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"Addicted"!

Feature Article Addicted!
FEB 5, 2019 LISTEN

Close to the end of the preceding year, I accompanied my dear one to the salon for the most obvious reason (fix her hair); not long after our arrival, another young female patron with earpiece stacked in her ears, clearly enjoying some music from her smart phone joined us.

I immediately steadied my ears to catch some of the lyrics of the songs as she sang along, try as hard as I could, I was only able to capture the chorus which sung “addicted”.

I thought to myself, “Indeed, our co-patron was addicted to her handset”, even at her turn she kept the phone glued to her palms, gleefully singing to her “addicted” song and taking selfies as well. Her phone was held above her head while the attendant washed her scalp.

This event added to the numerous occasions I observed in times past about the seemingly irresistible force the mobile phone had grown to become in our generation; for a fact, it has become a necessity in our age.

Back in April 1973, the first mobile was introduced, it was a prototype device by telephone giant Motorola weighing 1.1kg and measured 228.6x127x44.4mm; some 10 years down the line in 1983 the Motorola Dyna 8000X was released as the company’s first commercial mobile phone, it could only store up to 30 contacts.

46 years after the introduction of the first mobile phone, you will agree with me that mobile technology has evolved from the simple voice and messaging device to high powered operating systems making us refer to them now as smart phones; mobile phones are presently installed with interactive applications making life easier for its users. Number of mobile phone users is expected to reach 5 billion by close of 2019.

Aside the traditional voice and messaging functions, phones have the internet, cameras, radio, TVs, electronic messaging, music players, calculators, mobile games, calendars and other life applications downloadable from respective online app stores; the accumulation of these interactive applications on mobile devices has led to a gradual rise in addiction to mobile phone usage.

Mobile addiction or overuse is behavioral syndrome where users spend a large part of their time behind the white screens, this is largely due to the vast array of installed applications which seeks to solve some of the needs of its users; like my co-patron, majority of users are mentally stuck to usage of phones and “blinded” to the long-term effects of overdependence on the mobile phone. Mobile addiction is characterized by preoccupation with cell phone use, need to use the phone more often, need for latest cell phones, restlessness or irritability when cell phone/network is unreachable.

As put earlier, the presence of very interactive apps has created a mental and physical dependence on the mobile phone, this comes with physical and psychological effects on its minds of users if usage is not moderated.

Physically, overdependence on mobile phones could lead to long term effects on the eyes (digital eye strain), focusing on the phone for over 2 hours results in blurred vision, eye fatigue and migraine, regular use of the phone attracts dirt and resulting illnesses overtime, phones emit radiations which causes harm to the body when it stays close to it for longer periods.

Psychologically, long use of phones deep into the night has been linked to sleep disturbances which can lead to insomnia, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and relationship setbacks due to neglect of partners.

The mobile phone, no doubt has become a necessity in our age, it is imperative that users assess themselves to determine their dependence or otherwise on the handheld device. Humans are social being, meaning we live interpedently, it is important we discipline the usage of mobile phones and channel the time and energy spent on it into building fruitful relationships with the people around us.

In moderating the use of the phone, users must learn to know when it is needed or otherwise, users can set timeliness during which they would not go close to the phone unless it critically requires your attention; users can reduce the numbers of applications that requires their attention during the day, again it is advisable to patronize less sophisticated models which costs less. Overall cutting down dependence on the phones usage requires a hefty amount of discipline and willingness to change over time.

The first mobile device in 1973The first mobile device in 1973

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