Doctor/Phycologist: Technology Addiction on Rise

December 26, 2010 Technology addiction is on the rise and parents need to be aware of their technology use as well as technology habits of their children. In a Web 2.0 world, technology addiction is a growing concern among mental health professionals. The symptoms of technology addiction are much like those of any behavioral addiction, such as shopping addictions, sex addictions and food addictions, says Dr. Jose Calderon, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. People who are addicted begin to spend time (on their technology addiction) at the expense of social relationships. They become more isolated and therefore aggravate those around them because they are no longer socially available. They lose sleep. They can barely function at work or at school. They cannot pay attention, and therefore their productivity decreases, Calderon says. They stop eating well, and their healthy habits change because they are sitting. They may gain weight, get carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain or attention-deficit disorder. Because they engage less and less socially, they drop their social skills, or they lose them, or they dont develop them. In general, this can define addictive behavior. There also can be biological components in the most severe cases. There have been instances, Calderon says, when people who have checked into recovery programs for their technology addiction have experienced withdrawal symptoms depression, anxiety, tremors, lack of sleep, sweats and headaches like those associated with substance abuse. Advice from Expert on Technology Addiction If you are concerned about technology addiction, create a set of rules for yourself, says Dr. Jose Calderon, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. He suggests: Set a certain time of day for using electronic devices. Limit the amount of time spent. Define your objective. If you are surfing the Web, determine exactly what you are searching for, such as the stock reports or information about elections. Set other strictures, such as limiting the number of times you check your PDA for e-mail, or putting a ban on text messaging during meals.

If the dependence on technology is affecting the quality of your life and the state of your family, seek out a 12-step program, such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Challenges Addiction Treatment Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is considered one of the top facilities for addiction treatment and the prevention of addiction relapse.

Lecturer/Statistics: Tech addiction symptoms rife among students

CBC News Posted: Apr 6, 2011 11:06 AM ET Students around the world were particularly dependent on their mobile phones, compared to other devices such as computers and MP3 players.iStockYoung adults around the world experience distress when they try to unplug from technology for even one day, a research project has found. "A clear majority" of almost 1,000 university students in 10 countries, including China, Chile, the U.K. and Uganda, were unable to voluntarily stay away from computers, televisions, cellphones and MP3 players for 24 hours, reported the International Center for Media at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md., which led "The World Unplugged" project. Many students also reported mental and physical symptoms of distress and "employed the rhetoric of addiction, dependency and depression," when reporting their experiences of trying to go unplugged for a full day. Participating universities: American University of Beirut (Lebanon) Bournemouth University, Dorset (U.K.) Chongqing University, Chongqing (China/mainland) Chinese University of Hong Kong (China/Hong Kong) Hofstra University (U.S.) Hong Kong Shue Yan University (China/Hong Kong) Makerere University, Kampala (Uganda) Pontificia Universidad Catlica Argentina, Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago (Chile) Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City (Mexico) University of Maryland (U.S.) University of St. Cyril and Methodius, Trnava (Slovakia) "Students talked about how scary it was, how addicted they were," said Susan Moeller, the professor of media who led the project. "They expected the frustration. But they didn't expect to have the psychological effects, to be lonely, to be panicked, the anxiety, literally heart palpitations." However, the researchers noted that they are not health-care professionals and the study was not intended to assess students mental or physical well-being. Ryan Blondino, a student at the University of Maryland who participated, compared the experience of going without digital technology to missing a limb. "I felt something very similar to a phantom limb, only it would be like phantom cellphone," he said. "I still felt like my phone was vibrating and I was receiving messages even though I didn't have it on me." Hannah Hoffman, another student at the University of Maryland, said she only managed to be media-free for a few hours. "I really didn't know what to do with myself," she said, adding with a laugh, "I was eating a lot." Moeller said that in all 10 countries, more than 50 per cent of students failed to go the full 24 hours, but it was "problematic to put hard numbers" to individual countries or overall results because of the different ways each of the countries reported their participation and failure rates. Similar around the world The study found few differences in the way students used and relied on digital technology in different countries, despite those countries' huge differences in economic development, culture and political governance. All students were particularly dependent on their mobile phones. 'Students around the world said that media and their phones, especially were both emotionally and even physically comforting.'Sergei Golitsinski, researcher "We were surprised, too, that again and again students around the world said that media and their phones, especially were both emotionally and even physically comforting," said Sergei Golitsinski, a member of the centre's research team, in a statement.

