How to Cure Cell Phone Addiction in Three Steps

Cell phone and smartphone addiction is easy to recognize: we get anxious when we can't be reached or there's a signal problem; we're constantly scrolling; we've given up the pleasure of conversation. Once you've identified the problem, you can easily remedy it and eliminate your cell phone addiction with three simple, highly effective steps.

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How to cure cell phone addiction

It's a new form of addiction. Very widespread, very serious, and even dangerous for our psychophysical well-being: a real waste of health. With the evolution of technology, and therefore of its various functions, we've reached an average of three hours per person, every day, spent fiddling with our smartphones . To this we must then add the time spent on phone calls, which obviously varies from person to person. And the fact that, on average, each of us looks at our phone screen 2.617 times a day. Time that is often wasted.

Our checks have become constant and obsessive , just like drug addiction. According to a Bank of America survey , a third of US citizens constantly check their smartphones , two in three even doing so in bed when they go to sleep (hence the increase in insomnia and the decrease in average hours of sleep). The total number of checks amounts to 150 times a day, especially among adolescents , and translates into a mechanical, almost unconscious gesture, repeated seven times an hour. According to a Pew Research Center report , 44 percent of adolescents admit to checking their devices to read messages and/or notifications immediately after waking up. And 54 percent admit to spending too much time on their phones. But they don't know what to do.

How do you stop using your cell phone all the time?

To stop compulsive cell phone use , we need to choose reasonable paths. And we can't imagine bans like those that helped reduce tobacco addiction and the harm it causes. We live in an era where electronic devices are integral to our daily lives, and we can't put them aside so easily. With a smartphone, we pay bills, get gas, board a train or a plane. We bypass green pass controls. It's not just a tool for rapid and continuous communication. Therefore, the important thing is to understand what the "right" amount of cell phone use is , what possible (and non-harmful) limits we can set for ourselves.

Understanding the right amount of access to digital services is already an excellent starting point for overcoming cell phone addiction. Scientific research tells us that cell phone addiction —that is, the time wasted because we can't do without it— is equal to about a third of our total cell phone use . So, here's the basis for our journey: reducing the frequency with which we're attached to a cell phone by 30 percent compared to our usual usage. And the other steps?

Scroll slowly. It's not essential to take every empty moment, including a walk down the street, to fiddle with and scroll through your phone. It's wasted time, taken away from more pleasant things, and it's a way to create dependency on the unfortunate idea of killing time with the smartphone Instead, get into the habit of scrolling your phone at specific times of the day, and maybe not every day.
Turn off notifications. Notifications are almost all useless: those from your kids or your mom are indispensable. Or from a specific co-worker. For the rest, you can turn them off, and remember that most addictions are associated with a neurotransmitter called dopamine. And dopamine increases when we receive external notifications, like those in advertisements, or when we fiddle around checking our cell phones.
Separate yourself from your cell phone. Cell phone addiction is also linked to its positioning: it is always in our company. And yet we need to detach ourselves from it on various occasions. For example: at the table it is a sign of It's rude to put your smartphone next to the dishesThe same goes for the ringtone that rings during a conversation. Cell phones, like televisions, shouldn't be used, not even in the bedroom, and some people even manage to leave them in the entryway when they enter the house. This means they're overcoming their addiction.
You can easily change your phone's wallpaper from color to black and white. This simple gesture has been proven to help you spend less time with your screen. eyes fixed on the cell phone.
Remember that the technology It's neither good nor bad, but as the greatest historian of this subject said, it's not neutral. It's up to you to win the tug-of-war and not be crushed.

Phone addiction, in its various forms and technological aspects, is increasingly being studied, comparing it to other forms of addiction, such as alcohol and drugs. And even with respect to age, telephone slavery It is very similar to the problems of juvenile drunkorexia. In fact, those most affected are teensAccording to a survey by Pew Research Center, 44 percent of teens can't help but turn on their phones as soon as they wake up. Here are some more tips, especially for younger people:

Turn off notifications when they are not essential and you do not have an urgent need for them.
Take your time to scroll through your phone, check messages, and more. There's no rush for these types of tasks.
La flight mode It is certainly an effective way, perhaps for a few hours a day and during the weekends, to not make you feel dependent on cellular
A good method, which very effectively treats this form of addiction, is the "phone at the door." You leave it at the door when you return home, and pick it up when you leave.

How to recognize cell phone addiction

There are some unmistakable signs that we're addicted to our cell phones. First sign: we've become accustomed to being distracted by the people we're talking to. Conversation becomes secondary to the trill of a phone call or a notification, which constantly alert us. Second: we become anxious if our cell phone's battery is running low, or if we've forgotten to charge it at the right time. And we frantically search for a way to recharge it. The same panic occurs when we're in an area with poor or nonexistent signal. Third sign: we scroll our phone obsessively , constantly checking messages, chats, and social media. Finally, we fear missing out on information that isn't actually important.

App to cure smartphone addiction

Technology, in theory, can also help treat smartphone addiction . Apps that help reduce our compulsion to use these devices are on the rise. For example, Moment for iPhone, which monitors the time spent on the device and offers a game or competition among friends to see who can reduce it. Another app, iDon't , blocks and sterilizes calls or messages deemed unwanted or useless.

Then there's a more effective and radical therapy. It's called digital detox , or the digital diet. This treatment's approach begins with a very strong first step: the user completely unplugs from all their electronic devices for 72 hours, from cell phones to televisions, tablets, and smartphones . Then, the process progresses gradually until less compulsive use of the devices stabilizes. The diet works best when combined with alternatives to time spent with technology, namely natural remedies: walks in the fresh air , reading books, and conversations with family and friends. At that point, giving up becomes a natural choice.

Data from the 2021 Istat Statistical Yearbook and the Auditel-Censis Report from the same year provide some significant insights into young people's internet addiction.

75 percent of children between the ages of 11 and 17 use the Internet every day.
87,3 percent of children between 11 and 17 years old use their cell phones daily.
Seven percent of children between the ages of 11 and 13 have been bullied via cell phone or the Internet one or more times in a month.
On a typical weekday, 36 percent of kids spend between 1 and 3 hours playing video games; 15,8 percent spend between 3 and 5 hours; and 7,2 percent spend more than 8 hours.
Despite these latest data, approximately 80 percent of children consider prolonged use of video games to be somewhat, very, or extremely dangerous.

Eliminate cell phone addiction in three steps