Much has been written recently about the impact mobile phone usage
has on our psychology and mental health.
According to researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden,
young people who heavily use mobile phones and computers also complain more
about sleep disturbances, stress and other mental health problems. The research
team conducted four separate studies aimed at investigating the correlation
between computers and mobile phones, and their impact on the mental health of
young adults.
The findings reveal that extreme use of mobile phones and computers
may be linked to stress, sleep disorders and depressive symptoms. The
researchers could not determine causation, so it may be that people with
depression or sleep problems are simply more likely to reach out to others
using mobile technology. Their conclusion is that intensive use of information
and communication technology can have an impact on mental health among young
adults.
The research reveals, for example, that heavy cell phone use is
correlated with an increase in sleeping difficulties in men and an increase in
depressive symptoms in both men and women. Those who find the constant
accessibility via mobile phones to be stressful are most likely to report
mental symptoms.
The call for an academic discipline
Florie Brizel, who is currently working on her third book, which
examines what she calls Mobilology, the study of the effects of mobile phone
use on behavior, community, culture, entertainment, and economics says; Mobile
phones allow people to talk to the world, but they can do so much more. We must
teach people how to really maximize the global linkage available to them
through their mobile devices, especially if we expect them to be used for any
kind of social good.
Of course, technology and humanity are not necessarily compatible.
One is about an anonymous push forward into the unknown... to explore it, to
develop and exploit it, which is important. The other is about paying undivided
attention to the individual and the world in front of you, developing
relationships, and increasing consciousness. Both are necessary. The challenge
is figuring out how to use technology to enhance humanity, not degrade it.
Mobilology addresses how mobile phone use affects life in the modern
world. Not only does it address the five main sectors of behavior, community,
culture, entertainment, and economics and whatever else comes along.
It's the
first academic discipline that is inherently collaborative as well as being
interdependent with other academic disciplines.
