Many studies have proven that more and more people are becoming addicted to mobile phones. This is due to the increase in the number of models, various services and applications offered with these devices. It became a kind of social malaise and a kind of mania.
The telephone was originally a useful tool for communicating with people at any time and at any distance, thus improving relationships.
Today the phone is with us all the time and we perform so many actions with it that the list of them will be divided into a separate article.
There are many factors that cause addiction of this kind of addiction, which will be discussed below.
Game addiction
Many of us spend too much time on mobile games. The developers make good money on this and try to do everything to keep our attention. They come up with daily tasks, various bonuses, add achievement tables and a multiplayer mode so that we can play with friends.
They stretch and tighten the gameplay in every possible way. As a result, we play anytime, morning or evening, sacrificing sleep.
More and more teens and adults are spending time playing mobile games at the expense of real life.
Wide range of applications
Smartphones have a wide range of games as well as applications for various tasks. Fitness and health apps, sports apps and so on.
Many people believe that logic games develop the brain. In fact, this body quickly adapts to puzzles and the monotony of actions ceases to have a positive effect.
Plus we spend a lot of time on them that we could spend on family, friends, or health-promoting sports.
Fast Internet
Today, you don't need to carry a GPS or a map with you. You don't need a portable DVD player or MP3 player as your smartphone has it all in a more compact form. You can also use your smartphone instead of a computer or TV, and with the growth of Internet speed day by day, any information you need is literally at your fingertips, that is, on your smartphone screen.
Photo and video applications
Users also spend a significant portion of their time in photo and video apps. When you have a smartphone, you want to share the interesting things that surround you. People even take pictures of food to post on social media. Are others interested in knowing what you eat?
Rather than enjoying our holiday in a beautiful tourist destination as much as possible, we are more interested in taking as many souvenir photos as possible. Various mobile applications for photos and videos allow you to spend a lot of time editing this material before publishing, which further exacerbates the situation.
Social networks
People have started using smartphones to connect with their surroundings for a long time. Communication takes place through text messages and the exchange of files and statuses in VK, WhatsApp, Twitter and other similar applications.
This makes people feel like they are more social, when in reality they only alienate themselves more from society. It is becoming more and more normal to sit at the dinner table and constantly check text messages, tweets and VK feed.
Conclusion
Thus, we can see that there are many reasons that increase the dependence on smartphones, with the consequences of which we will face in the near future.
These days, more than ever, there is an active discussion of the possible dependence of people on technology. Tech companies have even been forced to build special counters and limiters into their software products that would make us think about the time we use smartphones. Doctors recognize addiction to computer games, and it's hard to even imagine what will happen next. But is it really that serious?
Psychologist Christopher Ferguson believes that many of the claims about the impact of technology on the human brain and body are completely negligible. Moreover, he is ready to destroy several myths for us, based on his experience of working with families, teenagers, and their relationship to technology, games and addictions.
Many say the use of technology activates the same pleasure centers in the brain as drugs. It may be so, but these very centers of pleasure are not necessarily activated by something harmful. Any kind of entertainment leads to an increase in dopamine levels. This list may include delicious food, exercise, or pleasant conversation.
Enjoyable activities increase dopamine levels by 50-100 percent. Narcotic substances increase it by 200-350 percent. With this in mind, comparing computer games to drugs is like comparing a raindrop to a waterfall.
Technology addiction is not a mental illness
The World Health Organization has added video game addiction to its list of diseases. Christopher Ferguson believes that the people responsible for this decision do not take into account the possibility that addiction to play can be a symptom of other psychological disorders.
There are many controversies that prevent technology addiction from being considered a disorder in its own right. Many doctors admit this. In addition, people who are labeled as addicted to technology tend to be able to get rid of their disorders more easily than people with mental illness. It can be dispensed with without treatment.
Technological dependence is not caused by technology
Usually, discussions argue that people are attracted to the technology itself. Christopher Ferguson believes people are starting to shift their focus to technology because of depression, anxiety, and other issues. After all, no one thinks that people who are depressed and spend all day in bed have bed addiction.
With this in mind, it is worth paying attention to ways to treat technology addiction. If it is a symptom, then it is not it that needs to be treated, but the real disease.
Technology isn't the only thing that captures attention
At this point, Ferguson draws attention to the fact that people devote just as much time to other activities. For example, you can get carried away with yoga or dancing. You can get carried away so much that it also becomes like an addiction. By the way, you can find several scientific articles about dance addiction. It is difficult to provide evidence that technology is more addictive than dancing.
The use of technology does not lead to suicide
As evidence that the world of modern technology is causing us problems, some experts have provided data on an increase in the number of suicides among female adolescents. Not taken into account is that the suicide rate has increased for all age groups. Growth started in 2008 during the financial crisis. Perhaps there is a more serious problem in society that is overlooked in the heat of the battle against technology.
