Ashwini Deokar
Final yr. B. Pharm.2019-20
Life is all about ‘balance’. Chaos is the result when life lacks balance. Staying in an alternate artificially created reality of our lives does the same to us; create the chaos. Mobile addiction is the prime example of such chaos.
Now one might argue about advances in connectivity due to digital age and its other benefits, but a coin has two sides. Sometimes it is not just about the addiction, it is about how deep the desire goes to stay away from the real world.
Talking about this topic of mobile addiction may sound a little cliché, but what arises as a concern is that there hasn’t been serious speculation by a lot of people about how harmful it can be for a person’s mental health.
Connectivity is sure a boon and is going to guide us to a better future. But this mind state of constant awareness of your own alternate virtual existence takes a toll on you.
Importance of Balance-
Balance brings us profit and progress that is essential, but the question is – at what cost? Are we putting our mental health at stake for this progress?
I’m not asking you to try and reduce the time you spend on your mobile phones. I’m just trying to establish the fact about what is going on around you which you need to be mindful about. Anxiety can be seen significantly rising for a reason in today’s generation. This difficulty can only be solved by bringing in a balance between our real and virtual lives.
All about Addiction-
What is addiction? Addiction is following a habit. Habits are formed and can be broken at the same time. But to do so one needs to understand what will be the repercussions of a habit they follow, about the consequences of their addiction. Only then it can be broken.
No doubt that this digital world has its bright side where it enables the coming generations to stay aware of the global affairs at an early age. So this article is not meant to criticise the role of it in the society’s progress and which is why I started writing it with what is balance.
This might not be an accepted opinion by some of you but I think that mobile addiction surely has something to do with subconscious thoughts of the mind.
Analyse yourself; see if you constantly feel like pressing that power key and scrolling the social media for hours. This is going to reflect on your energy levels and your happiness. Anyone and everyone can overcome this. All you need is strong determination and solid willpower.
Do you know about these Deaddiction Centres?
To maintain a balance in this tech-savvy world there are some mobile deaddiction centres too. Here you are properly guided and digitally detoxed breaking your dependence on the smartphones and other devices.
A virtual break will give you time to pursue other activities and realise that there is a beautiful life beyond this digital world.
One such deaddiction centre is at Bangalore and created by Dr Manoj Sharma Professor of Clinical Psychology and coordinator at Service for Healthy Use of Technology (SHUT). This was established as a part of the Nimhans (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences) in April 2014 and today 3 such deaddiction centres are catering to children as well as young adults in India.
Locations-
- Bangalore,
- Hermitage at Amritsar and
- Centre for Children in Internet and Technology Distress, Delhi.
Well, I’ve stated my take on this topic. I hope it helps you in some or the other way.