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Patients from therapeutic group on digital dependence ‘Delete’ show their mobile phones at a clinic in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: AFP

Digital detox: where Brazilian phone junkies get help for their online addiction

‘Delete’ treats people who are suffering from various types of dependency on digital technology

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Like many young people, 29-year-old student L.L. loves his mobile phone. So much so that his studies, his work and even his personal relationships have suffered and his phone eventually became a way to avoid people in the real world.

That was when he realised he needed help.

L.L., who like other patients asked that their full names not be used, suffers from a form of digital dependency known as “nomophobia”, a neologism derived from the term “no-mobile-phone phobia”.

It is a condition with psychological, social and physical consequences and is on the rise in Brazil, home to the fourth largest number of internet users in the world.

A man uses his computer next to a woman writing a message on her mobile phone at a cafe in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo: Reuters

In September, the student started on a course of treatment at the Delete Institute, the first in Brazil to offer a free digital detox to online addicts.

Set up in the psychology department of Rio de Janeiro’s Federal University in 2013 by psychologist Anna Lucia King, the Delete centre has already treated 800 people suffering various types of dependency on digital technology.

The profiles vary, from adolescents who spend hours playing video games on their computers, to adults who have lost a spouse over their addiction, or who were fired from jobs for spending too much time on Facebook or WhatsApp.

A woman uses her mobile phone and computer at a cafe in Sao Paulo. Photo: Reuters

Newly enrolled patients undergo an evaluation by a multidisciplinary team and answer questions to establish the source of their dependency. Afterwards, a psychologist evaluates whether there is any sort of clinical disorder present, such as anxiety, panic attacks, social phobias or obsessive compulsion disorder.

Afterwards, they are classified into one of three possible categories: conscientious user, abusive user or dependent, and offered treatment sessions tailored to their needs and the gravity of the case.

The aim of the treatment is not to demonise technology but to allow addicts to use it in a healthier manner.

High school student Mariana Alves, a former patient at ‘Delete’, at her home in Rio. Photo: AFP

In weekly group sessions they discuss their experiences. They are also given exercises – like trying to read a book or watch a film without looking at a mobile phone – and taught good practices – known as digital etiquette. The goal is to help a person go from an abusive user to a conscientious one. Some disorders may need to be treated with medication.

As well as causing emotional problems, nomophobia can inflict physical suffering on an addict.

The centre’s physiotherapist, Mariana King Padua, explained that prolonged use of mobile phones, and the angle of the users head when staring at a hand-held screen, can put so much pressure on the neck that it causes injuries.

“The neck muscles are not adapted to this kind of workload,” she said.

Heavy usage of technology does not necessarily make a person an addict: that only happens when their use becomes exaggerated.

“Abusive behaviour occurs when the virtual world starts to impinge on the real one, that’s when people lose control. It’s a fine line,” said Eduardo Guedes, Delete’s specialised digital media researcher.

File photo of people take ‘selfies’ with former president of Brazil Luiz Inacio da Silva. Photo: Bloomberg

The ubiquity of online technology and the penetration of the internet into everyday modern life can often blind people to their own addiction. Many times, it is the people around an addict who seek help for them.

That was the case for H.B., 24, whose mother brought her to the Delete Institute last August to treat her dependency on computer games.

“I didn’t even notice that I had a problem,” she said. “You get used to it, it’s difficult to stop.”

While nomophobia is still a relatively new concept in Brazil, it is widely acknowledged as a public health problem in countries like South Korea, Japan and China and is treated in rehab centres.

Both patients and therapists at the Delete Institute believe they can learn to live in harmony with the new technologies.

“I am getting better with the exercises,” said L.L. “The problem with intensive internet usage is that you end up neglecting other aspects of your life.”

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