Smart phones, stupid addictions.

• Position: Editorials

Get this: People are becoming addicted to their smartphones.

According to a report from Flurry Analytics, says The Washington Post's Style Blog, the average mobile consumer checks his phone 150 times a day. A "mobile addict'' is defined as someone who launches apps more than 60 times a day -- 10 times as often as the average smartphone user.

The number of addicts is growing rapidly. Flurry Analytics said there were 79 million mobile addicts in March 2013. By March 2014, the number had soared to 176 million. Mobile addicts are growing at a rate five times that of regular users.

And that is causing many people a bit of grief.

A smartphone, for those of you over 55, is a cellphone that is also a mini-computer. It allows people to search the Web, run a variety of applications and text (the act of pressing both thumbs against a miniature keypad to bastardize the English language ).

According to Psychology Today, "Many suffer from anxiety if they lose their phone, even if only for a few minutes. We rely on it to do everything from saying 'I love you' to breaking up, from checking bank balances to investing, from sharing photos of the grandchild to sexting. We can carry out a plethora of daily tasks, right from the palm of our hand.''

So important have smartphones become, psychologists have coined a name for the fear of being without them: nomophobia.

Psychology Today cites a list of symptoms: You are anxious whenever your phone is not in your possession. You constantly check your phone for texts and feel compelled to respond immediately. You are halfway to the store, realize you forgot your phone and turn around to go get it.

Some people are suffering from phantom cellphone vibration. This is when they think their phone is vibrating and it turns out to be a false alarm.

Haven't we all encountered a person who is sitting right across from us, but is so focused on checking Facebook or texting friends, he or she doesn't hear a word you say?

Don't get me wrong -- technology has brought about awesome improvements to my life...