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Gambling, Gaming & Technology Use Community of Interest

The Gambling, Gaming & Technology Use Community of Interest brings together addiction and mental health service providers, researchers and subject matter experts in the fields of gambling, technology/Internet use and video gaming to collaborate and share knowledge on emerging trends and clinical best practices.

Researchers at the University of Washington conducted in-depth interviews to learn why we compulsively check our phones. They found a series of triggers, common across age groups, that start and end habitual smartphone use.

In general, interviewees (n=39) had four common triggers for starting to compulsively use their phones:

  • During unoccupied moments, like waiting for a friend to show up,
  • Before or during tedious and repetitive tasks
  • When in socially awkward situations
  • When they anticipated getting a message or notification

The group also had common triggers that ended their compulsive phone use:

  • Competing demands from the real world, like meeting up with a friend or needing to drive somewhere
  • Realizing they had been on their phone for a half an hour
  • Coming across content they'd already seen


Do you have these triggers for starting/ending compulsive phone use?

I almost always go on my phone during unoccupied moments....

source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub...04/uow-poc042919.php

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This makes sense -- next time you're at a bus stop (or riding public transit), take a look around -- I guarantee that more than 50% are looking at their phones.  This doesn't mean that Millennials or "kids these days" are bad or lazy or self-absorbed.  Rather, it means that smartphone manufacturers and app developers have tapped into two previously-unknown parts of the human condition:  a) the overwhelming urge to avoid the discomfort of "waiting", and b) the desire to be left alone in public.

One year ago today, while ill and in quarantine for weeks, after returning from a vacation quite ill, I found myself becoming far too dependent on my phone because I felt so isolated. And I realized that this wasn't the beginning of my phone dependency. Through the years my son was struggling through the toughest part of his video gaming addiction recovery, I continually checked my phone for messages from him. He needed a lot of support. And I was never far from my phone. It was during that time, alone and in bed, that I could reflect and see how unhealthy my phone habits had become. I made a conscious effort to stop taking my phone into my bedroom. I give myself 30 minutes of free-thinking time to plan my day and think about what I am grateful for before I pick up my phone in the morning. And I try not to look at my phone when someone leaves the table in a restaurant to use the washroom. I'm trying to look around my surroundings and observe the world instead. Next on my list is to set up specific times during the day for checking my phone and sticking to this plan. Eventually, I'd like to create tech-free Sundays. I know this may raise an anxiety response and a level of discomfort I will have to learn to move through. Its not easy and I know that taking these baby steps is what works for me. But I am so inspired by my son giving up his gaming addiction, that I can see that changing my own habits will provide an opportunity for me to become a better version of me.

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