Should Smartphone be classified as an addiction or a drug?

This article discusses the debate on whether smartphones should be classified as addiction or drugs. It explores the detrimental effects of excessive smartphone use on mental and physical health.

Should Smartphone be classified as an addiction or a drug?
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

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Modern technologies have been advanced significantly in the last decade particularly
in the form of electronics device like computer and mobile phones. In addition to this
advance, Internet also evolved a significant amount in the last decade as well. Internet is a
very helpful tool among the modern generation because of the convenience it has brought to
the younger generation. It has many useful advantages like acquiring information on any
subject, able on perform electronic commerce, sharing of information instantaneously, stay
connected with friends, family and online peers as well as provision of unlimited
entrainment. On the other hand, with the help of modern technological advancements, mobile
phone has evolved in to smart phones. Smartphone has combined use of internet with mobile
phone with added benefits. With smart phone, an individual can avail all the benefits of a
computer and laptop can provide, in the palm of his/ her hand. Younger generation can use
smart phone for to express themselves, acquire information, watch videos, connect with
peoples, and play games with peers from all over the globe. As a result smart phone has
become an integral part of their life due to its multi- functional purpose (Haug et al., 2015).
Recent statistics suggests that the total number of smart phone being used in the year
2014 was 1.85 billion. In three year, the number has increased to a huge 2.32 billion. This is
trend in continuing to grow and it has been forecasted that the number will increase to a
whopping 2.87 billion by the year 2020 (Cha & Seo, 2018). Due to the smart phones
accessibility and portability, it can be used in any situation and any circumstance and there is
‘App’ available in the smart phone for every situation and activity. As a direct consequence,
younger generation are particularly inseparable from their smart phones and they are addicted
to their smart phones like drugs. A study was conducted with 2097 smart phone user from the
United States of America and this study has reported that almost 60 percent user cannot
spend one hour without checking their smart phones while 54 percent individuals have
reported that they check their smart phone while lying in the bed (Hussain, Griffiths &
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Sheffield, 2017). Additionally, 39 percent users reported that they check their smart phones
while using bathroom while 30 percent smart phone users have acknowledged that they use it
during dinner time and family gatherings (Hussain, Griffiths & Sheffield, 2017).
From the above data, it can be said that the use of smart phone is increasing rapidly
and younger generation are using it particularly in every activities of their life. Excessive
attachment and over exposure of anything will have some detrimental effect and excessive
use of smart phone is no exception of it. Therefore, it can be stated that excessive use of
smart phone can be classified as addiction or drug. The above statement will be elaborated
further in the following sections.
Discussion
Technological addiction can be defined as a sub-set of behavioural addiction which
resembles with 5 core components of addiction including changes of mood, salience,
recurrence, conflicts, withdrawal, and tolerance. Technological addiction involves interaction
between human and machine. Many studies have examined various technological addictions
and developed tools to evaluate them. These technologies includes social networking sites
dependence (Facebook in particular), problematic Internet use or Internet addiction,
online gambling and online gaming or inappropriate Internet gaming (Hawi & Samaha,
2016).
In particular, teens are among the high risk of Smartphone dependence. They are tied
to their cell phone and consider their virtual life as a second self portrayed
through Smartphone. Several mobile phone users have acknowledged the fact that they
cannot survive without a Smartphone. Adolescents are open to new technology and are much
more habituated to it than adults who are using such devices. As digital citizens, adolescents
express their thinking in an online environment, try to stay up-to-date, use a variety of
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applications and look for relationships and emotional assistance among the virtual self itself.
They can multi task and look for feedback and reaction immediately (Hawi & Samaha, 2016).
An individual with excessive use of Smartphone can be addicted to any of the above
mentioned problems. As a direct consequence, excessive use of Smartphone has various
detrimental effects. One of them is the affected interpersonal relationship between the smart
phone users and their friends and family. Konok et al. (2016) have studied in detail in this
about the human attachment with their smart phone and its effect on the interpersonal
relationship. These studies mostly investigated the effect of this aspect among the younger
generation. This study has pointed out the fact that the younger generation are so attached
with their smart phone that they are neglecting their relationship with their family. Today’s
life is hectic enough for the young people and sometimes it becomes much more complicated
while looking at other peoples seemingly problem less life through virtual network.
Sometimes, their problems are not complicated enough and can solved if they only talk to
their parents, but Smartphone addiction stop them from doing that. In their study, Konok et
al. (2016) have concluded that a need for cultural co-option system can result in addiction
with the recent emerging objects, such as smart phones. It is also states that individual with
