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Cellphone addiction

L

Lotus123

Bluelighter
Joined
May 12, 2017
Messages
63
I know this may sound really stupid but who here has a cellphone addiction? Especially smartphones. Self confessed iPhone addict here

Not all addictions are chemical. Most people don't realise they have non chemical addictions but they can affect our lives as much or somtimes more than drugs. Gambling immediately jumps

Does anyone have any advice/special tricks for tackling a cellphone/ smartphone addiciton? I'm half considering getting a fliphone or selling/smashing up my iPhone but smartphones are so useful it would be useful to be able to use it in moderation. The urge to endless scroll is very powerful
 
Not stupid at all. Many people are addicted to their phones. Some can't bare to have it out of their sight. When the cell " phone" became a miniature laptop it was bound to happen. Fits in your hand and you can do anything in the world on it. Watch videos, chat, scroll social media, check your e-mail, do whatever you please.

The only way I could see controlling this would be to give yourself certain times of the day when you can be on it. Like if you wake up at 6 am you can go on it with your coffee until 6:30. Then not again until 10. Then again at 2. Then after dinner and then before bed. All the time you can go on it are limited to 30 minutes only.

If you can put yourself on a schedule it might help. Kind of like when I want to quit smoking cigarettes. I only get to smoke at certain times of the day.

It pretty much is gonna be up to you as well because nobody will be able to take your phone away from you so you will have to put it away on your own. You will have to realize that you can play with it again in a couple of hours and in between your phone times you will have to find something else to do. Maybe take a walk or just go outside, maybe go shopping or something. Anything to take your mind off of using your phone.
 
Yeah smartphones have become a major issue, IMO.
Aside from isolating us into our own little worlds the addiction to be validated on social media outlets are maybe the worst... some suicide over this bull shit. Makes me so mad sometimes....
I mean look at the current "family dinner" get together (or any other social situation): Instead of talking and reasoning with each other we are all focused on a piece of plastic that sucks up all our intimate information and influences our outlook just cause someone says something and we do not vet the info just run with it.
If ya have access to a PC or other like device I would definitively opt for a flip phone if the smart phone has become such an issue for you. I even thought about this for years cause I normally only use my phone for calls and/or text but who the hell wants to carry a laptop everywhere they go? Everything seems to have become instant, though.
Reminds me of the days when we had landline phones only and message machines... if we werent around to answer the phone when someone called; oh well. :shrug:
Hell I remember when we first got a TV on the farm. Before that it was just radio and static to entertain us. lol
Those were really the "good ol' days" in my opinion/experience.
But no... not a stupid subject at all.
If it has become an issue for you treat it like any other addiction; wean off or taper off your time on it. Turn off all notifications (haptic feedback) is what I do so the damn thing doesnt go bing bing bing buzz buzz buzz every time some app has some activity on it. I think this is a major draw to most on these soul sucking sorcerous sound makers.
Best of luck with this. You are not alone for sure just look around. ;)
<3
 
If you're addicted to crack that's obviously worse for your physical health, and probably other aspects of your overall health and wellbeing too

But it's much easier to avoid crack than it is to avoid cell phones. It's difficult to navigate the modern world without a cell phone (quite literally difficult to navigate, that's the biggest reason I continue to use a smartphone is because of the GPS feature)
 
Lotus123 said:
I know this may sound really stupid but who here has a cellphone addiction? Especially smartphones. Self confessed iPhone addict here

Not all addictions are chemical. Most people don't realise they have non chemical addictions but they can affect our lives as much or somtimes more than drugs. Gambling immediately jumps

Does anyone have any advice/special tricks for tackling a cellphone/ smartphone addiciton? I'm half considering getting a fliphone or selling/smashing up my iPhone but smartphones are so useful it would be useful to be able to use it in moderation. The urge to endless scroll is very powerful
Click to expand...

It's simple really. Ditch your phone.

The human race existed for millennia without that shit.

I mean, why the fuck do people feel the need to talk to other people?


I'm just gonna hide... :sus:
 
Doesn’t seem stupid at all. Especially as I get more sober I directly cross addict to phone/games/other dopamine push devices. I leave my device in other room now for bed, make myself get up and start day without it. Working against this stuff is like a muscle - the more you say no and control your usage the easier it becomes. Set up some structured limits and stick to them and it will be a more healthy part of life.
 
Anything can be addictive but this is definitely a common one, especially in teens these days. I work with a few and they're constantly, literally constantly on their phones. They'll just to be slick or say "oh I was just checking my schedule" if caught by a manager, or they hold it behind something but it's extremely obvious, just texting or watching Tiktoks.

