It has been seen that the consequences of the use of electronic devices, especially mobile phones and computers, are worrying in relation to physical and mental health. The most frequent cases are in children and adolescents, who develop addictions to electronic devices.
A mobile phone has a wide variety of purposes and functions, from learning, working, to entertainment, which is based on games, music, videos, social networks, etc., and the excessive use of these devices causes great problems and addictions, which includes Internet addiction.
In some research it was found that the excessive use of smartphones causes certain conflicts in people’s lives, for example, it is related to the deterioration in the functioning of the family and the relationship with friends, as well as factors such as the low self-esteem, especially in countries like South Korea, and impulsiveness. Another factor that is found is that adolescents are addicted to games.
Some of the problems
Sensation Seeking and Boredom
There are several reasons that have been seen in research that explains addictions or the excessive use of smartphones, it can be seen that reasons such as boredom, avoidance of uncomfortable situations and the need for entertainment are related to this excess. In other research, it was found that people with an external locus of control had less control over their smartphone use, which means that these people could have more negative effects, such as poor sleep quality, or even achievement. lower academics and lower wellness scores.
On the other hand, we find references such as Ben-Yehuda, who has investigated the effects of involvement and interest in three conditions: boredom, passive activity, and active activity in counterbalanced order in university students.
Some research found that insecure attachment is related to problematic smartphone use in students with unhealthy family function, but not related to mother-child bonding or maternal mental health. On the other hand, it was also found that this attachment is more related to problematic adolescent users.
Many times it can be noticed that there are students who prefer to communicate their emotions through text messages instead of verbal communication, this leads to excessive attachment and use of smartphones, which reduces face-to-face interactions and increases loneliness in people.
Impaired Cognitive Function
Excessive smartphone users were found to have problems such as reduced number processing ability, increased impulsivity, attention problems, negative social engagement, and hyperactivity. Social networks are associated with greater impulsiveness in people.
Social Media Use and Personality
In some studies and investigations carried out by FOMO, it was found that the relationships between anxiety and depression are related to the problematic use of smartphones, likewise, the problematic use of social networks is associated with the “fear of missing something”. It has also been found that personality factors such as conscientiousness, openness, emotional stability and neuroticism are related to these excessive uses of smartphones.
Anxiety, Depression OCD, ADHD and Alcohol Use Disorder
Smartphones and their excessive use are related to people’s mental health problems, for example, depression, anxiety and social anxiety. On the other hand, there are also shyness and low self-esteem, low psychological well-being and low well-being. mental. Loneliness is a moderator that increases depression and levels up with the excessive use of smartphones.
Alcohol use disorder, together with impulsivity and the high incidence of PTSD, anxiety and depression are related in the same way to the excessive use of smartphones, since these devices form a dependency and an escape for people, especially when they have situations or are in environments that lead them to turn to smartphones as a lifeline that actually increases these conditions.
Sleep, Physical Fitness, Eyesight, Migraine and Pain
The quality of sleep is affected by the excessive use of smartphones, since they cause insomnia, reduce sleep time, and not being able to fall asleep in many cases. These situations bring more consequences, for example, vision problems, headaches, chronic neck pain and further degeneration of the cervical disc.
A diffusion MRI used in one study has found that there is impaired cognitive control during emotional processing, and reduced functional connectivity in regions related to cognitive control of emotional stimuli. On the other hand, it was also possible to find that exposure to smartphone images in fMRI was related to the activation of brain regions associated with drug addiction and these regions were correlated with smartphone addiction scores.