If your favorite gadget (which is your mobile off course!) never leaves your sight, and you check your phone every second minute or visit social media pages too often, then it may end up causing havoc for your health. Here in this column, Dr. Vivek Mohan, North India’s leading Homeopath, discusses the harmful effects of mobile phones on all age groups and ways to handle it.
Why do we need mobile phones?
When most of us were still children, mobile phones were not even invented yet. But today a person without mobile phone is viewed as an alien on earth. It is a basic need for everybody.
They are used for communication, education, awareness, physical activities, leisure, safety, food and the list goes on. Mobile phones have started becoming the identity of people and their social status. Their fashion consciousness is judged by the mobile phone they use.
Mobile phones play a key role in shaping the overall development of a child. It is somewhere the reason of generation gap between youth and adults.
Children born in this era are known as ‘digital babies’. From waking up, eating, crying, playing and sleeping, everything involves mobile phones. It is not their need but parents cannot think of any other activity to engage their child.
The maximum brain development occurs by the age seven and it further builds at the age 12. So, if they are exposed to screens so much, it will shape their entire life. But it is not possible in today’s digital world to take kids completely off screens.
Due to inadequacy of time and piling work load, parents make mobile phones an excuse to engage their children. To save their crucial time, mobile phone is the easiest option available for kids.
Mobile Phone – Need or Desire
As a parent, you stay quite particular about everything your child needs. But you need to ask yourself first that, does your child need a mobile phone? Parents want to give the best of things to their children. But why they behave ignorant when it comes to giving their children a mobile phone.
There are many health hazards of a mobile phone. There are hundreds of things you can do without a mobile phone but you tend to justify your actions and ignore the mistakes because you do not want to work hard for anything. You want things easy, so you use mobile phones as your one stop for everything.
Example, you need a mobile phone to communicate with your loved ones sitting far away from you but you do not need a mobile phone to call a person sitting in the other room. Therefore, it is very important to rule out when you really ‘need’ a mobile phone and when you just ‘want’ a mobile phone.
What ‘Mobile Phone’ does to you?
Last year on Amsterdam Light Festival, which happens to be the largest light festival in Europe, a participant, Gali May Lucas and a British installation artist, along with sculptor Karoline Hinz, created a series of statues, featuring people using their phones with warm light illuminating their faces.
The sculptures are titled as ‘Absorbed by light’. They wanted to create something relatable. This phenomenal sculpture describes the situation of modern world. There are endless effects of mobile phones if used in a wrong way.
People are not comfortable in talking to each other personally; they rather text than to communicate in front of the other person, even if it is convenient for them. Children, who use phone from a young age, often find it difficult to communicate.
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They face problems while talking to their parents, friends, and people around. Also, sometimes this is the main reason; kids do not learn to speak at the proper age. Also, less communication leads to misconceptions and trust issues.
Some of the other effects of mobile phones are bad posture, lack of creativity, laziness, impatience, obesity, weak eyesight, depression, anxiety, and some serious medical problems that can become serious to treat.
The ‘Solution’
Mobile phones were invented to connect people to each other but according to the present scenario, you can say that it ‘disconnects’ the connected. You need to review your usage of mobile more than any other technological device as it involves you more with the virtual world. It shifts your interest and involvement from the time activities.
You should understand that it is primarily a ‘mobile’, and there’s no substitute for real person. Restlessness will thus reduce and we will begin to understand other person’s perspective too. Let us all live in real time.
– When you are not ‘on the go’, you must avoid using the smart ‘mobile’. Use other modes of entertainment!
– You need to stop justifying your actions and start realizing that mobiles phones have bad effects on your health and you are just addicted to it. Turn the screen time into your favour by knowing what all you are doing on mobile phone. Bifurcate what is important and what is not. Then take an action and do only important things on your phone, like phone calls.
– Draw a line. It is important for you to know that when you really need a mobile phone. For example, you do not need a phone when you cannot sleep or when you are free or not doing anything else. Use your phone for important phone calls, for internet/social media use tablets, ipads, desktops. Also, you can use landlines for calls; just try not to use a smart phone whenever it is possible.
– Develop a hobby; include sports in your routine or just running or walking, meditation.
– Small things matter. Use alarm clocks instead of phone alarms, have a phone free zone while eating. Phones should not be allowed around bed.
– Start focusing on the person you are talking to rather than using your phone. Turn off the notifications and have a phone free day once a week.
By : Dr. Vivek Mohan