Digital Addiction
Digital addiction refers to the excessive and compulsive use of digital devices and technology, leading to negative impacts on one's physical, mental, and emotional well-being. This can include addiction to social media, online gaming, or constant internet usage. Symptoms may include withdrawal when not using digital devices, neglect of real-life responsibilities, and a preoccupation with online activities.
7 Key excerpts on "Digital Addiction"
eBook - ePubDigital Identities
Creating and Communicating the Online Self
- Rob Cover(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
...Chapter 7 Online Selves: Digital Addiction Abstract Much discourse about the personal – as opposed to professional – use of digital media is framed by concepts of overuse and addiction. This chapter examines the ways in which a concept of “Digital Addiction” is produced in academic discourse, news media, and contemporary popular culture. Digital Addiction is used here as a collective term for the phenomena of Internet/online addiction and addiction to electronic games. By showing how these are produced individually and together in the popular imaginary, we explore several of the ways in which the digital is likened to chemical, illicit, or hallucinogenic drugs. It is shown that this association is made through normative discourses that work through a reductive and oversimplified representation of a real/virtual dichotomy that favors the real as physical and local over the virtual which is represented as dangerous, false, and addictive. If we approach digital media and identities from the perspective of networked technologies as ubiquitous, the idea of addiction becomes not only outdated but illogical. Keywords addiction Internet addiction gaming drugs metaphor real/virtual ubiquitous use Moral panics around compulsive and addictive use of digital media have emerged every few years since the mid-1990s, building on older discourses around obsessive television viewing (and the social problem of the identifiable figure of the couch potato). Increasingly, public sphere issues reporting focuses on the imagination of Internet and gaming addiction, as well as crossing into various newer platforms of digital communication, most recently addiction to mobile devices. The release of Kimberly Young’s pop psychology text Caught in the Net: How to Recognize the Signs of Internet Addiction – and a Winning Strategy for Recovery in 1998 caused a considerable media flurry about overuse of the Internet and a number of public confessions of Internet addiction...
eBook - ePubThe Everything Health Guide to Addiction and Recovery
Control your behavior and build a better life
- Linda L Simmons(Author)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- Everything(Publisher)
...Again, the common theme is loss of control and negative consequences in one’s life as a result of the addiction. The Dangers of Technology Addiction Technology addiction can lead to other dangerous consequences. The speed with which technology moves makes everything available within seconds or less. This promotes a desire for instant gratification. Everything seems to be marked “urgent” and the expectation is that the request will be immediately granted. Sleep disorders can develop as a person stays up all hours of the night to play video games, answer e-mails, instant-message with friends, or download music. Weight gain and other complications of a sedentary lifestyle such as cardiovascular disease may result. Learning and practicing social skills with live people may suffer, especially in the case of children and teens who spend an inordinate amount of time in front of the television or computer. Technology addictions may also give someone a false sense of relational security as he communicates with individuals around the world whom he will never meet in person. Dependency is created, and when the technological substance of choice is removed or denied, withdrawal symptoms ensue. Frustration, anxiety, anger, and fear are common symptoms of withdrawal from technology. Essential Technology in the twenty-first century is unavoidable. In fact, most jobs and careers require technological knowledge on some level to function. However, the novelty of technological devices can stimulate an addictive response in susceptible individuals. It can be difficult for an addict to function appropriately with technology use, keeping it within the bounds of what’s required. It’s the Latest! Some individuals may become as obsessed with obtaining the latest in technology as with using it. It becomes a status symbol, and long lines may form with people waiting for hours in inclement weather just to be the first through the door as sales of the newest device begin...
eBook - ePubNurturing Children
From Trauma to Growth Using Attachment Theory, Psychoanalysis and Neurobiology
- Graham Music(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Chapter 12 Addiction, tech and the web New dangers hijacking old systems Digital worlds, new challenges These days the Internet and digital technology confront us with challenges unknown to previous generations of professionals and parents. Few doubt that technologies are changing lives, even if the jury remains out on its proven impacts. Cyber-related issues are growing apace, nearly all children and young people being affected, especially the most vulnerable who face new risks. Typical was 14-year-old Mitchell. He was living with his father, his mother having tragically died of cancer three years earlier after a long illness. His father had then retreated, working long hours, unable to process the death. Mitchell’s school work deteriorated and he became increasingly withdrawn. He moved in with his paternal grandmother, his father visiting regularly. Mitchell withdrew into his bedroom, immersed in computer games, and little could entice him away. He was increasingly unconfident anyway and socialising had little allure. When he transitioned to secondary school he struggled to cope with the hurly burly of a huge school and barely feeling held in mind by any of the adults. It makes sense to think of Mitchell’s gaming as addictive. Such games offer multiple rewards, hooking players with never-ending prospects of ascending levels and higher scores. We have known about the brain states involved for over 60 years. When rats found that pulling a lever stimulated the nucleus accumbens, a brain area central for dopamine release, they prioritised such pleasure-seeking over everything, including sex and food (Olds and Milner, 1954). Something similar can happen with games and other forms of technology over-use. In my youth, bored kids, including myself, spent hours in repetitive solitary games. I, for example, played imaginary football tournaments with dice for hours...
