Switching-off their phones makes Indians bored and sad

When it comes to switching-off their phones, Indians might just snap.

Indians have some extreme feelings attached to the idea of switching-off their mobile phones, according to a study of 2,000 adults done jointly by smartphone brand Vivo and Cybermedia Research (CMR). The feelings vary from positive ones like relaxing and calm, to negative ones like isolated and helpless.

Two-thirds of Indians have never even tried a social media detox, the survey found. Among those who have cut off, more people associated negative reactions like sad (30%), bored (19%), or disconnected (7%), than they did positive ones such as peace of mind (18%), excellent (14%), or relaxed (12%).

The main reason for not wanting to switch off the phone is FOMO.

Indians spend a third of their waking hours—that’s 1800 hours in the year—on their phones, the Vivo-CMR survey found. Nearly 80% of respondents consider their phone a “fifth limb.”

Most people recognise the smartphone addiction isn’t the healthiest. “While smartphone will continue to be the primary go-to device, smartphone users have realised that periodically switching-off would help benefit their personal health,” Prabhu Ram, head of industry intelligence at CMR, said.

Over seven in ten users feel that if their smartphone continues at the current rate or grows, it is likely to impact their mental or physical health. One in every four users has experienced some health issues from too much of phone usage.

Compared to 10 years ago, fewer people meet family and loved ones multiple times a month now, the survey said.  A whopping 96% of people “prefer virtual messaging apps to get in touch with friends and family.”