How Much are Aware of the Effects of Smartphone use in Daily Activities?

Authors: Vaccaro M*

DOI: 10.23880/eoij-16000233

Volume 4, Issue 2

Abstract

The aim of the article is to highlight the consequences that the presence of the smartphone has induced in people’s lives in daily activities such as driving, sleeping and studying. Its pervasiveness also affects mental health by increasing depressive symptoms, chronic stress and anxiety. Physically, it leads to gain weight, since it negatively affects appetite and food intake control. The literature shows that it is not the tool itself that is harmful but the frequency of use that the individual makes of it in everyday life. Born as a tool capable of speeding up communication and reducing distances at a geographical level, it presents itself today as an element that hinders face-to-face communication and causes a change in relationships. Recent studies identify among the problematic behaviors resulting from the easiness of use and transport of the smartphone, the phantom vibration syndrome, the fear of remaining without a smartphone - Nomophobia, FOMO, fear of not being continuously informed and of losing what happens online, Phubbing, specific behavior that consists in neglecting the person with whom you are engaged in any social situation, to compulsively watch, control and touch the smartphone. According to this situation, it is important to intervene and sensitize the population to obtain a reduction in the frequency of use of the smartphone, leaving the man free to choose, compared to the man that he would like to be, how much time to actually dedicate in the use of the smartphone and as for the reality that surrounds him.

Keywords: Smartphone; Phubbing; Nomofobia; Fomo; Behavior

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