One of my 15 year old clients began to see that his behavior with is cell phone was all consuming and addictive. In his words:
“I used to text all the time, including when trying to sleep, during meals, homework, and classes. I had to sneak because if I got caught, I’d lose my phone. I sent hundreds (maybe even thousands) of texts a day. It absorbed my time and attention. I could even text in my pants pocket, without ever pulling the phone out and looking at it. I’m a pretty normal teenager and would say my skills and habits are not unusual. Many kids text all day (and night). It made me feel connected with others, even when home alone. It gave me a feeling of self-worth, knowing that people would text me back. If I didn’t have a phone or couldn’t text, I felt isolated and very alone. My phone would pull my attention from everything else. I had sleeping problems and couldn’t hardly ever put my phone down.
“Emotionally, I relied on others texting me back or I started to feel unwanted. My therapist suggested I try some things which actually helped! [Read more…] about Putting the Cell Phone to Bed