I Don`t Need My Cell Phone—I Can Quit Anytime I Want
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Researchers watch kids go into panic attacks when they turn off their cell phones. A Scottish teen has gone to rehab for excessive text messaging. Maybe this is simply the impact of mobile technology, or maybe things are going too far. Is there a reason we should be concerned about our phone usage?
While studies question the value and addictiveness of mobile phones, one unnamed teen from Scotland has actually had to seek treatment for his fixation on text messaging. Reportedly, his fixation cost him £4,500. For Americans, that’s a bill of roughly $7,900. Imagine getting that monthly statement from Cingular.
The 19-year-old sent 700 messages a week and an additional 8,000 emails a month. Throw the numbers together, and he was sending about 385 mobile messages a day. Because of his messaging mania, he was fired from his job. It seems a little hard to have time to do much else, like earning a living, when your social life is that busy. Also, most of those messages were to his girlfriend, who is also history now. I can’t understand why she would leave a guy who texts her nonstop.
He said this about text messages: “It's kind of comforting when you get one. I like it, it's like a game of ping-pong, as you send one and get one back.”
Needless to say, this is a worst case scenario. Even lesser levels of cell phone passion can be an issue. It could be a sign of trouble even when you have a feeling of discomfort on a day when you forget to bring you phone to work. Some say that having feelings of nervousness or distraction when away from the phone could signal a form of dependency.
A spokeswoman for a South Carolina substance abuse clinic, where admitted patients must surrender their phones, says “People literally detox from their phones.” She went on to say that the text messages and games on phones offered “sources of isolation, a way to zone out,” much like other addictions. A few years ago, Dr. Mark Collins made headlines by saying the patients in his care were displaying compulsive behavior toward their phones, spending up to 7 hours a day messaging people and chatting. Collins is the head of the addiction unit at the London Priory clinic.
There are a growing number of studies that seem to confirm the basis for these bizarre sounding stories. If gambling and sex can be considered addictive, it’s feasible that using cell phones could be too. So should we be giving cell phones to kids? And what exactly is the harm in becoming addicted to communication?
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