I’m addicted to You

My addiction has lasted about 6 years now if the approximation skills I gained from Math classes are anything to go by. It began slowly and like everything else I own, I became clingy and unable to let go. Once you are mine there is no going back. Wherever I was, it was right with me, only the shower was exempted. But it visited loos with me. Of course I could breath without it but for whatever reason if I felt that it was too far from me, anxiety would set in and I would become worried. The frantic search that therefore follows to access it back, you would think my whole life and the next depends on it.
I’m addicted to my phone, aren’t we all?
Smartphones have been around for two decades(this is to say that I was born at a very good time in order to use them, forget the 21st century kids). Yes, I’m saying that they were meant for us brought into the world in the 90’s, the very late 90’s to be more precise. Thank you parents😊
I became an addict after I completed primary school and those few months before joining high school, there was nothing to keep me busy apart from a smartphone.This was also around the time I ventured into phone sex. Looking back I wish I had saved all that money I used on airtime purchases for my “adventures”. It was loads of cash which could be serving me better at the moment.
My dad warned me severally and the many times I was stripped off my phone weren’t enough to rid me off it. I simply couldn’t stop tapping away at the screen, scrolling and swiping. It was my refuge and I needed it 24/7 of the three weeks holiday we were scheduled to have. I’m that needy.
It got so bad there was the time I chose my phone over my family 😂😂. Dad had just taken my phone away from me the previous day and alas when he came home that evening, I had a new one! It was well hidden for a while until he abruptly caught me checking my notifications.
Is that a another phone you are having?
No…
Umeitoa wapi? Give it!
A friend of mine gave it to me..
Call up that friend right now or get out!
There was no friend. And there was no way I was letting my dad know I had used my savings to buy a phone so like the “rebellious” teen I was (only on the subject of phones😂) out I went. It was not until I was standing outside the gate did I realize that it was 8:30pm, I’m a girl and I had nowhere to go. I couldn’t call any of my many relatives, what would I say? I need to come crash for the night till dad gets that I own a new handset? It didn’t add up. It did, only most(all) of them would bring me right back home.
I was sitting on a large rock and the clock was ticking. Slowly. I was hoping and praying that the night would fly past and I would hear the birds chirping signifying the arrival of dawn. No tears were coming out of my eyes. I had to keep up the rebellion. Everyone else was having phones, why can’t I? My friends would laugh at me if I didn’t have one yet I’m in high school so at all costs, I was keeping the phone. Roof or no roof over my head.
I’m giving you ten minutes to get back here or don’t ever come back.
Make that 30 minutes, I’m a bit far from home.
It was now 11pm and I was plotting the resistance I would put up if any efforts were put up to take my phone again. 25 minutes later, I stood up and took the longest walk of my life covering the shortest distance ever. Surprisingly, the moment I entered the house, dad stood up and went to his room. I had won this one! It was a little too easy. From that day on, my dad took me as a lost cause. He accepted my addiction. He had already dealt with denial.
I’m suffering from Fobo – fear of being offline making me a victim of nomophobia. I’m not entirely in need of rehabilitation but in the near future, centres will have to be set up in Kenya to deal with addicts of the same. As an upcoming psychologist, I’m looking forward to be able to deal with this emerging major concern. That is why lately I’m trying to minimise the usage of my phone. I want to be a success story once you come seeking aid.
Ciao!