Answer Addiction

Tag: digital addiction

  • Expert Offers Helpful Tips For How To Manage Digital Distractions

    Expert Offers Helpful Tips For How To Manage Digital Distractions

    “There are only three reasons for a distraction. An internal trigger, an external trigger or a planning problem,” says Nir Eyal.

    In the past, Nir Eyal has worked with apps and tech companies to help hook consumers. But now, the behavioral scientist and author of Indistractable: How To Control Your Attention And Choose Your Life, is sharing how to dodge distraction in the digital age. 

    He Knows How To Hook Consumers On Products

    In tech and advertising circles, Eyal is known for his first book, Hooked: How To Build Habit Forming Products. In the book, he details the “hook model,” which leads a consumer to use a product by creating a connection between a product and emotional triggers.

    However, he tells The Guardian, this wasn’t necessarily a negative thing as it encouraged companies to improve the lives of consumers. 

    Now, he tells the Guardian, people need to stop associating the word “addicted” with technology, as most people simply overuse it. 

    “Addiction, in people’s minds, means mind control,” he explained. “When you tell yourself, this is addicting me, this is hijacking my brain… you slough off responsibility. It’s called learned helplessness.”

    Comic Books Vs Tech

    Eyal compares the current buzz around the pitfalls of technology with that of comic books years ago.

    “In the 1950s, fearmongers were saying the exact same thing about comic books, literally verbatim: it’s reducing kids’ attention spans; it’s causing them to commit suicide; it’s leading to mental health issues,” he said.

    What it really comes down to, Eyal says, is distraction as a result of technology. His new book offers various pointers for managing such external distractions, and encourages readers to examine their internal triggers for turning to distractions.

    One method Eyal recommends is called “timeboxing,” in which every moment of a day is planned out. If an urge to turn to a distraction arises, Eyal encourages readers to examine what is causing it.

    “There are only three reasons for a distraction,” he notes. “An internal trigger, an external trigger or a planning problem.”

    When an urge to follow a distraction arises, Eyal recommends determining what emotion promoted that distraction and to write it down. Then, he says, spend 10 minutes doing what he calls “surfing the urge.” In other words, don’t give in to the distraction and instead determine why you are experiencing the feelings you are. However, he says, if that time passes and a person still wants to give in to the distraction, then they should.

    Another aspect of technology Eyal zeroes in on is email, which he refers to as the “mother of all habit-forming products.”

    And, Eyal notes, it’s often a waste of time. He refers to a study which found that 25% of a person’s time on email is spent reading messages that should not have been sent and 25% is responding to items not requiring a response.

    To combat this, Eyal recommends setting aside specific times each day to check email and sorting them by urgency.

    Additional time management strategies he recommends are utilizing apps and add-ons that allow you to block certain websites, or scheduling time to work with peers and keep each other accountable.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Digital Detox: I Gave Up My Smartphone for 22 Days

    Digital Detox: I Gave Up My Smartphone for 22 Days

    I had no idea how much of an Internet world I’d been living in, comparing my own Internet life with other Internet lives. Compulsively engaging with our smartphones distorts our self-image and objectivity.

    The idea to give up my phone came to me one day when I saw Facebook posts about the 10th anniversary of the death of 21-year-old Casey Feldman, who was killed by a distracted driver. I wanted to do something special to commemorate this, and then realized her anniversary was 22 days before my dad’s. He was also killed by a driver using a phone.

    I announced it on Instagram, knowing I wouldn’t open the app for three weeks to see anyone’s reaction to it: 

    “Because I believe distracted driving starts even before we get into a car, I’ve decided to go on a smartphone cleanse for 22 days every year, starting this year. That means the only phone use I will have is what it was built for—phone calls (and of course, not while driving—hands-free is risk-full!). I hope some of you will join me in this phone-free detox. I’m giving up apps, Instagram, music, podcasts, texting, whatever my phone does that puts it between my eyes and the world, for 22 days every year to honor two very special people who died because of it. I imagine my life will be much friendlier and more productive as a result. We’ll see. I’ll report back here on August 8. Good luck to those of you who join me.”

    Nothing could have prepared me for what came next.

