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"Even though I don't expect any message, I scroll systematically": the telephone, this addiction

2023-02-06T10:01:41.845Z


TESTIMONIALS - In France, 25.7% of 18-35 year olds consider themselves to be suffering from "nomophobia", a term given to smartphone addiction. It actually affects all ages.


"

It's very simple, in my couple, we are in a threesome: me, her and the phone

".

Stéphane is overwhelmed.

For eight years that he has lived with his wife, the smartphone has taken a predominant place in their daily lives.

In the morning it is one of her first gestures: she consults her messages, she scrolls

(Anglicism which describes the fact of unrolling the thread of social networks on the screen, Editor's note)

.

At breakfast she keeps it in her hand.

And it's like that until the evening, in front of the TV, and before turning off the light

, enumerates the husband, who feels abandoned.

A detail that says it all: when we look at the family photos during our vacation, Eugenie always appears with her nose on her phone.

As if he were a second child!

".

Addict, me?

Completely !

“, willingly admits the latter, 49, who also responded to our call for testimonials tit for tat.

The laptop is like an extension of his arm: “

In transport, I take it out immediately, it's almost in spite of myself

.

Notifications are constantly popping up from the dozens of WhatsApp groups, the four Twitter accounts - "

the professional, the personal, the anonymous and the one in the box

", Instagram, Facebook too - "

a little fallow but the parents of the school continue to communicate on the groups, I have to consult it from time to time

”, justifies the mother of the family.

When he happens to forget it, it

»

.

All age categories

Without knowing it, Eugenie presents all the symptoms of "

nomophobia

", this visceral fear of being separated from her mobile phone.

A quarter of French people consider themselves to have this disorder.

According to a OnePoll survey in 2021, eight out of ten French people keep their smartphone handy at all times, 97% of 18-35 year olds sleep in the same room, and 66.8% consult it as soon as they open the eyes.

I may not expect any message, at the slightest free moment, I scroll

,” confesses Liame, a 22-year-old student, who does not start a day calmly without having at least 80% battery.

"

It is indeed an addiction, because there is a loss of rationality in consumption and an excessive phenomenon which comes to cut reality

", explains Marion Wolfer, hypnotherapist and independent sophrologist.

The professional has repeatedly received confidences from patients about this addiction.

The consequences are mainly difficulty sleeping and concentrating.

We must also not neglect the negative feeling associated with this practice: the impression of wasting one's time, of missing out on one's life, as well as the guilt of what one does not do

,” describes the therapist.

Thus, in college, it is impossible for Liame not to take out the phone when the course is “

boring

”.

Even if it's interesting, I can't help looking at the screen regularly, just to check the notifications

”.

"

I don't smoke, but I imagine it's similar to this lack of someone who quits smoking

," suggests Eugenie.

When my phone is far away, I feel like I'm missing something.

It's a real feeling of deprivation

”.

Read alsoShould cell phones be removed from schools?

If the nomophobic disorder affects all age categories, young people are particularly disposed to it through the use of social networks.

"

I absolutely always have it in my pocket

," confesses Benjamin, 25.

A few months ago, the young professional suffered a shock when consulting his daily screen time: six hours a day.

A good score, while the national average is 3h30 for the French, in fifteenth position after the Brazilians, the Indonesians or the South Koreans who spend more than five hours in front of a small screen.

However, the young man has hardly reduced his consumption since, because he does not consider this time to be wasted.

He spends a good half of it watching long video formats on YouTube.

It's my new way of consuming culture.

On the other hand, I who always had a book in hand in the metro, it's over

”, he admits with regret.

When I read, it provokes connections, ideas, and the imagination ends up settling on a question: well, I would check this point!

Hop, I open my phone, I look at the Wikipedia page, or a video, and the book is forgotten

”.

Without counting the vibrations in the pocket, “

the call of the notification

”: “

We can say to ourselves mentally: I will look later, it runs through our heads.

And we end up watching

.

Difficult weaning

In Stéphane and Eugénie's family, their 8-year-old daughter is fighting against her mother's addiction.

Me, I gave up,

sighs the discouraged husband.

But my daughter had the idea of ​​introducing screen-free days on certain Saturdays or Sundays.

No phone, no computer.

Initiative of an 8-year-old girl, you still have to do it!

".

"

They mounted a run against me

", deplores in response the mother, for whom this deprivation is a torture.

Some attempt small or bigger goals to detox.

To help them, every year since 2001, February 6 has been established as the international day without mobile phones.

Liame has disabled visual alerts.

Now, even on the watch page, they no longer appear

,” explains the student, quite proud of this effort to regain control.

"

I also force myself, on short journeys, not to take it out of my pocket...

Small personal objective

".

Elsa*, 27, is trying to "

cut

" for several days.

During holidays in the mountains for example, when the network bar not exceeding 3G provides the right pretext: “

It's very hard at first.

There is this sudden void in hollow moments, and this accumulation of small tasks to do that becomes a mountain in the head: such a message to send, such a ticket to book, or information to check.

It's haunting in such a way that for the first few days I can't help but turn it on compulsively.

And then, I quickly realize that in the end there aren't that many messages waiting for me, that the world is going very well without me.

And me without him

.

*Name has been changed.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-02-06

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