195 - Weapons of Mass Distraction with Dr. Nidhi Gupta

Our guest today, Nidhi Gupta, was born and raised in India, but her passion for helping people took her on an expansive journey. After 16 years of rigorous medical training across two continents, she has offered her dream job in 2018 as an attending physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, in Nashville. 

As a physician, she saw the severe consequences of wireless mobile devices being overused by her patients. She noticed obesity, sleep disorders, and mental health issues, and realized that she was unable to truly help them until she empowered them with knowledge about wireless mobile device overuse and strategies to mitigate the addictive habits that come along with them.

Nidhi Gupta eventually bravely resigned from her dream job and launched Phreedom (Ungrip Devices. Grip Life). Over the last 2 years, the initiative has become an international educational platform touching the lives of her patients as well as various communities, schools, healthcare professionals, entrepreneurs, technologists, and more. She sure is making changes in a world where we are addicted to our smartphones and usually unaware of the problems that they create in our lives!

“I don’t think it is normal for us to hide behind our phones when we get into an elevator and pretend to be busy just to avoid making eye contact. I don’t think it is normal to base our own sense of acceptance and self-esteem on how many people like our posts or follow us on social media. My message is that this is not normal.” -  Nidhi Gupta

 

What we discussed: 

• Why Nidhi started with this important work in the first place

• Can cell phone addiction be as powerful as drug addiction? 

• Why do we check phone notifications so often even when we know there are none there?

• The difference between pleasure and joy 

• How social media affects anxiety and depression 

• What cellphone dermatitis is 

• How we can find a life/technology balance

 

Resources:

• https://phreedom.net

 

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