    Week One

    It’s only been six days since I decided to go phone-free (except for calls) for a month, and I’m already happier. On Sunday night, I saw this beautiful sunset and was disappointed in myself when my first instinct was “must post photo of gorgeous sunset”…and of course I couldn’t, because I couldn’t use my phone, not even to take photos. Then I got really happy because I realized I was actually LIVING the sunset, something the compulsion to document everything can interfere with. Also, no more comparing my life to other people’s lives on Instagram or Facebook, and that’s bound to raise someone’s happiness level. 

    I’ve cheated a few times when I had no other option, like when my train was coming and I didn’t have time to buy a ticket. But other than these times, I’ve fought every urge to look at it. If someone texts me who doesn’t know about my cleanse, I politely text back but keep it short. No more novel-long texting sessions, which I’m realizing are nowhere near as effective or connective as a simple phone call. 

    I’m also more present and creative. Ideas for my writing have come to me more clearly—I feel less lost in structuring stories because my brain is more present and I’ve got plenty of time to think about it. I’m more present in pretty much everything I do. There is a clear line now between being on a computer and being out in the world, just like there used to be, before smartphones.

    My conversations are better. Because I’m more present when I’m by myself (i.e., not reading my phone), I’m also more present when I’m with others. I’m a better listener and my stories are better (or so I’m told). I’m operating at peak capacity instead of whatever percentage I was at before. And I’m hella more productive! When I’m sitting at a desk, my brain gets it that this is “work time.” There is a balance, a dividing line between work and rest. 

    In short: Life is so much better. Yes, I’m getting pretty bad FOMO. I guess I just have to trust that whatever I’m missing probably isn’t all that important. And there are still analog ways to do things, we can still exist in the world without being connected 24-7. When I see other people on their phones for entire train rides or walking around (or tonight, when I saw a guy straight-up watching a movie on his phone with giant headphones while RIDING A BIKE), I feel bad for them. I think, Man, I’m sorry life is so uninteresting to you that you have to do this. 

    None of this even begins to address people who have to stay on their phones while driving, the catalyst for my doing this. But I’m beginning to see why the addiction is so hard for them to break. If they weren’t addicted, putting a phone aside would feel like nothing. 

    Week Two

    I’ve had moments during the past week where I felt tempted to use my phone. I did have a few exceptions this week, like brief texts with a friend I was meeting for dinner who didn’t know about the cleanse and emailing a work contact when an assignment was suddenly due. And I’ve used my phone for my alarm clock. 

    But other than that, I haven’t used it at all.

    This means no Googling when I want to know about something. I have to actually think things through and surmise an answer. Not feeling like this gadget requires my constant attention is tremendously freeing. I hadn’t realized how much mental energy I’d been needlessly devoting to it all this time.

    Another interesting development: My animosity towards just about anyone has softened. If someone says something I perceive as troubling, I give them the benefit of the doubt. I’m noticing that with the lack of phone interaction (texts, social media, etc.), I’m thinking in a more civilized manner. I greatly prefer this way of relating—one that allows for shades of gray in people’s motivations. 

    On the flipside, I’ve had a few moments of anxiety that surprised me. I found myself crying profusely twice and feeling great panic and overwhelm a few others. I realized that in my regular life, these emotions are being suppressed. The panic is coming from just plain existing without being able to distract myself with my electronic pacifier. And that’s scary—what other emotions has my smartphone been repressing all this time? 

    Cognitively things are better, too. Creative problems are solved faster. I have more faculties available to me and can think more deeply about them. My vocabulary is better and I have better access to my subconscious, so a writing problem I was struggling with for a year has now been solved. 

    I also suddenly have more hours in a day. Not stopping to photograph everything and then sharing it means I get to experience the thing fully, just by myself or with whoever is next to me, and I get to experience twice as many of those things. 

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that sharing things via your phone is a waste of time. Like everything, it’s meant to be a tool to enhance your life, not escape it.

    I had no idea how much of an Internet world I’d been living in, comparing my own Internet life with other Internet lives. It seriously distorts your self-image and objectivity—and sense of gratitude. I am so grateful now for my wonderful life, one I am living, through my own eyes, and not through a screen any longer.

    I can’t wait to see what the next 11 days bring.

