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Addiction as a Disease


Addiction is a complex disease of the brain and body that involves compulsive use of one or more substances despite serious health and social consequences. Addiction disrupts regions Of the brains that are responsible for reward, motivation, learning, judgment and memory. It damages various body system as well as families, relationships, schools, workplaces and Neighborhoods.

Dealing with Mobile Addiction

By: Nilesh Mandlecha (Psychologist) & Pradnya Mandlecha (Psychologist)

Impact of mobile addiction or excessive use of mobile-
  1. Lack of sleep
  2. Effect on physical health: eyes, head, neck, back,fingers, hands
  3. Obesity
  4. Anxiety & depression
  5. Excessive dopamine release
  6. Given more importance to virtual that actual reality of the world
  7. Dangerous act- using mobile while driving or walking on road or crossing road
  8. Irritability and mood swing
  9. Less physical activity
  10. Preoccupied with mobile use even after using it
  11. Lack of impulse
  12. Feeling of fearlessness

Brain and chemicals involved in addiction


Whenever we see mobile, dopamine is the one which gets released in our brain. It is the same dopamine that makes us feels good when we smoke, when we drink and when we gamble.In other words dopamine is highly addictive. We have age restriction on alcohol, we have age restriction on smoking, alcohol and gambling but no age.

Restrictions on social media and cell phones. It’s available free of cost, it is available any wherever and at any time. Dopamine has numbing effect, more you use it more you willbe numbed and you feel dependent on it.

Sign and symptoms:


Low frustration tolerance – when you feel urge to see mobile and you don’t see mobile then you feel restless (unpleasant feeling) and you believe this restlessness is intolerable. Withdrawal – depression, anxiety, irritability, fatigue, loss of appetite or eating more, headache, insomnia, mood swing.

You feel you have lost control over your use of mobile.

You want to quit, but you can’t. You have given up other activities, use of mobile takes up a great deal of your energy and focus. You use mobile again even though you know it’s causing problems. Feel guilty. Lie to others or hide this habit. Dependency-need to use mobile in order to relax or feel better. Preoccupied after use of mobile. Regularly spends more than you intended to. Friends or family members who are worried about mobile addiction.

Identification is difficult:


In alcoholism you can identify with smell of the mouth, in drugs you can identify by doing blood and urine test but mobile addiction it’s not possible to test. It is a disease of denial. Just like alcoholism in which person denies I am alcoholic, in similar manner person denies mobile addiction because of my addiction I am losing something in person is not ready to accept. Not only college going students but school going students also showing signs of this addiction. It’s present across all ages still one can identify using behavioral pattern on three parameters.

Frequency: how frequently a person is touching to mobile without any work.

Duration: how long a person is viewing mobile.

Intensity: how deeply one is engrossed in mobile.  

Who is controlling whom? 


It is the most important question need to ask ourselves-
  1. Am I controlling social media? Or
  2. Am I allowing social media to control me? Or
  3. Am I saying “social media is controlling me?” 
In first two questions I accept responsibility of how I am contributing to problem. In third question I am external circumstances and discounting my own ability to deal with the problem.

Emotional intelligence how does our mind work?


When we get information through our five sensory organs ( eyes ,ears, nose, skin, tongue) then it directly goes to one particular point (hypothalamus) inside our brain, from information moves towards thinking mind and then it goes to emotional mind and then person reacts or behaves.

In our brain there is one short cut wherein information directly move from hypothalamus to emotional ground and loose the capacity of thinking .this is called as emotional hijack that times person is unable to see long term consequences. In mobile addiction emotional mind hijack rational mind and person is not able to see long term consequences. It’s important to manage our impulse.

Mobile addiction is a disease

  1. It’s a disease of sensations 
  2. It’s a disease of thoughts 
  3. It’s a disease of emotions 
  4. It’s a disease of behavior 

The key to deal with mobile addiction


Acceptance of problem: is important parameter to come out of the problem of mobile addiction. If we need to deal with mobile addiction, we need to have better control over our sensations, thoughts, emotions and behavior.

What is acceptance of problem?


 If 10 people are facing similar situation of mobile addiction then will all these 10 people will react in the same manner? Obviously not.

By the way they react differently because they have better control over their sensation and they also think differently. Sensations and thinking are most imp root cause of mobile addiction.

Acceptance of problem – i.e. my sensations & thoughts are mainly responsible for my problem of mobile addiction.

Test to check the conviction level:


Ask the client on 1 to 5 scale (1 is the least and 5 is the most) how much you are convinced that your sensations and thoughts are mainly responsible for your mobile addiction. If at this stage conviction level is high then move on to next step of using techniques to deal with addiction or else work again to increase the level of conviction.

1. Technique to work on behavior


Providing constructive workable option

Step 1: Find out what time your child gets hooked to screen

Step 2: Providing more attractive options for the child that mobile phone 

Step 3: Suggest options and let the child select option

Choose alternative option of child’s interest (let him suggest) like painting ,gardening, craft, sports, nature walk, swimming, karate, gymnastics, uno, carom, karaoke, classes of singing, dancing, etc, clay, reading books, playing with friends, exhibitions, science center and planetarium, anatakashari, library, dumshahraz, rhymes, name place animal thing, park, etc.

2. Technique to deal with sensation 

Focus on breathing and sensations:

Goal: To control the urge of seeing mobile and buying screen time

Step 1 Ask child to sit in the meditating position for 5 to 10 minutes along with any soft toy which your child likes.

Step 2 Ask your child to focus on breathing …breath in and breath in and breath out ,ask your child to observe sensation child feels throughout their body 

Step 3- Inform child do this activity 3 times a day and child completes this activity then allow your child use mobile for 30 min at the beginning. After some time give your child other options which are more attractive than mobile.

This way child will also learn to meditate and gain control over sensations which will be useful in other areas of life 

3. Technique to deal with thinking 

Terrorist dispute (age group 10 years and above)

Goal: To tolerate restlessness when you don’t see mobile

People who are addicted to mobile think that if when they don’t see mobile then they feel restless and they think this restlessness is intolerable. Same feeling is present in the child.

Step 1- Ask child to imagine whom do you love most (e.g.: she said mother) 

Step 2- Imagine your mother has been kidnapped by terrorist and they called you and told you to fulfill their demand and the demand is the restlessness what you feel when you don’t see mobile and you think you can’t tolerate it. This feeling of restlessness you have to tolerate it for 5 times in a day. Then only I will release your mother. What will you say to terrorist? Answer of child would be obviously I will tolerate it.

If you can tolerate restlessness to save your mother’s life why cannot you tolerate it to deal with your addiction?

4. Technique to deal with emotion 

Anchoring technique

Goal: to control the urge of mobile addiction 

Step 1: Tell child that whenever you make you make your first clenched you will remember the incidences of your past achievements & success. (Do conditioning: fist clenching is equal to gaining self control and mastery over situation) 

Step 2: Whenever you will clench the fist, you will feel that power of self control and mastery over situation.

Step 3: Use the power to control the urge off mobile addiction by fist clenching. 


Dr. Bade's Vighanharta Sai Hospital And Laboratory,


 Address Alandi Road Dattanagar Dighi, Pune 411015 
Email drbvb111@gmail.com, 



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