Anxiety and depression are the main threats for many young people between the ages of 10 and 19. In some cases, addiction to networks is the beginning of everything. In addition, after the pandemic, the number of young people suffering from this problem has increased.
This is the case of a young man, who prefers to remain anonymous, whose addiction to technology completely altered his life. He has explained how his experience was in the form of a letter: “My inappropriate use of technology dates back to the age of six. At 18 I used to go to bed between five and eight in the morning and get up at nine to go to class. I fell into a depressive episode”, he recounted in ‘La Hora de la 1’.
Nomophobia, the irrational fear of leaving home without a mobile
It all started with a console
To understand his addiction we have to go back to his 6 years, when he received his first console. Since then, his relationship with technology has been maintained over time and was accentuated when he arrived at the University: “The rhythm of sleep and hunger were greatly altered by the excessive use of the mobile and the computer, even going to bed at night.” eight in the morning and get up at nine to go to class,” he says.
Time was passing and this young man was not aware that his problem was progressing: “I fell into a depressive episode that made me drop out of the race and despite going through a very bad stage, I was totally incapable of abandoning my habits, making the depression worsen,” this young man expressed in the letter.
Months later, he realized that he could not continue like this: “I set out to detoxify myself from technologies. I did a 21-day therapy of total disconnection. No screens, signing up for different activities. And my mood improved “, she concludes. A therapy that brought her life back.
“They begin to have concentration and memory problems”
More and more young people are living glued to devices connected to the Internet. The Technological Addiction Service of the Community of Madrid ensures that the hours in front of the devices are key. Devi Uranga is CAM’s director of Addictions Care: “Two hours a day are usually good for leisure. From there, the more hours, the more at risk the child is. Technologies cause dependency and leaving them can be unpleasant “, he relates.
On average, this service receives per day between three and four cases and after the pandemic it has increasedThey even have a waiting list. A similar situation is the one experienced by the Psychology Service of the University of Murcia: have seen their number of patients double. Jose Antonio Ruiz He is director of the psychology service at this university: “They begin to have concentration and memory problems. We must bear in mind that social networks are very attractive and the real world begins to be boring for them,” explains the professor.
And it is that new technologies completely change their perception of reality: “Sometimes social networks present a fictitious, unreal world. A world that increasingly traps more young people,” concludes the professor.
What is FOMO?
The fear of missing something on the networks can fuel addiction to them and anxiety in young people. It is what is known as FOMO, a fear that drives excessive consumption and can lead to ignoring real relationships.
Social networks do not stop sending information about what friends and family are doing, about leisure possibilities and even job offers, and this causes some users to fear missing out on what is happening outside of them. In English they have called it by its acronym, FOMO More than a syndrome, psychologists and sociologists prefer to talk about the fear that there has always been of social exclusion, which is now visible on the network. Anxiety about being disconnected is greater among young people: if the group is on the networks and everything happens on the networks, they cannot be left out.
Teresa Sánchez is an expert in Technological Addictions and Drug Addictions from UNIR: “The common use usually takes place during a series of hours. FOMO is that English term that means fear of losing information and being connected. It is that dependency, to have the need to be looking at social networks and distance our reality in the day to day“.
“▪️ Addicted to technology
��️Teresa Sánchez is an expert in Technological Addictions and Drug Addictions from UNIR: “FOMO is the fear of missing out on being connected”#LaHora9J
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— The Hour of La 1 (@LaHoraTVE) June 9, 2022
However, sometimes it is not an easy task to identify that there is an addiction problem: “Precisely lack of control is the key to distinguish between someone who can control the use of technology or, on the contrary, you should consult with professionals who help you identify the problem”, explains the expert.