Dr. Sue Varma

And it's not that they don't value, because I'm just thinking about your mom at the dinner table.

And I would say, if anybody were to say to her, do you value the time you have with your son and your grandkids?

She would say, absolutely.

I would give my life for that.

They would do anything for you guys.

But they don't recognize that at that moment, they are hooked.

I hate to say, I don't use the word addiction lightly.

I don't use it lightly because it has, you know, in psychiatry, very specific connotations, but we can certainly call it compulsive or problematic use.

And what you see is withdrawal signs.

Like if you took their phone away, it's literally, they start to become irritable.

Most of us have the habit of sometimes walking into the bathroom with our phones, right?

Like it's another limp.

And so it's the extension of our body.

But that irritability, that confusion, who am I?

What am I missing out?

So with younger adults, there's this concept of FOMO, fear of missing out.

But with older adults, it's a fear of being isolated.

They call it FOBI, F-O-B-I.

And you might be like, that's ridiculous.

My mom is not isolated right now.