But I think that's different, teens are more obsessed about tiktok and such. Adults can find themselves addicted to silly games that are meant to be addictive, an easy way to watch porn, etc. A teen could be addicted to those same things but I think it's more likely an adult would find a phone to be an easy way to feed their porn addiction which they can bring in their pockets anywhere. Lots of creeps secretly take pictures of chicks on their phone as well.

I used to be friends with people like this and always found it extremely disturbing. Like, yeah, that chick on the beach is hot but do you need to be snapping photos of her secretly? This is illegal in some states but legal in many, illegal in my own state. I'm not sure how many it's legal or not, I just know Texas, unsurprisingly, will allow males to take pictures of women whenever they feel like it, even an unwanted upskirt photo is not a criminal offense.
 
6am-64-14m said:
Yeah smartphones have become a major issue, IMO.
Aside from isolating us into our own little worlds the addiction to be validated on social media outlets are maybe the worst... some suicide over this bull shit. Makes me so mad sometimes....
I mean look at the current "family dinner" get together (or any other social situation): Instead of talking and reasoning with each other we are all focused on a piece of plastic that sucks up all our intimate information and influences our outlook just cause someone says something and we do not vet the info just run with it.
If ya have access to a PC or other like device I would definitively opt for a flip phone if the smart phone has become such an issue for you. I even thought about this for years cause I normally only use my phone for calls and/or text but who the hell wants to carry a laptop everywhere they go? Everything seems to have become instant, though.
Reminds me of the days when we had landline phones only and message machines... if we werent around to answer the phone when someone called; oh well. :shrug:
Hell I remember when we first got a TV on the farm. Before that it was just radio and static to entertain us. lol
Those were really the "good ol' days" in my opinion/experience.
But no... not a stupid subject at all.
If it has become an issue for you treat it like any other addiction; wean off or taper off your time on it. Turn off all notifications (haptic feedback) is what I do so the damn thing doesnt go bing bing bing buzz buzz buzz every time some app has some activity on it. I think this is a major draw to most on these soul sucking sorcerous sound makers.
Best of luck with this. You are not alone for sure just look around. ;)
<3
Click to expand...

You have a valid point. Without the boredom/gaps in the constant stream of inputs, people don't have the same opportunity to let thoughts percolate like they did in the past. The result is far less deep thinking and people are much more impressionable now.

I've deactivated all the notifications on it except for text messages (nobody seems to text or phone call unless something is important now, They use messenger apps instead to chit chat now)

I also looked up other ways to make it less distracting. One article talked about changing the iPhone screen to greyscale. In theory that could make it less like a dopamine slot machine though I have to try it first

I preferred it when things were less instant too. People seem to rush to constantly be busy chasing unimportant things and put 0 energy into thinking about whether they should be doing the things they are rushing over
 
Burnt Offerings said:
If you're addicted to crack that's obviously worse for your physical health, and probably other aspects of your overall health and wellbeing too

But it's much easier to avoid crack than it is to avoid cell phones. It's difficult to navigate the modern world without a cell phone (quite literally difficult to navigate, that's the biggest reason I continue to use a smartphone is because of the GPS feature)
Click to expand...

You've got a point here. Phones hit the dopamine same circuits as cocaine and gambling. Cocaine requires actively seeking it out

Many things are inacccesible now without a smartphone. They design alot of systems to depend on having a smartphone to use them. The last time I visited a hospital they told me the doctor would call me on my mobile when it was my turn. By constrast when I was a kid phones were banned in hospitals because they were worried about them interefering with the machines
 
F.U.B.A.R. said:
It's simple really. Ditch your phone.

The human race existed for millennia without that shit.

I mean, why the fuck do people feel the need to talk to other people?


I'm just gonna hide... :sus:
Click to expand...

You have a point and my business mentor says similar about phones. However, he is rich enough to be surrounded by other people with phones who take care of things for him. The human race did exist without phones but in order to climb up the social ladder and have a decent quality of life in the mainstream, a smartphone has become mandatory just like a landline phone became mandatory to have a social life 30 years ago while 100 years before people sent letters. You could live without a landline 30 years ago but it was hard to have friends or get ahead in business without one. While it is possible to survive without a phone, it is hard to have a decent quality of life without one now that the world expects them
 
Lotus123 said:
You have a point and my business mentor says similar about phones. However, he is rich enough to be surrounded by other people with phones who take care of things for him. The human race did exist without phones but in order to climb up the social ladder and have a decent quality of life in the mainstream, a smartphone has become mandatory just like a landline phone became mandatory to have a social life 30 years ago while 100 years before people sent letters. You could live without a landline 30 years ago but it was hard to have friends or get ahead in business without one. While it is possible to survive without a phone, it is hard to have a decent quality of life without one now that the world expects them
Click to expand...

