- Technology is an integral and growing part of our lives. It is key for efficient functioning in many aspects of our lives and vital for social connection for many. Technology Addiction By Dinesh Bijarniya
- Hello दोस्तों alltechnology Blog एक computer और Technology विषयों से सम्बंधित जानकरी का ब्लॉग है, इस Blog के अन्दर प्रत्येक दिन Computer, Mobiles और Technology से सम्बंधित जानकरी Publish की जाती है अगर आप Computer और मोबाइल से सम्बंधित कोई भी जानकरी लेना चाहते हो और कोनसे मोबाइल्स नए आने वाले है, के बारे में जानना चाहते है तो हमारे Blog से जुड़िये और कुछ न कुछ नया सीखते रहिये.
Online gambling is another area of growing concern. A wide variety of games and sports betting apps are increasingly readily available. Gambling functions are also incorporated into other online activities such as within online gaming activities. While gambling disorder is not new, the increased availability and easy access via phone or computer are raising new concerns. (Read more about Gambling Disorder.) Online shopping or auction addiction involves an impulse, drive, or temptation to shop online and repeatedly acting on the impulse in a way that is harmful and leads to disruption in various areas of a person’s life.1 Problematic use of online pornography involves compulsive use of online sexual content, impacting personal relationships and mental well-being.
Technology addiction is increasing across diverse populations. The availability of online peer support and recovery groups makes connecting with others and getting support easily accessible and it can be anonymous.
This is a difficult but common question. The first thing to do is be non-judgmental and curious about your child’s use of any technology. Consider why they’re using that technology. What is the draw? Is the draw something social? Are they using the game or the social media application because all of their friends are? Also consider whether the use of that technology is leading to significant functional impairment.
Is it impacting your child’s grades or are they giving up activities that they used to enjoy? Learn about the technology they are using. If it’s a game, offer to play with them. If it’s a social media app offer to make an account yourself. Approach it first with a sense of curiousness, and open-mindedness. Try to create a space where the child feels comfortable discussing their concerns and experiences using technology and talk about the balance between online time and other activities.
There is no specific number of hours that is problematic. It might sound like a lot for a child to spend 2 or 3 hours a night playing. If that child is also getting good grades, participating in sports, getting together with friends and getting along at home, it may not be a concern. But for other kids, a couple of hours a night might mean that their grades are slipping, they are giving up other activities, and that they’re becoming moodier at home. That’s when you might seek out help from a mental health professional. They can help identify any potential underlying psychiatric concerns and help you consider treatment options.
What is technology addiction?
Technology addiction can be defined as frequent and obsessive technology-related behavior increasingly practiced despite negative consequences to the user of the technology. An over-dependence on tech can significantly impact students’ lives. While we need technology to survive in a modern social world, a severe overreliance on technology—or an addiction to certain facets of its use—can also be socially devastating. Tech dependence can lead to teen consequences that span from mild annoyance when away from technology to feelings of isolation, extreme anxiety, and depression.
What makes technology addictive?
Technology fulfills our natural human need for stimulation, interaction, and changes in environment with great efficiency. When teenagers experience stress, be it romantic rejection or a poor grade on an exam, technology can become a quick and easy way to fill basic needs, and as such, can become addictive. Technology impacts the pleasure systems of the brain in ways similar to substances.
It provides some of the same reward that alcohol and other drugs might: it can be a boredom buster, a social lubricant, and an escape from reality. Video and computer games, smart phones and tablets, social media and the Internet provide a variety of access points that can promote dependence on technology and negative consequences for youth: The Internet. The Web can be addictive as a multifunctional tool that brings us exceptionally close to an enormous amount of information at unprecedented speeds.
What are the risks of teen technology use?
While technology is certainly not all bad, its overuse can pose certain key risks, especially to teens. Technology can give students a false sense of relational security as they communicate with unseen individuals around the world. The speed with which technology moves makes everything a teen might be looking for available within seconds, which encourages an unhealthy desire for instant gratification. A slow internet connection or “unplugging” can promote irritability and anxiety for a teen otherwise used to constant connection through technology.
Sleep disorders can develop as teens stay up all night to play with technology, and as a result, academic, athletic, and social performance can suffer. Weight gain and other complications of a poor diet and sedentary lifestyle, such as cardiovascular disease, may result. In-person social skills may deteriorate. Even as healthy teens are challenged by increasing life responsibilities, hormonal changes, and the stress of new social and academic worlds like dating and applying to college, these life transitions become even harder for those wholly absorbed in technology. Within a technology-addicted individual, the mind becomes increasingly unable to distinguish between the lived and the alternate realities that produce instant stimulation, pleasure, and reward.
As such, the extreme use of technology can disrupt normal patterns of mood and socialization in teens. Dependency upon social media, gaming, or other platforms to function can become the new and unhealthy “normal.” Technology addiction and teen substance use. Researchers have found evidence that people who overuse technology may develop similar brain chemistry and neural patterning to those who are addicted to substances.
Another concern is that those who are addicted to technology are actually more likely to also use substances than their peers with healthier relationships to tech, providing the insight that technology addiction may be a risk factor for alcohol and other drug addiction.
One preliminary study found that a group of teens who “hyper-texted” were 40% more likely to have used cigarettes and twice as likely to have used alcohol than students who were less frequent users of technology. This same research noted that those who spent more hours per school day than peers on social networking sites were at higher risk for depression and suicide.3 It stands to reason then, that if we can prevent technology addiction, we may also be able to prevent other risky behavior and dangerous consequences to teens.