Smartphone / Social Media Addiction
Have you ever thought about this subject? Let’s see together.
For many people, the concept of addiction classically includes chemical substance use disorders such as alcohol, marijuana, and heroin. On the other hand, there are also non-chemical behavioral addictions such as gambling, sex, shopping, exercise, playing computer games. Behavioral addictions also show physical and psychological symptoms of addiction (mental preoccupation, mood lability, tolerance, withdrawal, interpersonal conflict, problems and repetition), which are the main components of addiction, just like alcohol-substance addictions.
Social Media Addiction (SNS) is defined as excessive anxiety about, being driven by a strong motivation to log in or use, and spending so much time and effort that it impairs other social activities, studies, work, interpersonal relationships, or psychological health and well-being. This definition reflects the addiction symptoms mentioned above.
If SNS is banned, addicts typically become stressed, restless, distressed and irritable and feel bad if they are unable to socialize.
A key distinction between spending excessive time on social networks and Social Media Addiction, experienced by many from time to time, is that addiction is associated with negative consequences, and the social network becomes uncontrolled and compulsive. Social Media Addiction includes a qualitatively different meaning from excessive time spent on social media. People who are not Social Media Addicts can also spend hours on these platforms for many reasons. The first thing they do in the morning and the last thing in the evening may be to log into their social media accounts.
In the use of smartphones, the person is generally affected by the desire to feel good instantly and the urge to regulate his mood through messaging, e-mail and social media. We see that individuals use smartphones to distract their attention, especially to alleviate negative mood tables such as depression and anxiety. In addition, loneliness, relieving boredom, seeking instant rewards are other factors that cause the frequency of smartphone use. While the use of smartphones, which is more common in the young population, is more for socialization in women, it includes very different applications in men.
Problematic smartphone use is defined as the increasing use of the phone with compulsive features such as difficulty in controlling the use of the smartphone and inability to disconnect from the smartphone despite its negative effects on daily functionality.
The presence of psychological factors such as anxiety, depression, anger and stress can also cause smartphone use to become problematic when problematic smartphone use is used as an avoidance strategy to get away from negative emotional experiences. Anxious individuals pave the way for problematic smartphone use by using smartphones more frequently to keep in touch with their relatives or to cope with their negative emotions through applications such as calling and messaging. Psychological factors such as childhood traumas and loneliness also cause problematic smartphone use.
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