Fair enough. Now stop whinging about being addicted to them.. :ROFLMAO:

You obviously want them in your life...
 
Lotus123 said:
You have a valid point. Without the boredom/gaps in the constant stream of inputs, people don't have the same opportunity to let thoughts percolate like they did in the past. The result is far less deep thinking and people are much more impressionable now.

I've deactivated all the notifications on it except for text messages (nobody seems to text or phone call unless something is important now, They use messenger apps instead to chit chat now)

I also looked up other ways to make it less distracting. One article talked about changing the iPhone screen to greyscale. In theory that could make it less like a dopamine slot machine though I have to try it first

I preferred it when things were less instant too. People seem to rush to constantly be busy chasing unimportant things and put 0 energy into thinking about whether they should be doing the things they are rushing over
Click to expand...
Reasonable and intelligent you seem to be.
Hope this all turns some tables and frees up some time for your own health.
I use a smartphone but do have all notifications turned off cause if I am looking for email or other similar content all I have to do is open the app and pull down on the screen to update any info.
I mostly use it as a wifi-extender anyway. lol And calls to and from wife when apart. Also social agencies call to validate information for the both of us. I am emergency contact for a few people but that can be handled through a flip phone.
I will get a flip phone when my current phone fails cause I can do what I need mostly on my laptop(s). Easier on my old eyes, too.
But yeah that deep thinking, introspection and reasoning has never left me and sometimes drives me a bit nuts. I will stream content on Kodi when I get to this point though to break the "loops" I get into when alone and my thoughts get too deep and bothersome. A dose of benzo here and there helps a bit as well but do not recommend this to anyone with the ability to break thought loops on their own.
Recently started seeing a therapist again (thanks to insurance) looking to get rid of old baggage in preparation for the imminent new shit to follow. Think it may be helping this time as I went in with specific goals in mind. My assessment was soul-crushing but following sessions seems to be helping with issues un-dealt with for many decades.
Hope the best for ya, fam. I genuinely do. For us all.
<3
 
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F.U.B.A.R. said:
Fair enough. Now stop whinging about being addicted to them.. :ROFLMAO:

You obviously want them in your life...
Click to expand...

I think he's asking for advice on how he can incorporate the good effects of owning a phone, while mitigating some of the bad effects.

It's not an all-or-nothing proposition...you can recognize that owning a phone can have a negative impact on your life in certain ways (and develop strategies to minimize that impact) but the conclusion doesn't have to be "don't own a phone then"
 
They were designed to addict you to them. If you understand Operant Conditioning and schedules of intermittent reinforcement, you can easily understand how addicting they are for so many. These same psychological principles are very common to that which motivates people to repeatedly pull a lever on a slot machine, when by and large, you are not rewarded in any significant way (statistically or proportionally) by doing so , which is based on the same type of conditioning. This is why people sit in front of one dumping money into it for hours on end, and generally, will not be rewarded by doing so. That's why Casinos and gambling exist, because this is true. To a slightly different degree, the same is true for video game design as well as in terms of social media platforms. And in many ways, the internet itself is akin to one giant slot machine in and of itself.

Gambling – variable ratio scheduling​


"As stated earlier in this article, a variable ratio schedule yields reinforcement after the emission of an unpredictable number of responses. This schedule typically generates rapid, persistent responding. Slot machines pay off on a variable ratio schedule, and they produce just this sort of persistent lever-pulling behavior in gamblers. The variable ratio payoff from slot machines and other forms of gambling has often been cited as a factor underlying gambling addiction."

Smart phone addiction is similar in that, like a slot machine, it also utilizes variable ratio schedule reinforcement, which is very powerful in terms of reinforcing behaviors similar to a repetition/compulsion. This is one reason that no matter where you go, you see so many people immersed in their phone "reality" so persistently. It's sad to me, quite frankly. Personally, I try to only use them as a tool when needed, which is occasional relatively speaking, and if I didn't have my own business, I would not even own one. But because I am not attached to my phone I misplace it sometimes, and even forget that I left home without it or haven't looked at it for long periods of time. I have a life to live and things to get done, and I try hard not to let technology interfere. I like to think I use the tech, not the other way around.
 
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I used to use an app called freedom to prevent me doing stuff when I had planned to do work or whatever. It's pretty good, can vouch for it. Prevents you doing or using anything you don't want to. So you can block off all websites and apps except ones you decide in advance you plan to use and so on.

Seems to work on most platforms - I used to just lock down my macbook but it does do mobiles as well.
 
Yep. Well it's got everything and porn, you invent a more convenient porn machine I'll set it down. Ha no your not wrong, social media too.
 
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