Scientists sometimes make dire claims based on little data. You might as well say that eating potatoes and suicide are somehow related. Certain statistics can be attached to this statement.
Of course, there can be problems with the use of technology. But many simply cannot imagine their work today without computers and smartphones, with pleasure taking a break from them later. There is a tiny core of truth in the discussion of problems and technology dependence. However, there is no reason that there is some kind of technology crisis.
Technology addiction
Why are both drug addicts and the computer public called "addicted"?
Clifford Stoll, astronomer and writer
Truck "United Parcel Service"» stops in front of the house, and you are at a loss as to what the courier Tom brought this time. Maybe another food processor - you already have two, but this one is definitely better! Or those fantastic shoes you bought on eBay? So what if they are one size smaller - they spread themselves ... You look after Tom and with a gesture ask him to leave the package at the door, because you are not going to jump up from the computer right now. The eBay auction is drawing to a close and you need these jeans! They are by no means prettier than your current ones - almost the same, but still a little lighter. Here are just some freak all day long lifts up everything and lifts the rates. This is the most exciting thing about the auction: to make others feel like they have already won, and in the last seconds, suddenly triple the amount. It was enough to pay only five dollars more than your competitor's highest bid, but they will finally know what pitiful losers they are! Three, two, one ... It worked! Now you are the proud owner of the eleventh pair of classic-cut jeans.
It's time to look for those lots that you are usually interested in: three types of shoes, four brands of clothes, porcelain for every day, porcelain for guests, ski suits, children's clothes ... Nothing that deserves a bet, the search does not give out. Then you go to your favorite online shopping sites: linen sale, lamp sale, furniture sale, but again nothing interesting. The clock comes into view, and then you realize that five hours have already passed! Husband and children will be back home soon, it's time to cook dinner. But, most importantly, we must have time to hide that box behind the door - whatever it may be. All hope is late in the evening: when everyone is down to sleep, there will be something new on eBay ...
When we say addiction, we usually mean drugs or alcohol. However, the same neural networks in the brain that turn people into alcoholics and drug addicts are responsible for the obsessive habits associated with new technologies, which are almost as addictive and, in the long term, destructive to the individual. Almost all actions that people like so much - eating, shopping, having sex, playing - can cause psychological and physiological dependence. However, the constant availability of the Internet and online anonymity have spawned a new class of obsessive habits that have emerged from the World Wide Web and other digital technologies.
Are we watching a new reality TV show or looking in Google the old, the brain and other organs automatically respond to the hail of new stimuli that rain down on us from the screen. The pulse slows down, the vessels in the brain dilate, and blood is drained from the main muscles. This physiological response helps the brain focus on mental stimuli. Due to the rapid change and alternation of images, our "orienting reaction" is replaced by feverish activity: we continue to look at the screen, but in the end, instead of a new dose of stimuli, fatigue comes. After such a marathon, the ability to concentrate falls, and many people complain of a feeling of emptiness - as if they were "sucked out of energy." Despite these side effects, it is difficult to resist the temptation of computers and televisions, and the brain - especially the young one - can easily become addicted to it. Nowadays, computer games are sold with a bang.
Internet addicts admit that they experience a surge of good mood, or "high", already at the moment of starting the computer. The peak of pleasure is visiting your favorite sites. If you are addicted to shopping, flipping through advertisements, pulling a credit card from your wallet, or being on sale can be a great excitement. The euphoria comes even before you take concrete action. This is due to special chemical processes in the brain that govern your behavior, ranging from subtle cravings for something tempting to full-blown addiction. The dopamine system in the brain is behind these reactions. The neurotransmitter dopamine is a signaling molecule that regulates everything related to punishment, reward, and exploration.
It is dopamine that causes euphoria. Alcohol, methamphetamine, or online casinos all trigger the same chemical process in the brain. The victim of addiction, finding himself without his drug, is forced to lust and seek it with obsessive persistence. When you drink whiskey or pay with a credit card, dopamine sends signals to the brain's pleasure center, causing the addict to repeat the obsession over and over again. Even if they do not give the same pleasure. Even if the victim of addiction is well aware of all the negative consequences.
The "rewards" of the dopamine system are a powerful force that even non-addicts are familiar with. Research shows that volunteers addicted to an addictive computer game play non-stop, no matter how hard you try to distract them. The dopamine system helps them ignore noise and discomfort. Older studies have shown that dopamine levels jump when eating and having sex. One can only imagine what kind of dopamine release is caused by an interactive computer game with sexual motives (and such games, of course, exist).
When an Internet addiction takes over a person, the brain's "command post", the anterior cingulate cortex, loses control over it. This area in the front of the brain is responsible for decision making and reasoning. To overcome addiction, you need not only to drive the dopamine system into the frame, but also to spur the work of the anterior cingulate cortex.
