Texting: Implications for health and social connectedness

To the Editor

Teenagers, adolescents and young adults prefer using available technological devices that grant access to the Internet over other engagements and work demands (Chóliz, 2012). Young adults use smartphones to send a mean number of 109.5 text messages a day or approximately 3200 texts each month (Smith, 2011). They receive 113 text messages and check their cell phone at least 60 times a day (Harman and Sato, 2011).

A 19-year-old student started spending around 8–10 hours a day on his smartphone. As reported, he used to receive 200 messages a day or approximately 6000 messages in a month. On average, he took 3–4 minutes to respond to each message, which amounted to around 10 hours a day spent on texting and related activities. He reported feeling a loss of control over his smartphone usage.

Dysfunctions arising out of texting such a high number of messages were seen in the form of finger pain, neck strain and sleep disturbances (delay in initiation of sleep of up to 2 hours or difficulty in maintenance of sound sleep attributed to irresistible urges to respond to messages). This problematic use of the smartphone also caused decreased communication with his parents, decreased time spent with his parents and a decline in academic performance due to a loss of interest in reading academic texts and completing assignments. He attributed responding to texts immediately with giving him feelings of wellness and social connectedness/gratification. Clinical interview revealed the presence of an irresistible desire to respond to these messages and a compulsion to engage in texting despite the problematic consequences experienced. The user was psychoeducated and motivated to work on the dysfunctions. Informed consent was obtained from the patient.

This case report from India highlights problematic physical and academic consequences caused by the excessive usage of texting via smartphones. Although there is dearth of research documenting the addictive potential of texting, such excessive texting behavior has implications for sensitizing young adults regarding the hazards of engaging in excessive use of communication technology.