Do you think verbal communication has changed? Where does the key to WhatsApp’s success lie and why does it create so many followers?
In the last 10 years technology has reduced verbal communication and relationship with others. Apps and social networks have extended our radius of interaction but it is also true that our face-to-face communication style has become minimal.
WhatsApp has close to 1 billion users worldwide since it was launched seven years ago. In Spain, in fact, it is used by 90% of mobile users. The key to its success lies in its almost free, simplicity, speed and almost universal accessibility. However, it has also become something abusive that generates a dependency in an increasingly growing percentage of users.
Is WhatsApp addiction a behavioral disorder?
WhatsApp addiction is behavioral, but has not yet been included in international psychiatric classifications. It would be situated between obsessive disorder and a chemical dependency, in the same way that non-substance addictions are: sex, work, sport, food, internet, pornography or shopping, for example.
The addictive capacity of WhatsApp is considered to lie in what behavioral psychology calls “contingent reinforcement” or “intermittent reward”, i.e., when the message is written it may or may not be received. This prompts the person to resend it or continually check that the recipient has received it. It is not possible to know when the reward is received, so the behavior is maintained.
Although there is no solid scientific evidence, some sources estimate that this addiction may affect 5 – 10% of users. The main groups are adolescents and young adults, with no differences between sexes.
What symptoms can alert us to WhatsApp addiction?
A patient is considered to be addicted when he/she presents:
(a) Symptoms of dependence:
- Spending most of their time on WhatsApp sending, reading and re-reading messages. Also checking whether messages have been received and read, analyzing the status of contacts, changing the profile picture, etc.
- Inability to modify this behavior.
- Disinterest in life outside WhatsApp.
- Change of sleep patterns and hours of sleep, reducing.
- Deterioration of their personal, social, school/work and family life and activity.
- Jealousy, related to the control of the partner’s account.
- False hearing of notifications (phantom vibration syndrome).
- Inability to move away from the phone, as well as startle when receiving a notification.
- He can’t stand running out of battery, so he always carries chargers or external batteries.
- Whenever possible, he plugs his cell phone into any socket.
b) Withdrawal symptoms; if the cell phone is lost or cannot be connected, he presents:
- Anxiety
- Muscle tension
- Stiffness of thought, when thinking about how to regain contact with WhatsApp.
- Sadness
- Violent behavior
- Irritability
- Isolation
- Insomnia
- Restlessness
c) Obsessive-compulsive symptoms
- Mental activity only dedicated to the application.
- Inability to control the need for interaction with WhatsApp: answering messages as soon as they arrive and being pending of the answer, until they receive it.
- Sending messages after hours, in order to receive them.
- Inability to concentrate on other activities.
- Compulsively inspecting the phone, even if it was done a moment ago. Also in places and situations where it can bother (cinema, theater…).
- Anxiety and tension if you can’t access your phone.
How would you define a person addicted to WhatsApp, what is their profile?
After the experience of specialists in Psychiatry, they conclude some characteristics typical of people addicted to WhatsApp, before the addiction:
- Feeling of emptiness
- Depressive tendency
- Identity problems
- Other addictions (tobacco, alcohol…)
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Social phobia
- Unresolved neurotic conflicts
- ADHD
- Immature personality (dependent, borderline, histrionic or narcissistic).
How is this type of addiction treated from psychiatry?
The treatment of WhatsApp addiction must be totally personalized, as no two patients will be the same. Usually the first measure taken in patients with abusive behaviors but not yet addictive is to change daily activities, regulate time for sports, family and friends. It will also be necessary to disable notifications, deprive the use of the phone at certain times, turn off the phone at night and not allow external batteries to be carried. In some cases it will also be necessary to uninstall the application.
If the case is already considered addictive, a more incisive treatment will be required. There is no research on the pharmacological protocol to follow, but it may include:
- Serotonin reuptake inhibitors in high doses, to improve impulse control.
- A specific drug that stimulates the brain reward nucleus.
- A drug that improves impulsivity.
- Drugs for associated psychiatric disorders.
In any case, it is a disorder that requires psychotherapeutic treatment, as well as psychoeducational measures. As in other behavioral addictions, the most useful psychotherapies are: individual cognitive therapy, dynamic therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, group therapy and self-help groups.