    Week Three

    Of course I would manage to schedule driving somewhere new smack in the middle of my 22-day smartphone cleanse. I was invited to speak on a podcast today an hour and a half away.

    When I set out to make the drive, I figured I wouldn’t need GPS at all. It was a straight shoot down the Garden State Parkway, with only two turns at the end. But then I needed to stop for gas. 

    I’d been rehearsing in my head things I might say during the podcast—like how bad technology is for us. And then technology saved me. I turned too soon, into a car wash instead of the Lukoil, and I couldn’t see any way for me to get over there. I pulled over into a gravelly parking lot, put the car in Park, and opened my GPS. It rerouted me and got me where I needed to be. 

    Using GPS is okay. It’s interacting with GPS while driving that’s not. I emailed my podcast hosts to tell them what happened while I was sitting in my parked car at the gas station, which was safe. Doing that while driving would not have been.

    Week Four: The Aftermath

    I’ve been allowing myself all smartphone privileges again for six days now, and it’s been really weird.

    Thursday, the anniversary of my dad’s death, was the last day of my 22-day smartphone cleanse. I experienced it far differently than I have in years past—mostly because I didn’t wake up thinking, What should I write about this on social media? Instead, I talked with my family about it, on the actual phone. There is something about sharing these things online that isn’t sufficient—it almost dissipates the weight of this very private thing. Plus, the responses you get from strangers can never equal the heartfelt responses you get from people who were actually there. 

    On Saturday, just before my cleanse ended, I was walking around my neighborhood and noticed another development—I was looking around more. I was seeing more of my world because the tunnel vision I’d developed from looking at a small screen all the time had gone away. Even six days back from the cleanse, I haven’t returned to it.

    My first time looking at my phone for longer than five minutes was last night. I could feel the addiction start to take hold again, so I imagined a giant X over the phone when I went to bed. After I set my alarm, I flipped it over so I couldn’t see the screen. When I woke up and checked the time, I saw someone had texted me but decided I wouldn’t respond until I’d gotten to work—in fact I wouldn’t use my phone at all until I got to work, just like I did during the cleanse. I’m going to keep doing this.

    One Month Post-Cleanse

    It’s now been four weeks since the end of my experiment, and I’m still not back to using my phone like I was. I don’t use it until I get to work, and I don’t use it after I get into bed at night. I also haven’t gone back to listening to music on my phone. Early on, I realized I wouldn’t be able to make it through the cleanse without music, so I switched to using my iPod. Turns out the audio quality is much better. Plus just listening to music is more enjoyable when you’re not also checking email and reading texts.

    The hardest part is when I can’t sleep. In the past, I’d scroll with my brightness dimmed, hiding the phone below the mattress so as not to wake my husband (an incredibly light sleeper). But now I picture that giant red X over the flipped-over phone along with a big circle around it, “no smoking”-style. And that seems to help.

    Engaging with our smartphones is a never-ending cycle that starts with good intentions. We check it to be sure family members are okay. Next thing we know, we’re checking for texts from our mothers, then work email, then texts and email from friends, then all our various social media accounts. We have our calendars and exercise and music on our phones. And then we’ve got the devastating 24-hours news cycle and you-know-who’s Twitter account. The result is we’re chronically feeling bad about ourselves. 

    We feel like we’re never enough.

    And then before we know it, we’re compulsively checking while driving—when the most compassionate thing we could do for ourselves, our kids in the backseat, and other people out there on the road is be present.

    When we make the effort to actually see others, with our own eyes, we open the door to be seen ourselves.

    We open the door to see ourselves.

    Five quick-and-dirty tips if you want to modify your phone use:

    1. Give it up cold-turkey for a set amount of time. Knowing I had a 22-day deadline helped me stick to it. It’s a misconception that it takes 21 days to start a new habit. Scientists have found it typically takes more like two months or longer. But if you give yourself three weeks, that feels more doable. Even a few days, as you can see from my accounts, can make a big difference.

    2. Do it for someone you love. I did mine for my dad and for a girl I’d never even met who died the same way my dad did. It never would have been enough for me to do it just for my own well-being or the well-being of others. When we do things for honor, it makes our drive stronger. It’s how marathoners finish races when they’ve raised funds for charity at the same time.

