Smartphone Addiction Term Paper

The use of smartphones has increasingly rooted in people’s daily lives as they provide numerous mobile applications for informative, educative, and entertainment purposes. Smartphones contain diverse features such as touch screens, internet, ability to install cell phone applications, and other uses like media players and digital cameras (Haug, Severin et al. 1). Present studies indicate that these gadgets facilitate the development of new usage practices which makes them more personal and pervasive. Smartphone addiction is the failure to regulate the smartphone use irrespective of the possible negative impacts.

The addiction is enhanced by the easy access to mobile phones in the market and the expanding mobile networks internationally. For instance, ninety percent of individuals globally stay in areas with access to mobile networks, and eighty percent of the people living in the rural have cell phones (Emanuel, Richard et al. 3). Dependency on the smartphone can be related to behavioral obsession such as internet addiction. Both the chemical and behavioral addiction has seven primary symptoms that are; salience, patience, mood alteration, engagements, withdrawal, glitches, and deterioration.

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Problem Statement
A Google review of scholarly documentation produces a new term, nomophobia, which is a word used to describe the anxiety of losing the smartphone or the distress of being out of touch with your cell phone. A study by the UK-based organization SecurEnvoy in 2012 reveals that 67% of the interviewed personnel fear losing or misplacing their gadgets (Emanuel, Richard et al. 4). Therefore, the use of a mobile phone can lead to signs that resemble an addiction. For instance, uncontrolled use can make one abandon the necessary daily obligations, and the withdrawal symptoms are manifested when a person loses their cell phones.

Lack of mobile phones can enhance the state of anxiousness among the majority of the individuals as they cannot go without their phones even for a short duration. Ninety percent of the college students in the U.S.A admit to having used their phones during class hours while 92% have received or sent short messages when in class (Emanuel, Richard et al. 6). A poll by the associated press and mtvU among students in America shows that 25% of the respondents are relieved when their phones and computers are shut. However, 57% are stressed when there is poor network, and 60% are annoyed when their texts are not replied. Moreover, other people place their phones nearby when sleeping to listen to the new messages while others peep on the text messages when having meals with allies or family (Emanuel, Richard et al. 6). As such, smartphone addiction has proved to be a major concern among the researchers since the behavior has been linked to psychosocial, health, and technological problems.

Harmful Effects of Smartphone Addiction
Smartphone addiction is prevalent among people with an urgent desire to keep in touch with friends periodically. This agitates for the need to create a consciousness of the negative impacts of smartphone obsession on sleep, health, concentration, and comprehension (Bernroider, Edward, Barbara, and Sebastian 1). Smartphone dependency can be defined as a method of technological overuse that is non-chemical since it entails human-machine interactions. Therefore, this addiction can result in a variety of severe impacts comprising of innovation over-use and an influx in the symptoms associated with the practice. Excessive use of smartphones among students has been found to have a negative impact on their academic performance. Learners addicted to the smartphone normally study for a short period and are highly prone to crimes.

Majority of the students use the gadget during teaching hours which destructs them from concentrating, thus, leading to poor performance (Aljomaa, Suliman et al. 157). Research also indicates that college students use the smartphone as a source of entertainment thereby, in time becomes habitual. The influx use of the smartphone has a negative effect on the health as it influences conditions such as cancer, brain tumor, nervous disturbances, and hearing difficulties. The continued use of a smartphone while driving lowers one’s concentration, hence, leads to accidents. Additionally, the practice enhances social discrimination, lack of privacy, inability to perform multiple duties, and increased health risks (Cha and Bo-Kyung 4). The immense use of smartphones increases sleeping disorders with the majority of the addicted experiencing impaired sleep, stress, and fatigue at night.

Solutions to Smartphone Addiction
To minimize the degree of smartphone addiction among the users, positive measures need to be put in place to help curb the menace. For instance, the health communicative and educative techniques are the most appropriate health promotion methods at the populace level (Ding and Jiang 3). Creating awareness among the public about the negative effects associated with smartphone overuse can lead to a decrease in the practice. The legislation is also a primary tool that can be induced in preventing smartphone dependency. Making policies that refrain drivers from using mobile phones while driving assist in averting road accidents. For example, in China, motorists found using cell phones when driving are subjected to a fine of 30 USD. Avoiding phone usage by placing it in a different room when with friends and families has been found to be an effective way of reducing smartphone dependency (Kannan). Therefore, this helps to prevent distraction and the cravings for using the gadget.

For the highly addicted personnel, the mindful, behavioral cognitive treatment is recommended as the technique aims at assisting the person to endure uncomfortable states such as phone cravings. The method involves stretching and other primary gentle movements that help to minimize the duration one takes on their phones. Similarly, the cognitive behavioral method focuses on developing smartphone enthusiasts with their own therapists. The process entails five transformative phases that help turn the person from being an addict (AlBarashdi, Hafidha et al. 4). The steps include self-scrutiny, contemplation, planning, maintenance, and cessation. Using other gadgets to perform certain functions such as social media and viewing videos aids in minimizing the desire to execute these undertakings on the phone.

Smartphone addiction is the failure to control the smartphone usage regardless of the possible negative impacts. The addiction is facilitated by the easy access to mobile phones in the market and the escalating mobile networks globally. Smartphone addiction has numerous negative effects on its users such as increased sleeping disorders resulting in fatigue. Furthermore, the practice causes poor performance among students since other learners’ use their phone while in class thereby distracting one’s concentration. For instance, 57% of the students can be stressed with a network blackout and 60% will be annoyed if their texts are not replied. However, diverse measures can be used to help avert the menace such as creating awareness on the negative impacts of smartphone overuse, developing policies, and placing the phone in another room while with friends.

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Works Cited
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Aljomaa, Suliman S., et al. “Smartphone Addiction among University Students in the Light of Some Variables.” Computers in Human Behavior vol. 61, 2016, pp 155-164. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563216302126
Bernroider, Edward WN, Barbara Krumay, and Sebastian Margiol. “Not Without My Smartphone! Impacts of Smartphone Addiction on Smartphone Usage.” ACIS, 2014. aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/handle/10292/8146
Cha, Seong-Soo, and Bo-Kyung Seo. “Smartphone Use and Smartphone Addiction in Middle School Students in Korea: Prevalence, Social Networking Service, and Game Use.” Health psychology open vol. 5, no 1, 2018. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2055102918755046
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Emanuel, Richard, et al. “The Truth about Smartphone Addiction.” College Student Journal vol. 49, no 2, 2015, pp 291-299. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281243425_The_truth_about_smartphone_addiction
Haug, Severin, et al. “Smartphone Use and Smartphone Addiction among Young People in Switzerland.” Journal of behavioral addictions vol. 4, no 4, 2015, pp 299-307. https://akademiai.com/doi/abs/10.1556/2006.4.2015.037
Kannan, Pritishsai. “Smartphone Addiction.” Reporter Magazine, 17 Mar. 2018, reporter.rit.edu/tech/smartphone-addiction. Accessed 09 July 2018.