Comments for Is App Addiction a Real Thing?

Is App Addiction a Real Thing?

2009-10-08T14:04:41Z

Do you jokingly refer to yourself as an "app addict?" That is, are you someone so obsessed with your mobile phone applications that you've filled numerous screens full of apps, play with them anytime you have 5 minutes to spare and sleep next to your phone just so it can be the first thing you grab in the morning? While there haven't been any studies yet on the impact of mobile phone application use and health, USA Today recently ran an article practically dubbing "app addiction" a real thing. "What is app addiction doing to people's health?, the article asked. What indeed?, we wonder. How about nothing at all?

]]> Addiction is a Serious Word

"Addiction" is a word that's often tossed around in fun somewhat haphazardly, with people claiming they're "addicted" to everything from chocolate to TV to shoes. But real addiction is no joking matter. An addict is someone with a psychological or physical dependence to something and are unable to put an end to their behavior despite its negative consequences - behavior which, especially in the case of drug or alcohol addiction, can even lead to death. In more recent years, compulsive behaviors like gambling and online gaming have also fallen under the banner of "addiction" in cases where the behaviors become uncontrollable by the affected person.

Given the psychological component of addiction, it's not entirely off-base to question whether becoming addicted to mobile apps is the next big thing in technology-related addictions, as USA Today is obviously doing. But with no reported cases, no research, and no scholarly articles, it seems a little bit like jumping the gun to claim that app addiction is becoming a health issue.

Still, that didn't stop some experts from weighing in on the matter. Marina Picciotto, professor of psychiatry, neurobiology and pharmacology at Yale University told the paper, "there are a few parallels we can make from other addictions, like compulsive shopping. The consequences can be bad -- credit debt, time lost." And Hilarie Cash, a psychotherapist and co-founder of reStart, a Fall City, Washington-based Internet-addiction recovery center, warned that users should keep tabs on whether apps are taking over their real lives.

So how do you know if it's taking over your life? Cash says that if you spend more than 2 hours per day engaged with your digital equipment for non-work related or homework-related reasons, "then you've got cause for alarm."

Wow, if those are the guidelines for addiction then just about every American has television addiction given the 2 hours they sit in front of their TV sets from 8 PM to 10 PM watching primetime programming.

Could this Become a Real Problem?

That's not to say that people won't get addicted to mobile applications at some point, but let's not start a panic before all the data is in. Most of the self-proclaimed "app addicts" these days are still maintaining a healthy balance between work, life and play and are able to put their phones away when the time is right. Even those who use their mobile phones and related apps regularly aren't necessarily addicts in the true sense of the word.

What do you think? Is "app addiction" a real thing? Or will it become a serious problem in the future?

Comment from Larry Plummer on 2010-12-30

2010-12-30T11:42:22Z

Everything should be taken in moderation.

Comment from Tom on 2010-11-22

2010-11-22T09:41:36Z

Of you can addicted to eating, drinking, and even sleeping - I don't see why not apps could be addicting. Everything should be done in moderation IMHO

Comment from Oren on 2010-11-21

2010-11-21T08:37:49Z

It would be addicting only if the person is using it excessively to gain pleasure of some sort. For example, playing that stupid bird game all day makes you an app addict. No different then a game addict in that case. But I wonder, what about those people who buy like 10 apps to do one thing?

Comment from Jennifer on 2010-10-27

2010-10-27T17:02:05Z

I think this is a valid addiction. I think you can classify this as a process addiction. Other process addictions include Internet use, sex addict, being a workaholic, eating disorders, gambling, and so on. Is App addiction a problem? if it cost you a lot of money to buy them, yes. If it keeps you from other parts of your life, yes.

Comment from kli on 2010-10-04

2010-10-04T17:39:39Z

Drug addiction and alcohol addiction are a joke to a lot of us as well. I've had my time with both substances and never found either addicting especially when consider the negative side effects as an incentive to quit them all together.

People suffering from depression and poor mental health often turn to five things: alcohol, drugs, gambling, eating and spending.
Anyone stupid enough to drink away their rent money could also be stupid enough to blow their money on apps.

An addiction is when you do anything to an unhealthy amount.

Comment from Phases Alcoholism on 2010-09-12

2010-09-12T19:58:11Z

If shopping with your credit card can be an addiction. Why not Apps too. I will run this by the other drunks in my group and see how it goes over. Hopefully, they won't tar and feather me.

Comment from Anon on 2010-06-27

2010-06-28T06:36:21Z

App addiction? I wonder if they are an app for that..

Comment from spotoftea on 2010-03-20

2010-03-20T12:06:28Z

i'd say from the fact that i've been selling alot of these App Addict tshirts, that this can be true! http://www.cafepress.com/spotoftea/6813424

Comment from tech blog on 2009-10-09

2009-10-09T08:47:32Z

well at first yes it is addictive, especially if the gadget is new. weeks later, nah.

Comment from marc on 2009-10-09

2009-10-09T08:12:44Z

If peoples only problem is that they are "addicted" to apps, it just goes to show how cossetted and insulated from reality people in the western world are. Get a sense of perspective for christs sake.

Comment from Daynah on 2009-10-08

2009-10-08T18:16:37Z

Yes it's a real thing. I'm testing apps every night until my arms are hurting. =\

Comment from Jess Newcomb on 2009-10-08

2009-10-08T18:12:38Z

I am sure it is a very real thing. I am an app and update and beta addict I just gotta have the newest thing and lots of things not always necessary but new and there to have.

Comment from Emir on 2009-10-08

2009-10-08T17:16:27Z

Whoever says they are addicted to apps I have one thing for you: grow the fu*k up! You're addicted to apps? Are you serious?

Comment from Jean-Michel Decombe on 2009-10-08

2009-10-08T16:00:26Z

I am not so much addicted to using apps, but to tracking them on the AppStore. I have about 600 iPhone apps at the moment, yet I only use 10 to 20 of those on a regular basis, and maybe only up to 5 everyday. The goal is mostly to make sure that I find those great apps that are not necessarily top sellers but that solve a problem for me really well. So I browse the AppStore on a regular basis, and I can say that I have quickly browsed all the apps until now (pretty sad, I know). All in all, it takes me about 6 hours a month, which can still seem like a lot of time, unfortunately, the AppStore browsing is so primitive that there is no other way, as of now, to make sure that I will not miss a great app that it really useful to me in some way. And the pricing model makes it so easy to take a chance on an app for only $0.99.

Comment from marc_d on 2009-10-08

2009-10-08T15:41:40Z

Reminds me of this Onion article:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33296

Comment from ITrush on 2009-10-08

2009-10-08T15:00:00Z

Who me? well, I can feel it really that I'm already an app addict but head is still on top of everything and not that addicting apps. :P

Comment from Todd on 2009-10-08

2009-10-08T14:52:54Z

It's easy to kick the "app habit".

Just remember back when you first started using Gmail instead of local install of Outlook, that "A ha!" moment you had.

That internal dialog you had with yourself that went something like "Why are we installing platform specific, bloated, software on each machine, a million times over, when we can just use the internet as an operating system?"

It may be I am the only one to remember the desktop platform wars, how awful they were, and that I vowed to *never* participate in such non-sense again. Mobile is apparently failing to learn from the past, demanding you all install applications that are OS dependent, shunning web-as-OS. But it'll all end in tears ( again ).

Or maybe I am the only one that checks this web site every day:

http://ishtml5readyyet.com

;)