Most Overlooked Addiction
At some point in their lives, people have fallen to their “vices”
The most common and well known vices that could turn to a addiction are Drugs (Marijuana, Cocaine etc.) Gambling (Online Gambling/Betting), Nicotine, Alcohol and many more! [See the other types of Addictions here]
These are vices that are mostly recognized, that could develop to “dangerous” and “life altering” addictions. Some are even illegal such as taking drugs.
But mine isnt really socially frowned upon, and isn’t illegal either. In fact most people also has the same addiction as mine, but isn’t really just aware of it.
And it is Social Media and Phone Addiciton.
Pulls us from everything
Everywhere you go, if you just lift up your head for once, and not looking at your phone like everyone do.
Try and observed people.
Most likely, they are also looking at their phone, scrolling through social media.
Everywhere you go, instead of seeing people socialize, they are scrolling their Phone.
Even families eating out together, in fact we aren’t really indifferent. One time we are at a restaurant named Manam in SM North Edsa.
Right after we ordered food, everyone, including me, have taken out their phones.
From my Mom, whose playing mobile games
To my Dad scrolling through Facebook reels (most likely watching AI dramas)
To my Brother whose always talking to someone through messaging apps
To Me whose scrolling through Tiktok.
This old lady approached us, and tapped my mother on her shoulder, and pointed at us while grinning and said “Lahat kayo nag cecelphone ah” (Everyone are using their phone), and we all collectively laugh.
This moment, let me realized that although social media and phones are made to close the gap and connect with people who are far from us. It makes us farther to people who already in front of us.
MY JOURNEY
I have been open about my journey in my social media and phone addiction.
I have even published a Youtube video entitled “ADIK SA SELPON”
Where I computed and graphed my screen time for 5 months last 2025 and it came out that I spent
1,120 hours (approximately 46 days) on my phone in just 5 months, WHICH IS CRAZYY!
After that video and the calculations of how many hours or even days I wasted on that stupid addiction, you may expect that I have quit it right away….. but I didn’t…. but how did it come to this point? well, let me take you to the very beginning
The Beginning
I started this addiction during the beginning of the pandemic.
A teenager who has nothing to do. Isolated majority of the day .Nothing to stimulate his brain, turned to social media for cheap dopamine.
As years go by, it has became my coping mechanism to awkward situations, whenever I feel uncomfortable, a slight amount of stress, or when I want to bury a thought or a realization.
At first I wasn’t even aware that it was already an addiction. It was just pointed it out by a friend during my first year of college, when I told them how I barely sleep because of my phone.
It turns out, it was my coping mechanism when I was adjusting to my frosh year of college, where I would prefer to scroll social media than face the noise of my endless unrealistic thoughts and overthinking.
It even affected my academic life. Instead of listening to my professor whose telling us the important deadlines, I was too sleepy and my brain was too fried from the night long of doom scrolling to pay attention to him.
I failed to pass my final project on time, thus I failed.
I was so disappointed to myself that I underload two consecutive terms (17 and 12 units) to “reflect on myself and change”
But did I? HELL NOOO.
I just did the talk not the walk.
I just doom scrolled for those 2 terms.
I wasn’t productive
I was just living my day to day life as it goes by.
No hobby
No side project
Not working out
Just go to class (where I don’t even listen or pay attention to)
to going home right after to my condo where I doom-scroll and to repeat it again the next day.
It even affected my social life
It is the root-cause of the fallout of my relationships from friends and classmates, and to not giving not that much time bonding with my family.
I would even prefer to doom-scroll rather than to go out and socialise and connect.
This addiction led to my other 2 addictions, which I will share in the future.
But SOCIAL MEDIA IS THE ROOT OF ALL OF IT!
I Tried Everything
I have tried many methonds to get rid of this addiction and these are two of my notable attempts:
Wrapping my Phone Attempt [12th Grade]
During the College Entrance Test Season (CET) I wrapped my phone multiple times with cardboard, thick layers of tape, and thrown it out the window to force myself to review, which didn’t work because at the end of the day I just use my computer or my parents phone to access social media and doom scroll.
Most of the time I will create excuses to myself in opening it up again. In my last attempt, my father contracted somebody to fix our roof, and I forgot to get my wrapped up phone, I think they thought it was trash so they threw it out. I didn’t tell my family about it 😅
Locking myself Out [1st and 2nd year of college]
I’ve tried multiple screen time monitoring and parental control softwares, from the one that comes native from IOS devices to paying a ₱3,000 subscription to an app.
iOS devices have a native parental control software, wherein I asked my parents to set a password to, but as expected, I asked and even begged for the password for a reason I’ve justified to myself as valid in disabling it.
It went from worst to worst in my second year of college, where I was so frustrated at myself that I downloaded multiple applications just to block social media apps, but I always find a way to disable it.
Until I came across an app, App Block – Block Websites (not sponsored), that I thought would be the answer to my addiction, I thought it couldn’t be disabled if I paid a subscription fee, so I paid for it.
It cost ₱3,000 for a 1 year subscription fee, and it worked…. for about 3 days. In that 3 days, I wasn’t even sober from it. I’ve always found a way to access social media, like through browsers or I’ll download social media apps through safari, so technically, it didn’t work.
I was so addicted that after 3 days, I just decided to disable it, which is one search away in youtube and toggling a setting off my ₱3,000 app.
It becomes better
After I recognized it as a root cause of a friendship/relationship I truly valued. I know from right and there I need to change, so I did.
Little by little, I became better.
As all self-improvement journey, it isn’t linear. It’s more likely to be a up and down chart, but as times go, the ups became more often and the downs became less.
There are days that there are improvements and for some I go back to the habit I always cope to.
It turns out, the main reason why I spend most of my time to social media, is because I have so much time in my hands.
So I changed that, I pushed myself to join and be active in an organization (which is one of the highlights of my college journey), started side projects, such as creating content and reviving my blog website and many more to come!
In writing this blog, I realized of how many of my precious time, relationships and experiences I’ve wasted in this addiction.
My journey in overcoming this isn’t over, although my screen time has lessen this year, there are times where I relapse and still doom-scroll.
I will share my journey in living life again, and enjoying each precious moment, without social media with you guys, through my blog, STAY TUNE!
References
https://npistanbul.com/en/types-of-addiction
Clyde’s Note:
I am well aware that there are tons of grammatical errors, inconsistent use of words, and the story is all over the place.
I am currently improving my writing skills. I’ve relied to much on AI from my past academic years on correcting my grammar, I am hoping to improve it here in my blog, through time.
During the times where I will use AI, I will make sure to label it, like the visualization above.
