The excessive use of cell phones has increased a lot, especially among children and teenagers. Some factors aggravate this increase, such as the lack of parental control over the content accessed on the cell phone, the difficulty of the young person to understand the limit of use in a healthy way.
Excessive use of cell phones can exhibit preexisting psychological traits such as stress, loneliness, depression or anxiety. Studies show that there is a correlation between negative emotion and cell phone addiction.
Lonely and anxious individuals prefer online interaction, as virtual contact generates less anxiety than in real life. People with low self-esteem are more prone to dependence. Cell phones enable faster and more frequent access to the internet, and in this way access to social networks and games is facilitated.
There are some warning signs that indicate possible cell phone addiction:
Check your phone frequently for no reason,
Getting anxious or restless just thinking about going without a phone,
Prefer to spend time on the cell phone to interact socially,
Always wake up in the middle of the night to check your cell phone,
Show a decrease in academic/school performance,
Easily distracted with emails or smart apps.