Moodoff Day 2013 Raises Awareness

Online, January 20, 2013 (Newswire.com) - The dangers of smartphone addiction are well documented, but few address the problem. Tapas Senapati is providing smartphone users around the world with the opportunity to bring awareness to the problem by turning off technology for five hours during International Moodoff Day on Feb. 24, 2013. This year's slogan is "Smart hours for smart people without smartphones".

The Sydney, Australia-based non-profit organization is asking smartphone users around the globe to stop using their devices for five hours on Feb. 24. Participants are asked to enjoy a morning without technology by having breakfast and reconnecting with family and friends for a few hours before browsing taking to their smartphones on Moodoff Day.

Now in its second year, the movement has gained massive support in dozens of countries from Australia, the UK and South Africa to Singapore, Germany, India and the United States. Moodoff Day highlights the obsession many users have with their smartphones and texting while driving. The organization also supports the efforts of U.S. residents, Clay and Shauna Sauer, to enact a ban on driving and texting. The couple lost their daughter, Taylor, in a horrific accident shortly after she updated her Facebook status.

Moodoff Day founder Tapas Senapati is uniquely qualified to have created Moodoff Day. He's a self-professed smartphone addict who recognized the toll the device has taken on his life. Through the technology of smartphones, the world is virtually at a user's fingertips. Mobile devices provide users with necessary and useful information, but it is humankind's vulnerability to addictive behavior that represents a clear danger.

In an era of instant communications and a wealth of social media sites, smartphone users are constantly surfing the Web, texting and updating their social media status. Many with an addiction are in denial about their dependency, despite the inability to be separated from their smartphone. Addicts compulsively check their mobile devices the moment they wake and it's the last thing before they sleep.

A 2012 Pew Research Center survey showed that 46 percent of all adults in the US own a smartphone, with 44 percent exhibited extreme separation anxiety when faced with time without their smartphone. Those who have acknowledged their addiction and shelved the phone experienced phantom vibration symptoms.

Much like a drug addict or alcoholic, even though smartphone users are aware that they're endangering their lives by texting and driving, they can't stop. Those with a smartphone addiction are unable to eat a meal or sit through a movie without checking their mobile device.

The 2013 international Moodoff Day calls for "Smart hours for smart people without smartphones" a stint of five hours without their beloved devices on February 24th in order to raise awareness of the dangers of smartphone addiction and the deadly consequences of texting and driving.

To get involved register on the official www.moodoffday.org website and follow the event on Facebook and Twitter.