ON THE HOOK EVERYONE CAN GET
People of any age are susceptible to Internet addiction: housewives of 30-40, teenagers, 50-year-old businessmen, students, and even children under ten. Everyone runs the risk of being hooked on web applications. In February 2007, the newspaper Los Angeles Times published a story like this. An employee of a large computer company, who worked flawlessly for 19 years, was fired for visiting sex chats during breaks. The employee himself, a married man with two children, made the excuse that sex chat allows him to relieve stress, which has not left him since the Vietnam War. At the time of the publication of the article, his claim for illegal dismissal was considered by the court.
Many children and adolescents may not literally be addicted, but new technology is preventing them from thinking clearly. The anterior cingulate cortex in their brains collapses under the onslaught of dopamine as they text-to-speak with friends. SMS-correspondence while driving (especially if a teenage driver is engaged in this) is very often the cause of fatal car accidents. While SMS is far more distracting than talking on the phone, in the United States, as of July 2007, only a small fraction of the states declared correspondence while driving as illegal.
Executives have a special reason not to let go of their Blackberry - this is a game called BrickBreaker. Lawyers, bankers, and hedge fund managers admit they "got hold of the brick mania." The player moves a special platform left and right with two keys so that the ball bouncing off it knocks down another brick at the top of the screen. Many people share their strategy in chats, boast of records and do not hide their admiration for brick gurus who have scored more than a million points. Top managers admit that they play during "conference calls" and sports, and many were so addicted to the game that they had to remove it from their communicators because they could not resist the temptation to play in the workplace.
A recent study from Stanford University found that 14 percent of computer users neglect school, work, family responsibilities, food and sleep in order to be online. The Internet is becoming the main entertainment and source of information and may soon become more popular than traditional television.
It is reported that students who find it difficult to adjust to campus life are particularly likely to use the Internet to relieve stress. Instead of overcoming difficulties in direct communication with classmates, they find solace in social networks, e-mail correspondence, Internet instant messengers and chats. Networked life is easier to arrange than real life. More than 18 percent of students are Internet addicted, and another 58 percent complain that Internet addiction prevents them from studying and attending classes and ultimately affects their grades.
The addiction is caused not by the Internet itself, but by some specific activity on the Internet. People get hooked on database searches, online dating, online shopping, porn sites - or even checking their own mail. Others are kept online by online casinos, online trading, computer games and ICQ.
Even if you are not addicted to the Internet and related technologies, they continually lure you in - and may eventually lure you. To find out if you have this problem, it is worth taking a look at the Technology Addiction Questionnaire (see Chapter 6).
New technologies beckon us because they give us the illusion of being in control. The computer quickly and obediently executes our commands. We can turn it on or off whenever we want. And we can reboot or send to sleep mode. We are free to dispose of our network communication or, if we want, not to communicate on the Web at all.
However, for those who are addicted, this feeling will be deceiving. The screen, keyboard and mouse become a part of a person - a special umbilical cord made of "hardware" and "software", which connects him with the vast world where everyone is united by the Internet. Active users admit that on the Internet they feel anonymous and absolutely free, and therefore they are extremely frank and share with their Internet friends the most intimate details about their life - in ordinary, real, reality, they would never allow themselves this. Many people enjoy performing on the web on behalf of fictional characters. However, not everyone realizes that if you write on the Internet about your thoughts and feelings, this information becomes public once and for all - and is available not only to friends and family members, but also, for example, colleagues or those who will hire you for a new job. And, of course, people who do not share your interests. Blogging is becoming more popular, and now bosses are beginning to follow the diaries of their subordinates and do not hesitate to fire those who, with their entries, endanger the image of the company or brand.
Michael Hanscom, employee Microsoft from Seattle, once noticed that several computers were brought to a corporate warehouse Power Mac G5 production Apple. Even Microsoft and writes programs for Apple and just taking an interest in competing technologies, Hansky found it amusing to see the poppies on their way to his company's office. He posted a photo on his blog with the comment “It seems that someone from Microsoft got new toys. " He was fired the next day.
Both blogs and online shopping threaten addicts with a wide variety of troubles, not necessarily work-related. Addiction is not acquired overnight: behavioral features caused by the formation of a habit accumulate gradually. It usually happens like this: first, a person goes on the Internet from time to time, but the emotional response and time spent on the Internet grows and the brain needs an increasing dose of dopamine. Psychological addiction soon arises, which makes a person feel uncomfortable if he is not on the Internet. Then the person develops an addiction to the Web. Now the user feels the need to spend more time online and, possibly, look for more exciting sites. Truly addicted people refuse to admit that it is difficult for them to control their actions on the web. Even if they do not spend much time at the computer, their craving for the Internet interferes with leading a normal life in the real world - working, communicating with family and maintaining relationships with other people.