anxious attachment can counter the same challenges from the need of validation through
computer or Smart phones.
Dependence on smart phones results in negatively predicted attention and positively
predicted depressions. Studies have stated that the dependence on smart phones has an impact
on social and academic relations with friends and family. Dependence on smart phones has
huge impact on adolescent academic career. Students can use their smart phones to cope
with anxiety, stress, loneliness, depression, tension, as well as bad academic performance
(Boumosleh & Jaalouk, 2017). Studies have reported that a substantial increase in the risk of
troublesome internet use has taken place in those who falls under the serious depression
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criteria. Further studies have demonstrated the fact that smart phone addictions are far more
likely to occur for those with lower self-control and stress. It might be cause or effect but, in
general, smart phone addiction is damaging to productivity (Wang et al., 2015). Even in
university, students and their smart phones became inextricable with respect to learning
contexts. Whether it is in the classroom or outside school, students are more likely to use
smart phones for multitasking purposes. While smart phones help facilitate access and
cooperation to academic resources, studies have shown that technology based distractions
influences the homework negatively (Rosen, Carrier & Cheever, 2013). This need and
comfort of use of apps supplement this fascination as well as the low level of interest and
motivation in homework. Facebook, for example, is the most active contributor to
distractions of students while studying (Andreassen, 2015).
Excessive users of smart phones, use their smart phone for significant amount of time.
One of the most substantial markers of Smartphone dependency is its daily usage of a smart
phone. Studies reported that 40 percent of youth and adults have been making calls and
sending messages on smart phones for more than four hours per day (Aljomaa et al., 2016).
Moreover, they had more problems in terms of psychosocial, health and technology than
those who use a smart phone for less than four hours a day and they showed that they are
in more risk of smart phone addiction. The physical and mental health gets affected due
to smart phone addiction. In addition, depression or anxiety may lead to addiction to
technology.
Furthermore, smart phone have impact on physical health as well and the negative
impacts on physical health includes brain tumour, cancer, immune system weakness, nerve
disorders, problems with eardrum, wrist, fatigue, and sleeping problems. The smart phone’s
overexposure leads to health difficulties, but smart phone deprivation may also cause health
issues. Smartphone addicts, for example, have reported to be being distressed when their
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smart phones have been stripped off for some time, and adolescents have been worried,
depressed, angered and sleep disturbed due to this fact (Cha & Seo, 2018).
Reflection
Addiction can also be classified as a behaviour focusing impulse control disorder
which is similar to substance dependence in many areas, such as social history,
phenomenology, neurobiology mechanisms, co morbidity, tolerance and genetic overlap.
Smart phone addiction can be defined as inability to control the use of smart phones despite
the harmful side effect. From the above discussion, it can be seen that smart phone addiction
has many side effects particularly among younger people. Smart phone addiction is
responsible for damaged family relationship as well as bad academic achievements.
However, these are among the mild detrimental effects of smart phone addiction. It has
severe effect on the mental and physical health as well. Among mental health, it has been
found out that smart phone is responsible depression, loneliness and aggression. On other
hand, physical effect of smart phone can be brain tumour, cancer, immune system weakness,
nerve disorders, problems with eardrum, wrist, fatigue, and sleeping problems. All of these
symptoms are available among the individuals who partake in the substance abuse. Therefore,
it can be said that smart phone addiction has just similar harmful and detrimental effect like
substance abuse. Substance abuse can ruin an individual life through the mental and physical
effect it has on that particular individual. It is also true for the smart phone addiction. From
the above discussion, it can be achieved that in terms of detrimental effect, there is no
difference between substance abuse and smart phone addiction. Therefore, in a nutshell,
excessive use of smart phone or social media should be classified as addiction or drug.
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Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be said that the usage of smart phones is
heavily prevalent among the younger generation. Younger generations are much more prone
to the excessive usage of the smart phones and all the related detrimental effects come with it.
It has been established in the above discussion that excessive usage of smart phone has
similar detrimental effect in comparison with substance abuse on an individual in terms of
physical and mental health. Hence, to conclude, it can be said that the excessive use of smart
phone or social media should be classified as addiction or drug.
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References
Aljomaa, S. S., Qudah, M. F. A., Albursan, I. S., Bakhiet, S. F., & Abduljabbar, A. S. (2016).
Smartphone addiction among university students in the light of some
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Boumosleh, J. M., & Jaalouk, D. (2017). Depression, anxiety, and smartphone addiction in
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STUDENT NAME AND NUMBER
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Konok, V., Gigler, D., Bereczky, B. M., & Miklósi, Á. (2016). Humans' attachment to their
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