FOR some people, using phones has become a psychological disorder.
They can’t stop looking and checking their phones.
Research shows that Internet and mobile phone addictions are as addictive as drugs.
Psychologists and neuroscientists at the University of Southern California, the United States, said “mobile phone addiction has behavioural similarities to hard drug use”.
They said the addiction forces the brain to “release dopamine, the reward-and-pleasure neurotransmitter”.
Hence, this is the reason why we feel good when we use our phones and feel something is missing when we are not using them.
Society must reduce Internet and mobile phone obsession.
One way to do this is to read books and play games with our children.
Before the existence of mobile phones, children and adults played games, such as hand-clap, batu seremban and congkak.
To encourage children to play these games, we need to put down our mobile phones and play with them.
Other than that, we can play board games like snake and ladder, chess, Monopoly and Scrabble.
Playing these games is fun and they stimulate our mind.
They encourage interaction as they are played in pairs or group.
In a jump-rope game, one has to jump in sync with the rhythm of the swinging rope held by two friends.
Most traditional games make us run around.
Playing this way is more fun and improves our social skills.
It also fosters friendship between players.
If it is played by neighbours, the neighbourhood becomes close- knit. However, neighbours are now distant from each other.
A reason of this could our Internet and mobile phone addictions. An activity than can reduce it is embroidery, which improves our brain functions.
Learning a language too engages our mind.
In contrast, mental deterioration happens if people don’t use their brain.
Internet and mobile phone addictions can be reduced if a family plays together. It also encourages family harmony.
DR MEGAWATI OMAR
Shah Alam, Selangor