The reasons for addiction are different for everyone. Genes determine a lot. Someone inherits a tendency to "get hooked" on anything, and the Internet is full of the same temptations as the real world: there is also gambling, food, sex and shopping. Someone is looking for a refuge on the Internet from depression, fear, boredom or conflict with other people. Many teenagers become addicted to interactive online entertainment - chats, social networks, computer games - simply under peer pressure.
Addictive behavior experts say internet addicts are characterized by mood swings, addiction, withdrawal, and relapses (see sidebar). By some estimates, 10 percent of all users meet the addiction criteria, which are equally valid for pathological gamers, gamers and victims of shopping addiction. Let's remember: they are addicted not to substances - be it drugs, alcohol, nicotine or food - but to the process. However, if a drug addict, alcoholic or glutton, who has decided to fight a bad habit, hopes to finally "quit" with his vicious occupation (of course, we do not take food into account), then Internet addicts simply tend to go online less often. By the way, recently the American Medical Association recommended to further investigate the following question: is it worth adding Internet addiction and addiction to computer games in the list of official diagnoses?
PROPOSED INTERNET DEPENDENCE CRITERIA
The following conditions are required:
Concern: The person ponders about previous Internet sessions or continually thinks about when the next opportunity will be presented;
Addictive: it takes more and more time to get pleasure from going online;
Loss of control: a person is not able to permanently stop using the Internet or spend less time on the Internet;
Refusal Syndrome: attempts to stop using the Internet or spend less time on the Internet cause anxiety, irritability and similar mood swings;
Long-term Internet presence: a person regularly spends more time on the Internet than he intended;
In addition, one or more of the following conditions must be met:
Breakdown: Internet use leads to job loss, breakdown of close relationships with someone, interferes with career growth and study;
Disguise: the user lies to others in order to hide what he is doing on the Internet;
Escape from reality: On the web, a person seeks solace, hides from problems, or tries to avoid the difficulties of face-to-face communication.
Internet addicts tend to spend forty or more hours a week on the Internet - and that's not including working at the computer in the office. If you count how many hours food, work, commuting to and from the office, changing clothes and showers take, then four to five hours a day remain for sleep. Then the user will wake up and sit down at the keyboard again. When friends and family ask how much time they spend on the Internet, Internet addicts tend to lie and defend themselves. Apathy, depression, fear, anxiety, fatigue, irritability and blurred consciousness are common conditions for such people.
Internet addiction has not only a mental but also a physical side. Those who look at the monitor for too long experience tired eyes, numb muscles and often headaches. Letters appear less clear on the screen than on paper. The contrast of the monitor is usually lower than it should be, and glare from the glossy screen makes it difficult to read. Regular use of a computer mouse causes tendonitis (tendon tissue dystrophy) and muscle spasms in the hand and shoulder. Because both vision and joint mobility deteriorate with age, older adults are more likely to develop these symptoms, although computer abuse can cause them at any age. Recent work has shown that adolescents who spend more than two hours a day at the computer are more likely to complain of pain in the shoulders, neck and lower back.
OBTAINED BY E-MAIL
Now, when for most of us it is not a problem to get online at any time, many people prefer to get news not from newspapers and magazines, but on the Internet. Those same people are constantly checking their emails, while doing a lot of other things on the web at the same time. Mobile devices allow you to read emails during business meetings, corporate field trips, school football matches (where parents come to cheer for their children with their gadgets) and even during church services. Among the CEOs of companies included in the list Fortune 500, there are those who play golf, check their mail after each hit with a golf club. Moreover, some people only agree to take vacations where high-speed Internet is available at all times.
For many of us, checking e-mail is so addictive that it becomes an operant conditioned reflex - this means that the behavior determines its consequences (see Checking mail, you get intermittent positive feedback. From time to time mail brings good news: an old friend showed up, sent a funny one anecdote or an answer to your request that you have been waiting for. It so happens that the news is completely excellent: well, for example, a winning lottery ticket that you thought was lost was found in the laundry. However, more often letters come as letters, just boring, and sometimes frankly unpleasant. Or even spam. You can not figure out in advance whether you will enjoy the next check mail, so you check it again and again. Behavioral psychologists have described in detail how such behavior forms rewards and punishments. It turned out that only rewards in a row - that is, only good news - motivates worse than rewards, randomly alternating punishments mi. Like avid gamblers, mail users repeat the intrusive action over and over again because they hope they will break the bank on the next try. The neural networks of the brain are ready in advance for such a development of events.
E-MAIL AND OPERATIONAL CONDITIONAL REFLEX
HOW THE HOOK FALLS
Suppose you've read the first few messages, and there is nothing good in there: spam, unfunny jokes, a "letter of happiness" and a reminder of an unpleasant duty that you are trying to dodge. The thought creeps into my head, and not whether to send all this mail to hell. The faces below represent neural networks that generate negative emotions:
Suddenly a letter arrives with good news. Let's say you've been promoted. Or the wife says that the son has only fives in his diary.
