Are you a cell phone addict?

Obsession with your cell phone can make you depressed, irritable, even enraged, says clinical psychologist Pulkit Sharma as he lists ways to deal with such addiction

The latest, often unrecognised dependence is cell phone addiction. Prevalent across all age groups, it is more common among teens and young adults. Cell phone addiction does not appear to be dangerous on the surface, but can lead to serious health consequences if not dealt with.

Symptoms

• The person feels depressed, irritable or enraged when separated from the cell phone even briefly. They make it a point to keep the phone close to them.
  
• It is hard for them to pay undivided attention to anything. Even when engaged in other activities, they will be doing something or the other on the phone.
  
• Cell phone addicts keep a track of technological advancements and change handsets quickly. They are obsessed with latest gadgets. Cell phone addicts incur huge bills.
  
• There is a marked decline in their studies, hobbies or work as their cell phone becomes top priority.
  
• Cell phone addicts experience helplessness as whenever they try to restrict phone use, they cannot.
  
• They live in denial; they do not see their excessive use of cell phones as a problem.

Causes

• Cell phone addiction is not a simple bad habit, but is influenced by complex underlying factors.
  
• Many people who develop this addiction suffer from unpleasant and intolerable emotional states such as emptiness, loneliness, boredom, and rage. The phone helps to distract them from these feelings.
  
• Individuals with low self-esteem may consider their phone as a status symbol and get drawn towards it to earn admiration and the envy of others. Flaunting a latest model gives them a high.
  
• Others get obsessed with their cell phones as they fear abandonment from their peers. They fear that if friends put a high premium on their phone and they don’t, they will be rejected and abandoned.

Deal with it

• Trying to restrict cell phone usage and blaming the addict are often counterproductive.
  
• It is important to understand what purpose is the addiction serving -- is it an escape from pain or a means to gain self-esteem and acceptance?
  
• Once psychological needs underlying the addiction are understood and alternative healthier routes taken for fulfilling them, the addiction vanishes.