How to end your addiction to your smartphone using Hong Kong expert’s 5 tips

Smartphone addiction causes family strife, bad sleep and other problems, says a Hong Kong psychologist, who has advice to break your habit

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Red lights shine on the ground in Hong Kong to warn smartphone-using pedestrians about traffic signals. Smartphone addiction causes multiple problems, and we should all reduce our use of the gadgets, a psychologist says. Photo: Hong Kong Transport Department

Published: 7:15am, 25 Sep 2024Updated: 7:28am, 25 Sep 2024

The bright red lights shone onto the ground at pedestrian crossings around Hong Kong so that phone-absorbed zombies know the “Don’t Walk” signal is active were billed as a public safety measure.

It was also, quite literally, a sign of the times, speaking volumes about Hongkongers’ deep connection with their handsets.

A survey released in August 2024 by Tung Wah Group of Hospitals’ Integrated Centre on Addiction Prevention and Treatment found that Hong Kong parents are struggling to control their children’s use of gadgets, resulting in hostile relationships.

The centre polled 712 parents of children aged six to 18 between September and December 2023, with 28.5 per cent saying they had overreacted to their children’s use of electronic devices with verbal insults, physical threats or unreasonable punishment.

Hong Kong parents are struggling to control their children’s overuse of gadgets. Photo: Shutterstock

Meanwhile, a survey of 1,000 Hong Kong residents by language learning app Preply found that 63.4 per cent were addicted to their smartphones, with 36.5 per cent admitting to using them in the toilet.

It also yielded information about phone users’ sleep patterns, with younger people more likely to use their devices in bed despite it being widely reported that using electronic devices immediately before going to bed can have a significant negative effect on sleep quality.