The Naked Truth | Sex or your phone – which would you rather go without? Expert relationship advice for those who said the former
- Couples often report feelings of relationship dissatisfaction, depression and attachment anxiety when technology interferes with intimacy, a psychologist says
- If you can’t turn off your phone, try making online time a joint experience instead – watch YouTube or play online games together
Banksy’s artwork Mobile Lovers, a piece that depicts a couple in a loose embrace while fixated on their smartphones, first appeared on a wall owned by the Broad Plains Boys’ Club in Bristol, in the United Kingdom, in April 2014. After the enigmatic British graffiti artist claimed credit for the artwork and donated it to the club, it was soon sold to a private collector for £403,000.
Nowadays, everywhere we turn we see real-life “mobile lovers” – couples staring at their phones instead of each other.
Dr Quratulain Zaidi, a Hong Kong-based clinical psychologist at MindnLife, says many couples are aware of their fixation but still cannot do anything to kick the habit. She adds that numerous surveys on technology and relationships have pointed to a sad conclusion.
“People would rather go without sex than their phones, which are often the last thing they touch at night and the first thing they glance at in the morning,” Zaidi says.
For some, this misplacement of intimacy is a slippery slope of distraction; for others, it offers an intentional escape from relationship pressures.
