.
Lastly, what is one of the most important aspects of phone addiction for us is to recognize is the detrimental effects it can have on our health and safety. In Lamotte’s article, nomophobia causes detrimental effects on your social life, relationships with friends/family and your work/study time.
The American Physiological Society also noted the lighting from your phone’s screen interferes with melatonin production, which reduces sleep quality and causes insomnia. Nomophobia is also linked to avoiding face-to-face interactions, high social anxiety and depression.
Nomophobia causes “text neck” which is the pain and soreness in your neck from looking down at your phone for extended periods of time.
The safety aspect pertains largely to distracted driving due to phone usage.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nine people die each day by distracted driving from cell phones with more than 1,000 others being injured.
The Pew Research Center states that nearly half of adults admitted reading and or sending text messages while driving. The highest groups are Millennials (ages 18 to 33) at 59 percent, and generation Xers (ages 34 to 45) at 50 percent.
Lamotte’s article suggests steps you can take to avoid phone addiction. Try turning off your cell phone at certain times of the day; for example, meetings, dinner time, time spent with your kids and while in class.
Try removing social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter from your phone and check them on your laptop. Use your phone in 15-minute intervals at specific times.
Don’t take your phone to bed with you and use an old-fashioned alarm clock to wake you up, or simply have the willpower not to interact with your phone past a certain time.
The most important one in my opinion is to replace cell phone time with healthier options like exercising, mediation, reading a book, reading the Clarion or Logos magazine, or interacting with people face-to-face.
I have a phone addiction. I’m currently using the following steps to minimize my phone usage and to be more social: Face-to-face interactions, exercising without my phone, walking without my phone in hand and not checking it at bedtime. These are the most useful methods for me.
These solutions above might seem outlandish, but take what works to live healthier. You may establish new relationships or build connections by simply putting away your phone and saying, ‘hello.’
Students are entitled to five free confidential mental health services to discuss any mental health issues. Appointment can be made by stopping by the SS 147 building or call their office at (626) 914-8671.
