Cell Phone Compulsion Challenge

A common homework challenge for Exposure Response Challenge is compulsion breaking around cell phone use.  While most modern humans have some over-checking with their phones, those of us with OCD can have critical anxiety behavior that revolves around this otherwise enjoyable device.  

One way to level set our compulsivity with our phones is to create a daily tally for the number of times we check our phone.  This includes a glance at the time (which often is a cover to see push notifications), or a deeper check of messages, emails, or social media apps.  This tally, which may be done over the course of a couple hours and then multiplied to represent the entirety of the day, can be a shocking number.  

While it may be anxiety provoking to notice this compulsivity around the phone, getting an initial tally will help decrease the behavior.  Each time we have the urge to grab our phone, we may take a beat to remind ourselves that we are experiencing a want, not a need.  The anxiety of the urge and the immediacy is related to feeling that we are missing something and not really to the pleasure of receiving notifications.  

In addition to this checking, clients have shared with me multitudes of compulsions around phones, such as: clearing browser windows, not allowing their to be red numbers over any app, never deleting texts so that they can be scrolled through to reassure themselves that they are cared for. 

The sum total of these behaviors reinforces the OCD core feas that our lives must be organized and precise or they are out of control, or that we are letting down those we love or ourselves.  

If you wish to learn more about OCD Treatment, contact Kairos Wellness Collective today.