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Smartphone addiction, informally known as “nomophobia” has become an emerging problem in many countries. Up to 21.3% of families in China worry about smartphone addiction in children, with planned implementation of restricted handphone access to reduce handphone addiction. Why are smartphones becoming popular and irreplaceable to some people, and what are effective ways to reduce this addiction?

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Smartphone addiction

The tricky thing about cell phone addiction is that it has many forms and it can affect your life in many ways. For example: 

• Virtual relationships: 

Social networking has made it easy to know anyone and have conversations with many people. This can be helpful in introducing new cultures until you reach the moment of forgetting your real social life. All your friends are virtual friends, all your relationships are virtual.

• Other online addictions:

Addiction grows to reach other online places like shopping, stock trading, gaming, gambling, and other online activities. This influences your work, social, and financial life in a bad way, and can lead to devastating problems.

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• Mutilation to what is good

It is not an exaggeration. This is what happens with cybersex addiction, and sexting. Imagine how many families got broken because of this. You can’t count! This is a serious problem that gives people a false image about intimacy, love, and relationships. This addiction makes them seek excitement all the time, and this can’t happen in reality. This way, you won’t be able to have new relationships, or even maintain a long-term one.

How to reduce smartphone addiction?

A casual comment is “You can do it”. Some of you may think it is easy: it is just a phone and all I have to do is to stay away from it. Though thinking this way is helpful, we have to admit that it is hard to do by yourself, at least in the beginning.

1. Know that you are not alone in this. You have friends who can help you, your family, and you can visit a therapist and search for group therapies.
2. You need to state some facts to yourself. Recognizing the patterns of using your smartphone will help you a lot. See if you use it for gaming, socializing, dating apps, or just scrolling through the apps. This helps you determine the non-essential activities and makes it easy to put a plan. There are many apps that help you track your screen time and tell you about the most used apps. This is a good start.
3. What triggers you to use your phone this much? Is it the news? Workload? Feeling lonely? Gaming? Think hard and find the answer. This lets us think about the next step: finding alternatives, and solving the real cause behind smartphone addiction.
4. Defining the problem is the first step of solving it. Congrats! You now know the underlying cause, now let’s find solutions. For example, if it is the workload, you can ask for a vacation. You can try meditation and breathing exercises to relieve stress. Physical activity is a healthier distraction than smartphones, drugs, or alcohol.
5. Your life is real, not virtual. You have close people that you can interact with, see their reactions, hear their voice, and shake their hands. You can share food, exercise, and experience hard and good situations together. Virtual life doesn’t give you all of this, even video calls are far away from this reality. Strengthening your social life will help you through this journey.

Tips to deal with smartphone addiction:

• Close your phones certain times a day, such as when you have a meeting, with your family, or working on a project. 
• Find healthier alternatives and explore your hobbies. For example, if you love reading, set 20 minutes a day for reading and put your phone away during this time.
• Live the moment, if you are about to sleep, don’t bring your phone to the bed. Having lunch? Feel the smell of the food, the texture of the ingredients, and enjoy the taste. 
• Define your goals. In your to-do list, set a certain time for your phone and try to commit to these hours.
• Uninstall social media apps and call your friends or go out with them at this time.

Smartphones are important but they can’t replace your whole life. Real life is what’s happening while you are busy scrolling through different apps. And believe me, this life is so precious, and you don’t want to waste it.

This article was produced solely for the purpose of healthcare and medical knowledge. Not all innovations are available or approved for clinical use. AsiaMD may receive financial or non-financial sponsorship from the companies or institutions involved in these innovations. However, AsiaMD does not endorse any specific product or services in the article, in addition to the Terms and Conditions for the use of our AsiaMD.com website. Please consult your healthcare professional if you need more information.

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