A joyful letter will trigger a completely different mechanism: neurons will release a dose of dopamine. This will reinforce your habit of checking your mail regularly. Now you are ready to read more and more messages, expecting that luck will smile at you in the end:
The operant conditioned reflex, when a sequence of actions determines future behavior, is an extremely powerful mechanism. It manages dependencies and obsessions. Imagine that all your emails use only a "happy" neural network:
Then a new letter with good news will work much weaker: you will experience the same ordinary pleasure as from a warm shower or from withdrawing money from an ATM.
Despite the fact that checking mail is addictive, it has something to oppose. Addictive behavior specialists and health centers already offer all kinds of programs to combat the many types of addiction to new technologies (see Chapter 7). For example, in Pennsylvania, the author of many trainings for top managers has developed another "Twelve Step Program" to combat email addiction. His clients admitted: because of the mail, their performance decreases, and in everyday life problems arise.
COMPUTER GAMES: YOU CAN'T DO ONE
He took the skate to the closet, where a bicycle, basketball and soccer uniform were already gathering dust. Eleven-year-old Ryan hasn't touched all of this for weeks, if not months, apparently since he started playing the Game. Run out of school, somehow do your homework - and quickly to the second floor, where, sitting at the computer, he will turn into a Fencer from Farlander, into the Keeper of the Great Design. Many of his friends are here, and for them he is a god: only he, Ryan, has reached the 10th level. No matter how hard their friends try, no matter how many hours they devote to the Game, the 10th level is too tough for them. Of course, Ryan (that is, of course, the Swordsman) had to kill some of his friends, seize all their treasures and steal their bonuses for this - but you can't get away from this in the Game.
In the midst of a decisive battle with his best friend Dylan (in the Game his name is Titanus, the Emperor of the Mountains) Ryan's mother walks into the room and says it's time to have dinner. Ryan barely recognizes her - he plunged headlong into the fight against the enemy. The victory over Titanus promises him mountains of treasures and a few more bonuses. The thought that this will upset a friend and throw him back to level 1 is now out of place.
Ryan's mom, who is mortally tired of this stupid computer game, already regrets that she bought it for her son. She repeats in a louder tone: “Time for supper. Can you hear me, Ryan? " “Yeah, yeah,” Ryan replies, not looking up from the screen. “You probably didn't understand me well. I said now. " - "Okay, I'll just kill one bastard and come." - "No. You won't kill any bastard. Come on. Immediately". Ryan's mom walks over to the computer and presses the power button. Ryan jumps up and yells, “Mom, what have you done ?! I didn't have time to save! Now I'm back on the first level. " “I have a better idea. Why don't you be a normal kid again? I throw out your game. - She takes out a CD from the tray, without which it is impossible to start the game, kisses Ryan on the cheek and says: - Wash your hands, honey, we have fried chicken for dinner. “I hate chicken! - yells Ryan. - I am a Fencer! " Mom breaks into a smile: “That's great. You can cut up the chicken. ”
For many years, TV was the main entertainment, but today's youth choose computer games. The Interactive Computer Programs Association estimates that approximately 145 million people played games in 2006, or 60 percent of the US population. White women prefer to chat with friends on social media like MySpace or Facebook, in chats and Internet messengers; Eighty percent of online gaming audiences are young men, and not just teenagers: the average age of gamers is 28.
Online gaming sites are called "sticky sites" because players stick to them for a long time. A special study has shown: those who play Everquest(this is a computer game in the fantasy genre) spend an average of 22 hours a week on it.
Players move in a virtual 3D space, exchanging lines with friends or thousands of other players in real time. They drive racing cars, conquer fantastic worlds of the future, inhabit futuristic landscapes, or, conversely, are transported into the past. Many at some point even begin to identify themselves with the characters in the game. Having collected enough weapons and points, the game moves to the next level. Often, players escape to the cyberworlds in order to enjoy the power and power that are not available to them in reality, where apathy and loneliness await them.
For many, role-playing games on the Internet are becoming something like social networks, but only deployed in a fictional world. The relationships between the characters are transferred into real life and begin to supplant real relationships between people. Recently it was reported that a 53-year-old man (let's call him N) was playing Second Life fourteen hours a day. In virtual reality, he hid behind the mask of a successful entrepreneur, although in fact he worked as an operator in a call center (telephone support service). In the game world, hero N met a female heroine (who was controlled by a real woman in the real world). Their virtual romance developed rapidly, and at last the virtual heroes got married. The man claimed that he "really cared about her", but did not plan a real meeting with the mistress of his heroine at all. N's real wife complained that the game distracted him from family affairs and work, and their personal life was in danger of collapse. N himself objected that his real wife was simply jealous of him for the virtual one.
Games lure people into virtual reality and inhibit frontal lobe development in adolescents (see Chapter 2). The mechanisms of action of games on the brain are such that dependence on them comes easier and faster. During play, neurons release dopamine, so we simultaneously experience both intense pleasure and a sense of control over the situation. Gamers admit that virtual social networks emerging in the worlds of the game are a source of additional pleasure.
