The Diagnostic Criteria For Smartphone Addiction

“Half of Teens Think They’re Addicted to Their Smartphones”, written by Kelly Wallace is an article displaying statistics and personal experiences that prove a large number of today’s teenagers and parents are attached to their handheld devices. The article, by Wallace from CNN, was submitted on May 3, 2016, only a few short months ago.

Studies show that you can be addicted to your phone, tablet, or computer. You can be so addicted you can be on it all day. It can take over your brain, and it is like if you are addicted to drugs such as cocaine. You can't stop, you buy more devices that have screens.

We all carry a smartphone. We have what some might call an addiction for them. They are convenient in certain classes and easy to use. They are also our own escape. We can easily talk to

Technology is a fun way to stay entertained, and can also be useful in completing many everyday tasks. It is most certainly something that has revolutionized the way we do many things, but has also taken over our everyday lives. Could this form of entertainment qualify as an addiction? If so, how similar is the addiction of technology to the addiction of drugs?

Addiction can be a challenging brain disease; individuals afflicted by addiction experience an uncontrollable urge to use a substance or perform a behavior, regardless of the consequences (text). Nearly 23 million Americans suffer with addiction, not including those who are addicted to tobacco (text). The excessive use of these substances or continuous acts of behavior leads to immediate activation of the brain’s central reward system, which results in feelings of euphoria (text), and consequently leads to compulsion for the substance or behavior (text). There are two categories of addiction, substance addiction and process addictions. Someone with a substance addiction might be an alcoholic or a drug user, while someone with a process addiction might shop compulsively, gamble excessively, or have uncontrollable sexual urges.

When people think of addictions, usually, drugs and chemical substances come to mind. A frequent trend observed in today’s age is not being able to go anywhere without one’s digital device and being addicted to that device, especially one’s cell phone. Adopting a cell phone separation anxiety, is a type of behavioral addiction that is seen more and more today. On average, people are spending about three hours on their phones each day. Alter states, “‘Behavioral addictions are really widespread now...risen with the adoption of newer more addictive social networking platforms, tablets and smartphones’” (Dreifus). As new technologies that cater to people’s wants increase, addiction to these technologies will increase as well. People become so attached to their phones that they will perhaps get distracted from their current situation. In the article “Hooked On Our Smartphones”, the author Jane E. Brody talked about how sometimes commuters or drivers put themselves in a dangerous position when they pay more attention to their phone instead of what surrounds them. The almost

That feeling of when one has momentarily misplaced their smartphone creates a sense of panic that can only be compared to withdrawal symptoms of someone without the source of their addiction. Richtel brings up an interesting correlation between the decline of drug use in teenagers and the rise of using smartphones becoming the status quo. This question is something that is entirely probable when the thought of behavioral addiction comes into play. Social psychologist Adam Alter who was interviewed by Claudia Dreifus in her article, describes addiction as “something you enjoy doing in the short term, that undermines your well-being in the long term — but that you do compulsively anyway”. Smartphones are something that most people use as a way of passing the time or for procrastination. This dependency is built over time with the smartphone; for example, while 30 minutes scrolling through Instagram occasionally seems harmless, it becomes habitual when this is the thing you reach for every time you have a free minute or two. Slowly we as a society, and most especially teenagers who have only known this their entire lives, have become dependent on the convenience of

This article “ Half of Teens Think They’re Addicted to their Smartphones” was written by Kelly Wallace a parent of non teens. She uses the source called “Common Sense Media” that seems to be reliable, this source uses numbers, ages, and percentages of parents and children. She further goes on and discuss how “addiction can happen to anyone” which was stated by expert Holland Haiis. This addiction she says is not recognized as a disorder in the United States but after reviewing all recent research from “Common Sense Media” it soon could be. To further prove her point she uses parents that give stories of how they think their children are addicted to their phones and what solution they have to the problem. Finally she goes back to the idea of

Are we addicted to our cell phones? This is a common question that has arisen in the past several years as our phone technology and capabilities continue to increase. According to recent statistics, 85% of the U.S. population are cell phone users (Chen).We Americans use our cell phones to do just about everything. We talk, text, check our E-mail, surf the Internet, and interact in social networking, all on our phones. Because our phones have become so resourceful to us in our everyday lives, many say that cell phones have become addicting. Cell phones in today 's life have become very addicting to many people, and there are many ways in which to show how they are addicting.

A study has shown the teenage demographic is now addicted to a new narcotic: smartphones. In Kelly Wallace’s article, “Half of Teens Think They’re Addicted to Their Smartphones,” it is becoming a worry to some parents that their teen is heavily addicted to their cell phones. Parents across the United States have opinions about the addiction. About more than half of parents that were surveyed believed that their child was addicted to their phones. Even though some parents may see it as an addiction, it may be a little less severe. In the article it states, “A 2011 review of 18 research studies found that Internet addiction might affect between zero and 26% of adolescents and college students in the United States, according to Common Sense Media.”

In “Jessie Brown: Who Says Smartphone Addiction is bad thing? The case for constant connectivity” (Brown, 2012), Brown claims that the cellphone is not the problem, in fact, it is the person and how they choose to value their time while using smartphones.

The cell phone has become a centerpiece of everyday life as cell phones are evolving and have been increasing their functionalities. Today, we use them today for many others reasons than what cell phones were originally designed to do. People are using them so often that they are becoming dependent on their phones that they have even become addicted to them. Those who are addicted to their cell phones struggle to stay away from them for a certain period of time and become so indulged in all of the unique things they can provide. With cell phone addiction comes many problems or issues that can occur in an individual’s life. Cell phone addiction has lead to differences in people mentally, physically, and behaviorally.

Technology has become a great benefit to us but many people have taken it too far. According to researcher and surveys taken all over the world shows that a large number of people may have become addicted to their technological devices and are not able to make it through a day without their cell phones or other technological devices. Many have concerns that people would rather use these devices than to have a face to face conversation. The addictions of technological devices are on the rise. Although these devices were meant to make our lives easier there have been many problems to arise ranging from health risk, relationship problems, classroom, church, and work interferences. Statistics show that cell

What used to be newspapers, magazines, radios, and home computers can all be found in today’s modern mobile devices. These mobile devices vary from smartphones to tablets and even laptops. People are connected to the world no matter where they are, that is as long as they have signal on their devices. By just pressing a few buttons, one can have all of the top news stories from that day or even be “facetiming” someone all the way across the world. These are great progressions in creating a more connected world, but what effects is it having further below the surface? People may be forming an addiction to their phones and not even know it. Addiction to their cellphone and social media, laziness, lack of face-to-face sociability, detrimental effects on sleep and health problems, distracted driving, cyberbullying, and effects on family relationships and friendships are things phones may be negatively effecting everyday lives.

The smartphone is still a fairly new invention and is constantly being developed and improved. This device has integrated itself into our culture and is slowly becoming essential to our lives. The younger generation known as "Millennials" in the age range of 18-35 years old check their cell phones on average about 75.6 times a day (Soto et al., 2017). This number is exceptionally high when compared to the older generation who only check their phone around 23 times a day, according to the same research. This paper will cover cell phone addiction and its effects on the college students lifestyle. Addiction in this case is tied with the substance use criteria in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5). In the criteria it states that substance use is "a pathological pattern of behaviors related to use of the substance." Extremely high smartphone use can lead to these behaviors where dependency is an issue.