Going without digital music players was also very difficult students reported that they felt sad and stressed when they didn't have music in their ears, and found it "challenging to do anything and go anywhere." The students at 12 universities participated between September and December 2010. They were asked to complete an online survey about their demographic data and their use of media. After the 24-hour media-free period, they were asked to report any lapses or an inability to continue. They were also asked to discuss how the experience made them aware of how they used media. "They were not, per se, asked how they felt about the assignment about being forced to go without," Moeller said in an email Wednesday, "but many students volunteered something of the sort, along the lines of 'I will never do this again!' " On the other hand, many of them said they learned from the study that relying on devices such as cellphones "actually inhibited their ability to manage their lives as fully as they hoped," the authors reported. Some said they needed to curb their media habits, although they doubted they would succeed in doing so.

Moblie Technology:
http://technology-use-and-abuse.wikispaces.com/3.+Mobile+Technology Affects - Individual

Personal Let's face it: most of us are guilty of spending time online that we did not originally intend to spend, either chatting within social networks or checking email. We get lost in our world of connectivism. It is when excuses are formed from our habits that take us from entertainment to addiction status. Some common themes occurring with mobile technology addiction include:

-Avoiding or making excuses for visiting friends and family -Working and keeping in contact with work more than taking time off for friends and family -Continuous feeling of business or lack of time for self -Discontinuing things once loved -Finances in disarray due to electronic or mobile device upgrades, gaming, purchasing applications, texting, or phone use

Health Like any addiction, there is always a risk of health problems or consequences stemming from too much of a good thing. Intense eye strain, blurry vision, dark circles, insomnia, and various strains about the body are just a few of the symptoms. In fact, all of these issues lead to a single cause: Computer Vision Syndrome, which is becoming the new occupational hazard. Workers and students who stare at computer screens in dimly-lit or fluorescent-lit rooms on the job or at school are at the highest risk. Through repeated strain on the eyes and body, Computer Vision Syndrome can cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, premature astigmatism, and back spasms (WebMD). There is not much help if you are simply addicted to your mobile device, either. Many will turn off the lights to go to sleep, but instead pick up their cell phone or iPad to do "one last thing," adding further injury in the dark. Neck strain and insomnia are two symptoms that can occur with night-checking.

"Regression coefficients in the insomnia explanatory pathway from internet addiction to depression" by L.M. Cheung and W.S. Wong.

Affects - Society

Work Productivity is cited as one of the main factors of addiction within "E-mail is Making you Stupid." Joe Robinson explains that the user experiences a "switching cost" when trying to both check email and talk with a client simultaneously. "Researchers at the University of Michigan found that productivity dropped as much as 40 percent when subjects tried to do two or more things at once. The switching exacts other costs too-mistakes and burnout" (62). The lack of a community and overall communication of coworkers is also cited. Kate LeVan states that executives who are forced to do the majority of their communicating within email is disrupting their face-to-face networking as well. "They can't have an extended conversation for more than a few minutes...They have problems in conversation because they can't focus" (Robinson, 62). The temptation of mobile technology (checking your email, Facebook page, sending a quick text to a friend) has become so great, drive, performance, and community of

the workplace is constantly at stake, upping the chance that one will be reprimanded or terminated for being overly connected.

Community Consumer research is also noted as a potential threat within society; one in which we have yet to recognize or regulate as a "normal" addictive behavior. Hodis and Bruner's research, "Technology Addiction: An Exploratory Study of the Negative Impact of Technology on Consumer Welfare" suggests a different path than that of individual addiction; that it is not necessarily the fault of the person for being needy with technology, but the fault of society as a whole. Because we as a community and within the psychological world have yet to properly determine mobile and technology addiction as a problem, we will only further spiral into it with the mass creation of newer and better technological devices. The idea is to "sensitize researchers, policy makers, and practitioners to the idea that TA (Technology Addiction) poses a real threat to consumer welfare (Hodiz and Bruner, 840). Unfortunately, it seems that once a craze has started, the only thing that a company cares about from there on out is how much profit is had. Eerily, it seems this reeks of the same sentiment the tobacco industry utilizes; money first, consumer later (if at all).

Affects - Education

School Though technology is more commonly being used within the classroom, mobile devices, such as the cellphone, are repeatedly cited as annoyances and disruptions within class lectures. Students are often paying more attention to texting a friend or typing on their laptop than listening to what the instructor has to say. Students are also getting into trouble with their devices as well as the internet, using it to cheat on a test or plagiarize a paper, which can lead to suspension or expulsion. A few of the consequences of dependence are listed:

-Disruptive in class (texting, surfing) -Cheating/plagiarizing on mobile device -Failing/Dropping out -Unable to make friends/teacher connections/personal connections outside of class

-No extra curricular activities (sports, music, art, clubs)

So much recent emphasis is being put on instructors to become the parents of the educational environment; where is the line drawn between what a school teaches and what they should teach, in order to lead a student down the right path to success? What role should the college or university play in assuring that students do not become too dependent on their mobile device? What about those who do not feel it is their right or job to keep a student from personal effects?