DEPENDENCE ON INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY
The Internet is packed with pictures, texts and videos on the topic of sex, and finding them is easy (especially if the computer does not have special programs for "parental control"). Even though only 4 percent of websites contain such content, at least one in three Internet users was specifically interested in them. 40 million Americans visit porn sites at least once a month. 35 percent of all files transmitted over the web are pornography. Someone is limited to sending emails with obscene anecdotes or pictures. Less innocent displays of sex are attracting a much larger audience on the Web. Online pornography impresses with its availability, cheapness and anonymity.
Although there is less pornography on the Web than anything else, it is nonetheless fairly well represented there. Search engines find more than 400 million pages for the query "sex". Dr. Amanda Spink and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania analyzed the patterns of searching the Internet for sex-related material - and it turned out that such search "floats" on the Web are longer than usual, and the chain of requests is longer. Of the 100 sex-related searches, 40 took more than 6 minutes. In other cases - only 22 out of 100: the difference is obvious. "Sexually charged" queries are usually simple keywords: "naked" (nude), "sex" (sex), "naked". However, if a person asks Google not about sex, then the language of requests (within one session) is more complicated and richer.
Cybersex is in demand even by those who have a partner in real life (for example, two lovers who live far from each other can engage in it). However, problems are inevitable if strangers become partners in cybersex or if the activity is repeated and prolonged. For those who are genetically (or for other reasons) predisposed to addiction, viewing pornographic pictures or exchanging sexually suggestive messages can become a habit. The availability of the Internet and online anonymity make cybersex an activity that can be difficult to give up.
Some "get hooked" on erotic photos and porn videos, others eventually become not satisfied with just having sex in the virtual space. Often, craving for Internet pornography is only one aspect of sex addiction, which can manifest itself in many ways outside the Web.
Sexually-themed images serve as a signal for the release of dopamine: this is similar to the neurochemical processes in the brain of a drug addict who has just taken a dose of cocaine or heroin. A sex addict is able to search for a picture midnight that works as it should and turns on the dopamine "reward system". The prefrontal cortex in such people switches to searching, storing and extracting information that can satisfy the insatiable brain, and it constantly requires a new portion of dopamine.
With about 70 percent of companies providing online access to their employees, cybersex is a headache for many employers. A 2006 study of over 3,400 volunteers found that the high availability of the Internet makes “sexually oriented” activity at work inevitable, and the more time spent on porn sites, the lower productivity. One corporate study found that 41 percent of those reprimanded for using their work computer inappropriately looked at pornography at work.
LAS VEGAS ON KEYBOARD
Gambling was addictive a hundred and two hundred years ago. Using this example, it is most convenient to explain the model of the operant conditioned reflex, where the main role is played by “intermittent rewards”. One single big win (behind which there is a fluke) forces you to make risky bets over and over again. Pathological gamblers often spoil the lives of themselves and those around them, whom they annoy with their monetary difficulties and mental trauma. One in four of the Society of Anonymous Gamblers complains that due to an addiction to the game, he lost either his job, or his family, or both.
Games and high technologies have existed side by side for a long time: sites where one-armed bandits have been replaced by sites where they place bets without leaving their homes. Illegal online casinos, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, are experiencing an incredible rise. In 2005, 4 percent of Americans visited online casinos, with 40 percent of them playing online for less than a year and 70 percent for less than two years.
When bets are made on the Internet, and electronic dollars are at stake, it is not as pity to part with them as with paper dollars. Hence the huge debts and excessive passion for the game. Online casinos are not very careful to ensure that all players are adults (by law, minors cannot gamble). At times, dishonest owners of online casinos registered in offshores instantly erase their site and steal credit card numbers, but there is practically no legal way to call them to account. Some sites add the term "compulsive gaming" to the list of keywords. This move is designed for players who are already struggling with their addiction and are looking for advice on Google - but they end up right in the online casino. Legislation can limit the scope of the industry, and US officials have become tougher to enforce existing laws. In 2006, Congress passed the Illegal Gambling Act, which requires banks and credit card companies to block money transfers in favor of online casinos.
Those who gamble on the Internet have a higher risk of gambling addiction than those who go to regular casinos. Dr. George Ladd and Dr. Nancy Petrie of the University of Connecticut found that out of a sample of 400 people, only 8 percent were internet gamblers, but 74 percent of those gamblers were genuinely addicted to the game. For comparison: among the visitors of ordinary casinos, only 22 percent are addicted.
