Mobile Phone Addiction

Nomophobia, No Mobile Phone Phobia” is the latest 21st-century term used for the fear of not being able to use your cell phone or other smart devices.

According to a recent study, People’s smartphone addiction could be causing an important unbalance in their brain.

Internet or smartphone addiction as defined by the American Psychiatric Association is excessive use of the internet or smartphone that leads to impairment of everyday life, sleep, and relationships.

Various studies across the globe have shown that the rates of internet addiction in the young teen varies from less than 1 percent to around 18 percent.

Researchers used standard addiction tests to diagnose the teens and judge the level of the addiction. Questions focused on the extent to which internet or smartphone use has affected their daily routine, social life, productivity, sleeping patterns, and emotions were noted down.

First, they recruited 19 young people being treated for smartphone or internet addiction. Out of those 9 were boys and 10 girls. The average age of these young people was around 15.5.

The research team, led by Dr. Hyung Suk Seo and his team at Korea University in Seoul, used a scanning technique which is called magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to evaluate the brains of 19 teenagers diagnosed with internet or smartphone addiction.

MRS scans are used to track concentrations of biochemicals in the brain and are often used to study changes brought by brain tumors, strokes, mood disorders and Alzheimer’s disease.

The teen’s which are addicted to smartphone had higher rates of anxiety, depression, impulse control problems, and sleep disorders. Then these participants were compared to 19 other teens

who matched their group in age and gender makeup. Those teens stood as healthy controls.