Mobile Phone As A Ubiquitous Appendage

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“Shifting energy from external world to internal world. Here, metaphorically describing external world to our mobile phone that stores images, knowledge, maps, birthdays, playlist, reminders, etc, and internal world to inner selves.”

HMY TEAM : How do you describe world that has drifted to a religious belief that mobile phone is a ubiquitous appendage without which life has no meaning?

Dr. Supriya : World has changed from a place where a single television in a colony was enough for the while neighbourhood to today where a television in every room in not enough. With every passing invention or machinery products of artificial intelligence have made us more and more dependent on them that imagining a life without them is unimaginable. And same is the case with mobiles. Life outside the ‘idiot box’ and here I mean the mobile is impossible for some to believe. Yet, undeniably it does exist just waiting for us to reach out again.

HMY TEAM : What are the consequences of this belief?

Dr. Supriya : The consequences are that we are becoming more and more like robots. Our feelings, emotions, our thoughts and thus every aspect of our life is being moderated by this belief and machines called mobiles which is creating a false world around her. False friends, false social life; which is very fragile and thus, bound to be broken easily leaving us vulnerable and open to mental disorders.

HMY TEAM : In this era, we have outsourced long list of our brain jobs to mobile phone, how do you see it as an evolution or devolution?

Dr. Supriya : It will be foolhardy to deny the importance of the information and knowledge that mobiles and internet have brought to our doorstep. And, it would not be incorrect to say that mobiles and applications have made our lives easier than it ever was for people before us. But, at the same time outsourcing a number of out mental jobs like memorising numbers, listing things in mind, and so many more things which used to be on our tips earlier are now easily forgotten. We do not even put efforts to remember things, and completely rely on mobiles for basic information and data storage. And like for any living or non-living thing disuse leads to atrophy, so in a way by not using our excellent cognitive abilities of memorising and systemising we are risking atrophy of our brain cells. We may be actually devolving in many things. Losing our skills of socialising, interacting face to face and many more

HMY Team : Why would you suggest people to spend some time on the mat away from mobile phone?

Dr. Surpiya : Internet addiction, mobile addiction, selfie disorder, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, social bullying and harassment, narcissism and anxiety disorders are some of the common psychological problems that are being diagnosed in people in recent years due to excessive mobile and internet use. As the saying goes that too much of anything is good for nothing. Thus, we absolutely need to disconnect from the digital world that we have creating for ourselves and get re acquainted with ourself. ‘Being on mat’ as the phrase is, is going to bring peace and calm. Will keep the mental forces balanced.


Dr. Supriya Agarwal is a renowned Indian psychiatrist who practices psychiatry and is founder of Healing Minds. Healing Minds is a social endeavour to promote mental wellness and psychiatric awareness and also provides treatment and management of various psychiatric disorders.

To know more about her, click here.

Or write her at drsupriya.agar@gmail.com

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