Research shows that dopamine we already know - a small molecule to which we owe feelings of pleasure and cravings for new rewards - also contributes to addiction to gambling. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic and other medical centers recently published a study of Parkinson's patients who were taking a drug similar to dopamine. The drug eliminated limb tremors that are characteristic of parkinsonism, but several patients developed problems with online casinos and obsessive sexual behavior, as well as excessive online shopping. Fortunately, the symptoms subsided when the dose of the medication was cut for some and the medication was stopped for others.
SHOPPING UNTIL
The astounding boom in online shopping sometimes makes us think that everything can be bought online. Many are reluctant to leave their credit card number on unfamiliar sites, but sooner or later they trust PayPal or other payment systems, as the benefits of online shopping become apparent to them. You no longer have to painfully search for a parking space next to the store and lug around with huge packages. You don't even have to get up from behind your computer: set keywords, compare prices, enter your credit card number, and you're done. You can even customize the configuration to your liking - whether you're buying a car, a used refrigerator, or an engraved iPod.
Unfortunately, online shopping is quickly becoming an obsessive habit. Banknotes do not change hands, the cash register does not knock out a check - and as a result, the victim of a shopping addiction no longer feels that real money is being spent. Shopping on the web is addictive for the same reason that regular shopping is. Each new purchase creates a sweet excitement in your soul: the joy of anticipation is replaced by the joy of possession, and it is so difficult to resist the temptation!
Auctions fuel the brain with even more dopamine, and addiction sets in even faster. What could be more enjoyable to place a bet and beat the competition? Users eBay and other online auctions are easy to swallow the bait. The item you win is not nearly as important as the repetitive buying ritual that gives you a thrill. As with any addiction, it is difficult for a person to realize the problem before it turns into trouble in other areas of life - it hits the wallet, work and personal well-being.
WHERE TO FIND HELP
If you have a real addiction or are simply not ready to say no to individual sites, all is not lost. Experts agree that there are many ways to overcome the bad habits that we owe to the dopamine reward system. In dealing with extreme addiction, psychotherapy, twelve-step programs and, of course, the influence of family and friends are helpful. But if you yourself do not want to fix it, nothing will come of it.
In China, where, according to various estimates, about two million young people suffer from Internet addiction, special training has helped many thousands to recover. The government-funded Center for Combating Internet Addiction has relied on the carrot and stick method and daily exercise. Addicted people were helped to understand that they were not alone. Similar centers began to appear in the United States and Europe.
If you think that the Internet, computer games or other high technologies threaten you or your friends with addiction (see Chapter 6), then recommendations on how to resist this should be found in Chapter 7. The method is also suitable for those who have not yet become -really addicted, but spends too much time on the web. Other exercises for the development of social skills and the ability to communicate not only help people to spend time with benefit and pleasure without a computer, but also make their life more comfortable and harmonious.
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In The Matrix Reloaded, the hero says: “Some machines help us live, while others kill us. Curious, right? The ability to give life and take it away ... ”This phrase makes you think. Let's add a few more real facts here:
1.The UN has recognized right for access to Internet one of the inalienable human rights.
2. The best selling product today is mobile phones.
3. More and more business processes are automated and completely dependent on computers.
4. The most valuable brand in the world is the Apple trademark.
The trend is obvious - technology is becoming an integral part of our lives. The fact that we need them is beyond doubt. Today the question is different: Can we survive without modern technology?
Many have probably heard the joke: “ Wikipedia: I know everything! Google: I'll find everything! Facebook: I know everyone! Internet: You are nothing without me! Electricity: We would be silent ... ”We will not say what will become of the world without electricity, just imagine what will happen if the Internet disappears or GPS satellites stop working. How long will our Internet-addicted high-tech generation "last", how much we can endure their absence. The term "addiction" has recently been increasingly applied to technology. This is also a big problem, but we are not talking about that now.
Microsoft Office made life and work easier for company employees. They began to do much more work, or the same amount, but in much less time. But deprive them of this tool - and any employee will be in a pile of papers of unknown origin, and data analysis will become a very difficult task. How will people exchange information if at least one channel (be it email or mobile communication) disappears? When this happens even for a few hours, productivity drops to zero.
Leave humanity without television, and millions of people will simply have nothing to do. And it's not about those who work on television, but about those who watch it. People spend a lot of time in front of the TV screen. What will housewives who are used to their soap operas and cooking shows to do?
And what about healthcare institutions? Modern medical equipment is literally crammed with electronics, and even a small malfunction in its work can cost patients their lives.
According to American comedian George Carlin: “The only difference between us and the barbarians is electricity. Turn it off and we'll be back in prehistoric times. " Technology today is like a creature with many limbs. If you cut off at least one, humanity will have problems, and if several, then the very survival of the human race will be in jeopardy.
Perhaps all of the above is not a significant problem, and, in the end, people will cope with it, but only if some alternative technologies appear, which simply do not exist now.
