Media/Technology and Addiction
Recently, a study was conducted where college student participants were asked to remove all media from their lives for 24 hours. They could talk on a land line phone and read media if it was a paper book, but they were asked to leave their TVs, cell phones, video games, and computers for the 24 hour period. The study showed some interesting results .
Published by the university’s International Centre for Media & the Public Agenda (ICMPA) and the Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change researchers, the study found that nearly four in five students had significant mental and physical distress, panic, confusion and extreme isolation when forced to unplug from media for an entire day. Further, they found that college students at campuses across the globe admitted being “addicted” to modern media such as mobile phones, laptops, and television as well as social networking such as Facebook and Twitter. Also interesting is the report that a “clear majority” of almost 1,000 university students, interviewed at 12 campuses in 10 countries, including Britain, America and China, were unable to voluntarily avoid their gadgets (media) for one full day.” Andrew Hough, The Telegraph (A UK newspaper).
Another similar study, conducted by The University of Maryland, described students admitting to cravings, anxiety attacks and depression when forced to abstain from using media. Also reported by The Telegraph, one unnamed American college student told of their overwhelming cravings, which they confessed was similar to “itching like a crackhead (crack cocaine addict)”. The study concluded that “most students… failed to go the full 24 hours without media”.
Some interesting comments from involved participants in the studies cited above include:
“I am an addict. I don’t need alcohol, cocaine or any other derailing form of social depravity… Media (technology) is my drug; without it I was lost.
“I literally didn’t know what to do with myself. Going down to the kitchen to pointlessly look in the cupboards became regular routine, as did getting a drink.”
“I became bulimic with my media; I starved myself for a full 15 hours and then had a full-on binge.”
“I felt like a helpless man on a lonely deserted island in the big ocean”
“I wanted to go without technology for a while but I could not as I could be ostracized by my friends.”
Finally, in an article written by Gary Small, M.D. in Brain Bootcamp Psychology Today, it was noted that when most of us think of addiction, we think of alcoholism or drug abuse. But the easy access, anonymity, and constant availability of the media on the Internet, email, texting, chatting and twittering has led to a new form of compulsive and dependent behavior which many are naming “techno-addicts.” Mr. Small further indicates that, “the same neural pathways in the brain that reinforce dependence on substances can reinforce compulsive technology behaviors that are just as addictive and potentially destructive. Almost anything that we like to do – eat, shop, gamble, have sex – contain the potential for psychological and physiological dependence.”
Thus, it is important to note that if one is prone to addictions, it may be wise to set limits with technology. That is to say; sometimes individuals with drug or alcohol addictions or any other type of addictions can easily be lured into many more addictions through the gate of technology. It’s also of key importance to be aware of as we raise a new generation inundated with technology at every turn.