Young people are relying so much on their phones, and it will become an addiction soon. The study comes from King’s College London and suggests that this kind of addictive behavior means that people become panicked or update if they cannot get constant access to their phones. Young people cannot control the amount of time they actually spend on the phone. The study warns that this kind of addictions can have serious consequences for mental health.
The research was published in BMC Psychiatry, and analyzed 41 studies with 42.000 youngsters, in an investigation about the “problematic smartphone usage”. The research has found that 23% presented the behavior of an addicted. They got anxious if they could not use their phone, they were not able to manage their time spent, and using their phone was more important than doing something else.
This kind of behavior can be linked to some other problems, as well, such as a depressed mood, stress, lack of sleep, and not doing well in school. And smartphones will not leave anytime soon, and we need to understand that this might become a huge problem for youngsters. This comes from Nicola Kalk, one of the authors of the paper, from King’s College London.
However, they are not sure if the smartphone is the reason behind the addiction, or if the apps that they are using are to blame. But we still need to raise awareness around smartphones in children and youngsters, and parents should know how much time their kids are spending on their phones.
If you, or someone else you know, struggles with an addiction of any kind, or battling severe issues such as anxiety, depression, stress, and other similar mental health-related issues, the best solution is always to seek help. The therapists at BetterHelp are trained for dealing with these kinds of mental health problems, and their expertise will turn out helpful in any situation. Don’t try to fight such severe symptoms of addiction by yourself when you have the best opportunities available to get the help you need.
The co-author of the study, Samantha Sohn, warned that this kind of addiction could have some serious consequences on mental health and the everyday functioning of a person. They need to do more investigations on the smartphone usage problem.
Some people link this idea to depression, as well.