Based on materials
The 21st century burst into our life very rapidly and brought with it the rapid development of computer technologies and everything connected with them. We are used to the fact that all our phones and important contacts are recorded in phones, computers, laptops and other portable gadgets. We rely entirely on technology, we depend on it. Count how many computers, monitors, telephones you have at home! Many? There are probably more phones than the number of people in your family, and everyone has their own computer.
Why are we so dependent on modern technologies and everything connected with them?
Problem
Development of addiction
Did you know that some video games trigger the release of dopamine in the brain? Recall that dopamine is also released during sex and eating, things that are considered essential for the survival of humans as a species. It turns out a vicious circle - games give an impulse for the release of dopamine, and dopamine is something like a hormone of pleasure (its narcotic analogues are amphetamine, methamphetamine, ephedrine), so later we want to get high from the game again and we sit down to play again.
But dopamine isn't just released when we play video games. Checking e-mail has exactly the same effect. Count how many times a day you check your inbox, even if there is nothing particularly important there? This is especially true of the sound signals that accompany the receipt of a new letter. You don’t know if this message is important, but you still itch to see what came there, even if it’s just another spam. It turns out to be a direct dependence on signals, and Pavlov's experiments with dogs come to mind.
While there were only desktops, the problem was not that big. But as soon as laptops, netbooks, smartphones and various gadgets such as the iPad appeared, everything became much worse, because now you check your mail (twitter, facebook, VKontakte - underline the necessary) not only at home, but also in transport, in a cafe, on picnic, wherever there is internet access. And now you can add mobile internet and WiFi here.
Information overload
We process three times more information now than we did 50 years ago. And it becomes more and more. If earlier it took a lot of effort and time to print a book, now it is enough to sit down at a computer and upload it to the network. Only now it is not only writers, journalists and various public figures who write, but everyone who knows how to write and read. Accordingly, now it is necessary to filter even more thoroughly and much larger amounts of information. And despite all this, we cannot even spend three days calmly without reading the news (especially those related to the world of technology), because we are afraid that we will miss something and will not catch up. As the black queen from "Alice Through the Looking Glass" said - "In our world, dear, to stay in place, you need to run, and to move, you need to run even faster."
Technological etiquette
In the past few years, "pocket" devices are being updated at a tremendous rate. Would it be correct to write even a short twitter post while driving? I think no. But some people do it anyway. Likewise, it will not be very polite to sit in the company of friends to bury your smartphone and read the news feed there or check your mail. Remember, you do not have to respond to all messages immediately. Yes, there are cases when it is urgent, but still reach out to check and answer. It's great when this is good news - share the positive with your friends, if all this is not very pleasant, then not only do you not take a break from work, but also spoil the mood of the people around you.
Solution
So what should we do to stop constantly staring at the screens and not spending weekends and evenings at the console, and finally start seeing and hearing the world and people around us?
Out of sight, out of mind
A common scenario: you take your phone out of your pocket to check the time, at the same time you start checking your e-mail, this entails answering letters, etc. As a result, a simple and short operation "check the time" turns into a whole set of operations that takes 5 times more time. If you pulled out your phone to see the time, try to do just that and nothing more. If it is very difficult to resist checking your mail, wear a watch on your wrist.
You are not a machine to do many things at once.
This does not mean that now you need to do all things separately. Listening to your favorite tracks while running can also be attributed to multitasking, but it is encouraged. But an attempt to simultaneously watch a program on TV or a film and perform work at this time is not very welcome. You will not be able to concentrate properly on work and miss the most interesting in the program. In the end, the constant combination of tasks will lead to the fact that you simply will no longer be able to normally concentrate on only one task. As a result, the work will not be done so well in a longer time. This also includes working on a computer on a project and simultaneously checking messages in messengers, twitter and social networks. For an experiment, try turning off all unnecessary things and focus only on your work. I think it will take you half the time than with the included instant messengers and open social networks.
Never apologize
How often do you apologize for not being able to pick up the phone because you were on the subway / walking with your child / exercising in the gym? First, you do not have to apologize for being unavailable outside of business hours... Second, it shows your addiction to respond to messages immediately. Stop apologizing. You are human and you just might not be able to do everything right now. Allow yourself the luxury of responding to a message when you have the opportunity and the mood to do so. Of course, this does not mean that you can safely ignore emails from clients during business hours. Otherwise, people may not have a very correct feeling that you can answer calls and letters at any time of the day.
Organize your time
We usually talk more about organizing our time than actually doing it. Start with the mail! Many email clients offer you very convenient tools for this business (folders, shortcuts, etc.). Google's "" will come in handy for dividing your messages into just "important" and "very important". At the moment, there is only a beta version, which is not available to everyone.
In any case, the withdrawal from being inseparable from your devices always and everywhere and staying unconnected for a long time does not go away painlessly. Get ready, in any case you will have a withdrawal and a slight panic that you missed something. But it's worth it. You will feel much freer as well the state of "always connected" gives only visible freedom, in fact tying us tightly to the technology and places of "residence" of the Internet.