Addicted to screens: the signs that do not deceive - In the spotlight

2023-08-08 14:24:00

August 08, 2023

Do you have trouble not looking at your phone during meals? Do you consult it as soon as you wake up? Maybe you are addicted to your smartphone. We take stock.

All smartphone addicts? According to the 2021 barometer of the Interministerial Mission for the Fight once morest Drugs and Addictive Behaviors (Mildeca) produced by Harris Interactive, “8 out of 10 French people are aware of not mastering their use of screens without being able to change their behavior”. Work, personal communication, watching videos, online games… the activities that can be carried out with a simple smartphone are numerous, so much so that you can spend hours on these connected devices. Until you can’t let go. What signs should alert?

Consulting the phone, tablet or computer during meals;
continue to use a connected tool once in bed and do not put it down to sleep until late at night;
check your phone if you wake up at night and when you wake up;
not being able to concentrate on a task to check your phone several times in an hour;
looking at your phone while doing another normally enjoyable activity like hanging out with friends;
panic when you don’t have your phone on you.

This last sign has a name, nomophobia. From the English-speaking no mobile phobiait is the irrational fear of being without a mobile phone.

Failing to maintain control

Behind these signs can hide a real addiction. For now, the WHO only recognizes video game addiction. In 2019, it endorsed “gaming disorder” in the international classification of diseases and related problems (ICD-11) in force since January 2022.

However, a scientific consensus is emerging on screen addiction. “Addiction without substance” was thus described in 1990 by the American psychiatrist Aviel Goodman: “a condition in which behavior likely to give pleasure and relieve distressing affects gives rise to two key symptoms:

– repeated failure to control this behavior (“loss of control”);

– the continuation of this behavior despite its negative consequences. »

If the Mildeca speaks of intensive daily use from 4 hours a day, it is difficult to specify how many hours corresponds to an addiction. More than the number of hours spent on the screens, it is the appearance of one or more symptoms that can alert.

Symptoms not to ignore

Problematic use of screens can thus lead to psychological and psychic disorders such as withdrawal, loss of self-confidence, depression, physiological disorders such as sleep degradation, overweight (due in particular to a sedentary lifestyle). An addiction to screens can also impact the quality of life and harm, more specifically for children, their good cognitive development.

Are you worried regarding your relationship with your smartphone? Holidays, or weekends, are perfect times to try disconnecting. Leave your phone aside for at least a day. Then repeat the experiment but this time longer, at least two days. If you realize that exercising is way too hard for you, a psychologist might be able to help you get away from your phone.

Source : The child, the adolescent, the family and the screens (Academy of Medicine, April 2019) – Mildeca – Medadom.com
Written by : Dorothée Duchemin – Edited by Emmanuel Ducreuzet