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38 Smartphone Addiction

Smartphone Addiction

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Treatment for smartphone and
Internet addiction

If you need more help to curb your smartphone
or Internet use, there are now specialist
treatment centers that offer digital detox
programs to help you disconnect from digital
media. Individual and group therapy can also
give you a tremendous boost in controlling your
technology use.

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy provides
step-by-step ways to stop compulsive
behaviors and change your perceptions
about your smartphone and the Internet.
Therapy can also help you learn healthier
ways of coping with uncomfortable
emotions—such as stress, anxiety, or
depression—that may be fueling your
smartphone use.

• Marriage or couples counseling. If
excessive use of Internet pornography or
online affairs is affecting your relationship,
counseling can help you work through these
challenging issues and reconnect with your
partner.

• Group support. Organizations such as
Internet Tech Addiction Anonymous (ITAA)
and On-Line Gamers Anonymous offer
online support and face-to-face meetings to
curb excessive technology use. Of course,
you need real-life people to benefit fully
child’s data usage or restrict texting and web family friend. Don’t be afraid to seek
from any addiction support group. Online browsing to certain times of the day. Other professional counseling if you are
support groups can be helpful in finding
apps can eliminate messaging capabilities concerned about your child’s smartphone
sources of assistance, but it’s easy to use
while in motion, so you can prevent your use.
them as an excuse to spend even more time
teen using a smartphone while driving.
on your smartphone. Sex Addicts
Authors: Melinda Smith, M.A., Lawrence Robinson, and
Anonymous can be a place to try if you’re Jeanne Segal, Ph.D.[]
• Create “phone-free” zones. Restrict the
having trouble with cybersex addiction.
use of smartphones or tablets to a common
area of the house where you can keep an eye Festive Christmas Quotes That
Helping a child or teen with on your child’s activity and limit time Will Get You in the Holiday
smartphone addiction online. Ban phones from the dinner table Spirit
and bedrooms and insist they’re turned off
Any parent who’s tried to drag a child or teen after a certain time at night.
away from a smartphone or tablet knows how It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas
in the air.
challenging it can be to separate kids from • Encourage other interests and social
- W.T. Ellis
social media, messaging apps, or online games activities. Get your child away from screens
and videos. Youngsters lack the maturity to curb by exposing them to other hobbies and
Peace on earth will come to stay, when we live
their smartphone use on their own, but simply activities, such as team sports, Scouts, and
Christmas every day.
confiscating the device can often backfire, after-school clubs. Spend time as a family
- Helen Steiner Rice
creating anxiety and withdrawal symptoms in unplugged.
your child. Instead, there are plenty of other
Christmas will always be as long as we stand
ways to help your child find a healthier balance: • Talk to your child about underlying
heart to heart and hand in hand.
issues. Compulsive smartphone use can be
- Dr. Seuss
• Be a good role model. Children have a the sign of deeper problems. Is your child
strong impulse to imitate, so it’s important having problems fitting in? Has there been a
A good conscience is a continual Christmas.
you manage your own smartphone and recent major change, like a move or divorce,
- Benjamin Franklin
Internet use. It’s no good asking your child which is causing stress? Is your child
to unplug at the dinner table while you’re suffering with other issues at school or
Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of
staring at your own phone or tablet. Don’t home?
let your own smartphone use distract from hospitality.
- Washington Irving
parent-child interactions. • Get help. Teenagers often rebel against
their parents, but if they hear the same
T'was the night before Christmas, when all
• Use apps to monitor and limit your information from a different authority
through the house, not a creature was stirring,
child’s smartphone use. There are a figure, they may be more inclined to listen.
not even a mouse.
number of apps available that can limit your Try a sports coach, doctor, or respected
- Clement Clarke Moore