eBook - ePub- Tim Dansie(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...9 Counselling students who are developing an addiction to technology It is clearly evident that technology is having a profound impact upon our students. Today’s students have access to so much information at their fingertips through technology and devices (mobile phones and computers) – for many students, this is causing a problem as the dependence on technology is impacting upon their ability to function at school. We now have terms such as PMPU (problematic mobile phone use) and recently the condition of Internet Gaming Disorder has been added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. So, what can we do to help our students? The important thing is to try and understand the reasons as to why a student is so dependent on their device. Some of the possible reasons are: • Depression. • Anxiety. • Deficits in social relationships. • Shyness. • Loneliness. • Isolation. • Impulsivity. • Low self-esteem. • Emotional difficulties. For many students, technology fills a void or emptiness in their life. I hear of many students who feel comfortable talking to people online, but in real life they are very hesitant to engage in a conversation with a person they do not know...
eBook - ePub- Brian F. Shaw, Paul Ritvo, Jane Irvine(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- For Dummies(Publisher)
...You may get caught up for a time in this new technology until you restore balance in your life. With every interesting activity, there is some aspect of wanting to learn all you can, often pushing yourself to the limit, before you pull back and use the new technology in a reasonable way. For example, you may love your new camera, because it’s a sophisticated piece of technology that yields incredible images. If you spend hours with your new camera, discovering all of its features and taking many pictures, you aren’t necessarily addicted to photography. In contrast, addiction is a destructive and compulsive behavior pattern characterized by dependence, tolerance, and negative reactions to withdrawal. Learning something new and learning to use it as part of your life is seductive, but not addictive. Popular computer games What are some of most popular computer games that folks may be addicted to? Solitaire: A card game sorting into the categories of hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs. The Sims: You help your characters cope with everyday life in the suburbs. There is no winning and losing. You just try to keep your Sims alive, happy, and entertained. City of Heroes: A multiplayer online role-playing game. Far Cry: A detailed action shooter combat game. Lord of the Realm: A medieval game of warfare and politics. Unreal Tournament: A gladiator game. Universal Combat: An epic space battle. An example of computer addiction You know you’re addicted when your life is out of control. Barbara was an expert games player. She loved playing and started most afternoons before the kids came home from school. Over time, she played when the kids were home and even late into the night, long after her husband had gone to bed. Barbara interspersed her game playing by exchanging instant messages with newfound computer friends. She liked herself during these times. She was a skilled player and liked the social contact of messaging...
eBook - ePubSafeguarding Children and Young People Online
A Guide for Practitioners
- Megele, Claudia(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Policy Press(Publisher)
...From a safeguarding perspective, although the evidence from psychology and psychiatry can help inform practice, practitioners should avoid medicalising the problem, and instead adopt an evidence-informed humanistic and person-centred approach to practice. Therefore, in this chapter we examine the challenges of excessive and problematic use of online media followed by a discussion of gaming and gambling and their implications for safeguarding from a psychosocial and evidence-informed perspective. Changing and challenging context and concept The advent of Web 2.0 and social technologies and social networking sites (SNS), such as Facebook in 2004 and Twitter in 2006, combined with 24-hour connectivity and developments in mobile technologies, have weaved the use of social media into the fabric of people’s experience. Indeed, social technologies permeate and influence every phase and aspect of everyday life from home to work, from education to entertainment, and from shopping to personal and healthcare, and so on. The increasing convergence of technology, media, content, contact and devices are worlds apart from the dial-up internet access described in Young’s (1996) initial case study, and pose new questions and challenges with regards to any possible definition of ‘internet addiction’. Therefore, while recognising the challenges of excessive or problematic use of online media, it is important to note that any such indications should be considered as a question of the quality of the individual’s engagement within the context of the 10 C’s psycho-socio-ecological model rather than the sheer amount of time they are connected to the internet...
eBook - ePubBehavioral Addictions
Criteria, Evidence, and Treatment
- Kenneth Paul Rosenberg MD, Laura Curtiss Feder PsyD(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
...Due to the increased use of the Internet over the past 15 years, IAD has attracted attention of researchers and clinicians in the field. Young (1998) and Griffiths (1998, 2000) were the first who defined IAD and have done extensive research. Internet addiction has also attracted increasing coverage in the popular media and among researchers, and this attention has paralleled the growth in computer use and Internet access (Shaw & Black, 2008). Phenomenologically, there appear to be at least three IAD subtypes: excessive gaming-gambling, sexual preoccupations (cybersex), and socializing or social networking, including e-mail and messaging. Internet addicts may use the Internet for extended periods, isolating themselves from other forms of social contact, and focus almost entirely on the Internet rather than broader life events. Adolescents with problematic Internet use showed dysfunctional coping strategies with problems in school and home and showed worse interpersonal relations (Milani, Osualdella, & Di Blasio, 2009). IAD can also be explained by a need to “escape from oneself,” which may account for the excessive playing of Internet games (Kwon, Chung, & Lee, 2011). There are multiple proposed explanations for IAD (Dell’Osso, Altamura, Allen, Marazziti, & Hollander, 2006). Some researchers have considered IAD as part of the Impulse-Control Disorder and/or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder models. These models are supported by brain-imaging and pharmacological (SSRI) treatment studies. IAD was also suggested to be included in the Behavioral Addiction spectrum because it shows the features of excessive use, despite adverse consequences, withdrawal phenomena, and tolerance that characterize many substance use disorders; however, there are few data bearing on these claims...
