• Question: How can we stop our addiction to Mobile phones?

    Asked by anon-251400 on 22 Apr 2020.
    • Photo: Varun Ramaswamy

      Varun Ramaswamy answered on 22 Apr 2020:

      Thats a beautiful question because this is a serious problem for most of us in the world today. Well, the reason we are addicted to smart phones is because some nerve cells in our brains release a chemical called dopamine which increases our curiosity for information. So the best thing to do would be to distract your brain by going out for a walk, read a book, exercise, etc. Because although you could use medicines to suppress your dopamine levels, that is unnecessary and toxic to your body.

    • Photo: Fiona McLean

      Fiona McLean answered on 22 Apr 2020:

      Such a great question! That’s a tricky one. One of the ways we could do it is by simplifying mobiles so they don’t have as many functions and therefore aren’t as interesting or we could have an app which only let us play on our phones for a certain amount of time. But addiction is a chemical process in the brain! When we go on social media and we see we have likes, we get a rush of ‘happy’ chemicals in the brain called endorphins. This makes us want to go on social media more. The flip side is that when we go online and don’t have likes, then we can get disappointed and that can make us feel sad. This is why it is really important to try and limit the time spent on mobile phones and make time for hobbies like crafts and sports. It’s also important to go outside and get fresh air-something which I think we are all appreciating at the moment!

    • Photo: William Glass

      William Glass answered on 22 Apr 2020:

      Great question! I think the best thing to do is to diable some notifications on your phone. If you don’t get the notification you will be less likely to check your phone so much. I have found that, as Varun said, it is best to distract yourself and head outside or set aside a dedicated time to check your phone so that it isn’t always near you. Some phones even have a setting that doesn’t let you check them for certain amounts of time (20 mins, 40 mins, 1 hr etc) – try it if you can and you’ll soon see you don’t miss it as much as you think you might!

    • Photo: Donna MacCallum

      Donna MacCallum answered on 22 Apr 2020:

      Wow – that is a great question! I must admin that I’m kind of glued to my phone.
      It acts as my diary, I use it to catch up on email, online shopping… and keeping in touch with friends and family.

      Best thing is to be able to set it aside – go and do something more interesting (go for a walk – gardening – baking – read a book – sport) and have a break from it!

      I always make sure that I do not take my phone into my bedroom (unless I am away from home), so that I get a break from it.

    • Photo: Sophie Arthur

      Sophie Arthur answered on 23 Apr 2020:

      Great question. I think we need to put limits on the time we can use an app. That way we will use them properly to engage with accounts that we want to engage with and not just follow everyone on social media for example, some of which make you feel not so great about ourselves. Limiting time and also getting rid of notifications.

      But I don’t want people to completely give it up because I believe they can be used for education purposes like I am trying to do with my social media and blog Soph talks science

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