Man Vs. iPhone: Separation Anxiety
It all started in June 2007, when the first iPhone was introduced by Apple Inc. It was one of the first smartphones that allowed your to multitask with touchscreen capabilities. What made the iPhone popular was its practicality and convenience. It was small and portable, it played music, and it was able to connect to Wi-Fi almost anywhere, not to mention providing access to its beautiful assortment of apps available on the app store. The iPhone was portrayed as the world in your back pocket, and everyone wanted their own little world.
Then, the iPhone was viewed as a new opportunity and generational advantage, is now viewed as a social detriment and kryptonite to society.
In an article on Think Christian, the author claims that the iPhone has annihilated human interaction and replaced it with some shiny new apps. “Our social fabric is in danger of being ripped to shreds as we swap electronic connection for personal relationships” (Think Christian). The iPhone has replaced the need for social, intimate communication. From the minute of purchase, the human has chosen material possessions over the option of free will.
Today, we find ourselves relentlessly addicted to our little square boxes of text and images called the iPhone. We have found ourselves in such desperate need for this piece of technology that we have created an anxiety disorder in which the thought of putting it down for less than a minute scares us. Society is changing, and our instincts are now latching onto inanimate objects rather than people.
Fox recently had an interview with Dr. Sandhya, a professor and clinical psychologist with expertise in health and wellness, about her opinion on iPhone Separation Anxiety. Dr. Sandhya believed that it was better for people to moderate how much time they spend on their phones, and other mobile devices, “To cultivate important human strengths like empathy, intimacy, compassion…one needs to be away from these gadgets and really attend to being mindful” (FOX).
iPhone Separation Anxiety is starting to become a real illness upon those who never lose sight of the tiny bright screen. The public had even made up a term for those with the fear of ever losing their iphone, called Nomophobia.
Now the question is… Are you Nomophobic?
References
http://i1.huffpost.com/gen/1050959/thumbs/r-IPHONE-ADDICTION-large570.jpg
http://www.impactingculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/PostImage_iPhoneAddict.jpg
http://thinkchristian.reframemedia.com/will-the-iphone-destroy-society
http://www.adler.edu/page/news-events/in-the-news/fox-32-interviews-dr-sandhya-on-iphone-separation-anxiety