The Impact Of Smartphone Addiction On Mental Wellbeing

An addiction to smartphones can result in a range of challenges, which could be physical, psychological and social in nature, a consultant psychiatrist has said.

According to Dr. Chido Rwafa-Madzvamutse, one could be struggling with smartphone addiction if answers to the questions below are “yes”:

• Are you spending excessive nonwork or school-related time on your smartphone?
• Do you fear being separated from your smartphone or do you panic if you cannot locate it for even brief periods of time?
• Do you constantly check your phone even if it hasn’t given you notifications?
• Do you panic if you run out of data or cannot access Wifi even for brief periods of time?
• Are you neglecting important responsibilities and duties due to time spent on the phone?
• Is your phone the first thing you interact with in the morning and the last thing you interact with at night?
• Do you find yourself unable to resist using your smartphone even when in work meetings, in class at school or when spending time with family and friends?

The physical effects of smartphone addiction include poor sleep, fatigue, dry, irritated eyes, thumb or wrist pain and risk of physical injury when one uses smartphones in risky situations like walking in a busy street, driving, operating machinery or even cooking