A young selfie addicted lady who spent up to 23
hours a day online, is currently seeking help
after developing a painful disease caused by
hunching over her laptop. 21-year-old lady
identified as Michelle Gore, from Bracknell,
Berkshire, United Kingdom, who became so obsessed with technology that she took 200
selfies a day and used her phone in the shower,
has warned others of the dangers after
developing a rare medical condition.

It was learnt that she spends up to 23 hours
online every day and was thrilled to receive
some latest gadgets at Christmas of 2014.
However after spending hours hunching over a
selection of devices including a tablet, phone and
laptop, she was diagnosed with Tietze disease in January last year.

Michelle, who graduated from the University of
Bath in July 2015, said; "I would end up
spending the entire holidays glued to a screen of
some sort – whether it was watching a YouTube
tutorial to work out how to use my new phone,
or trawling an internet forum for tips."

"I was never without my phone or some other
device because I couldn’t bear to miss out on
updates from apps like Snapchat, Instagram or
WhatsApp. I’d be taking selfies all day as many
as 200 just to get the perfect shot that I could
post online.

And before I went to bed I’d play games on my
PlayStation or Xbox or watch Netflix, but just so I
didn’t miss out, I’d leave my phone on all night in
case a message came through.

I even specially requested a waterproof phone
for Christmas last year, just so I could stay online
in the shower."

Her Doctor said her addiction had put a strain on
her rib cartilage, causing the inflammatory
disorder which is characterised by chest pain
and swelling between the upper ribs.

"Sometimes I was getting just one hour of sleep
a night and that meant I struggled to focus
during the day. I’d take my phone to lectures
with me and found it hard to concentrate. As a
result, my grades suffered and while I got a
degree, I didn’t get the result I wanted.

I don’t know how long I can keep this up. I got
the shakes I am sweating and unstable... and I
am bored out my mind. I look in the mirror and I
am a mess...My hair is a tangled mess... the colour
from my face is gone... my once so lively eyes
never looked so lifeless.... it’s like staring at a zombie version of myself."

Now she is warning others about the dangers of
getting too hooked on technology and has
made a hard-hitting video highlighting the perils
with the charity Fixers. Recovered Michelle who
is also a graphic designer, said; "

I realised I had a problem when I woke up on
Boxing Day 2014 tangled up in cables from
different gadgets. I had the laptop wire round
my leg, my headphones around my neck, my
mobile under my pillow, my tablet charging on
my bedside table and my Xbox and PlayStation controls at the foot of the bed. I thought, "this
isn’t normal".

And when Michelle began experiencing
shooting pains in her back and chest, she knew
something was seriously wrong. She said: "I was
in pain every day and I was worried there was
something up with my heart so I went to see my
GP in January last year."

I was at breaking point so I confessed how long
I’d been spending on my gadgets. She said I’d
strained my costal cartilage from being in the
same position for so long staring at my phone or
hunching over my laptop. It came as a real shock
but luckily it was the wake-up call I needed to sort myself out."

Dr Richard Graham, Consultant Adolescent
Psychiatrist and Technology Addiction Lead at
the Nightingale Clinic, UK, said the addiction is
complex to treat.

"Unlike with alcohol or drugs, a patient cannot
simply decide never to use a technology again.
Instead, they must learn to establish a healthy
relationship with technology and that is the crux
of the treatment; sleep and Cognitive Behavioural
Therapy are peripheral treatments that treat conditions that can sometimes coexist with
technology addiction.

He added: "We need technology in our lives and
it brings a host of benefits. It can however, drain
us of our time as we spend more and more time
online. This can become a compulsion to
constantly be plugged in so that we don’t ever
risk feeling that we are missing out, or stepping off a ladder. The by-product of this is that we are
seeing an increasing number of young people
addicted to technology."