A study conducted by scientists from California State University (USA) revealed that using smartphones may be harmful to health for people suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Moreover, these people are also prone to excessive smartphone use. The results of the study were announced magazine Current Psychology (part of Springer).
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a mental disorder that is manifested by involuntary intrusive, disturbing or frightening thoughts – obsessions, as well as by the person constantly and unsuccessfully trying to get rid of the anxiety caused by these thoughts with equally intrusive and exhausting methods. actions – compulsions.
The authors surveyed more than 400 people and asked them to complete a variety of tests assessing various symptoms of obsessive-compulsive behavior, fear of missing opportunities, inhibiting anxiety, and boredom proneness. It turns out that people with clinically significant OCD are more likely to use excessive smartphones.
According to scientists, people with OCD will compensate for their negative emotions through technology: They may experience anxiety or unexplained fear and constantly use their phones to confirm or deny it. At the same time, constantly checking your smartphone can, on the contrary, aggravate the symptoms of the disorder; In the future, authors will continue to study this topic.
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