    3. Don’t beat yourself up if you slip. Whatever you slip on will teach you a lot about yourself—though I already knew I ran around like a chicken with her head cut off. The idea is to limit the hold the phone has on you, not prohibit use when you legitimately need it. 

    4. Don’t worry about losing social media. People you’re truly close to will understand and bend to fit your new rules. And the people whose voices you miss hearing will become closer again. A novel-long text exchange does little to convey the emotions a five-minute phone call can.

    5. Don’t be scared if emotions appear that you didn’t know were there. Our phones keep us in a perpetual state of reactivity. It’s better to be available to think and process things fully. We become like superheroes when we have our wits about us—able to be aware and help others, able to talk to strangers and make new friends, able to think an idea all the way through, able to appreciate the beauty of a songbird or a tree or a new house going up. As small as our worlds might feel without constant awareness of all those other worlds online, it’s easier to feel gratitude and that our life is a good life—and we are the ones leading it. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • South Korea Facing Digital Addiction Crisis

    South Korea Facing Digital Addiction Crisis

    Almost 10 million people in South Korea are at serious risk of digital addiction.

    Experts say that South Korea is facing a public health crisis, with nearly 20% of the population (almost 10 million people) at serious risk of Internet addiction, NPR reports. And they say the United States could be in trouble, too, if we are not proactive.

    NPR focused on problematic Internet usage in South Korea, but countries like Japan, Switzerland and Brazil are also contending with rising numbers of internet “addicts.”

    In May, the World Health Organization added “gaming disorder” to its International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), defining the condition as having impaired control over gaming, giving increasing priority to gaming over other activities, and doing so despite the negative consequences.

    Firsthand Account

    NPR interviewed Sungwon Roh, a psychiatrist at Hanyang University in Seoul, who sees firsthand the effects of gaming or Internet use disorder in South Korea.

    “Here I see dramatic cases of both adolescents and adults come to seek professional help because they started to have serious problems in their health, relationships with their family or studies at school from game addiction,” said Roh. “Some students will refuse to go to school or even inflict physical force on their parents.”

    Facilities like the National Center for Youth Internet Addiction Treatment give South Koreans, many of them teenagers, a place to separate from electronic devices and engage in other activities like board games, art class and volunteering.

    “We help students find a new hobby. Students who are overly dependent on Internet and smartphones will be doing only that [using their phones] when they have extra time. So, we are showing them many other options so they can spend their free time in a healthier way,” said Yong-chool Shim, director of the National Center.

    Treatment Programs

    Teenagers who arrive at the National Center for Youth Internet Addiction Treatment go device-free from the day they arrive and for the remainder of the 2-4 week program.

    “My hands get shaky, I can’t concentrate. When I go back to the dormitory to get some rest, I keep thinking of Facebook,” said one 14-year-old girl at the National Center.

    Another girl, 16, had better luck with digital detox. At first she told NPR, “I’ve had my phone since my first year in elementary school, I’ve never been without it since. So I was worried.” But five days in, she said she was feeling more comfortable being without her phone.

    Shim says the problem in South Korea is only growing, and more facilities are opening to accommodate the demand.

    “The percentage of teenagers dependent on Internet and smartphones is actually increasing,” said Shim. “So, our organization is expanding and trying to get ready to accept more students.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Goodbye Autoplay: New Bill Aims To Curb Social Media Addiction

    Goodbye Autoplay: New Bill Aims To Curb Social Media Addiction

    The bill aims to ban potentially addictive features such as the “infinite scroll” and “autoplay.”

    Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri recently introduced a bill that’s meant to address social media features that he believes are designed to make the platforms addictive.

    The bill, named the Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology (SMART) Act, would ban established features of the most popular social media platform such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat, claiming that these features “exploit human psychology or brain physiology to substantially impede freedom of choice.”

    Infinite Scoll & Autoplay

    Features targeted in this bill include the “infinite scroll” that has been part of Facebook and Twitter for years and which continuously loads new content as the user scrolls down, as well as YouTube’s “autoplay” that loads a new video as soon as one has finished. Additionally, it addresses Snapchat’s “streaks” that rewards users for sending more and more photos to their friends in a row.

    Hawley argues that these features are designed to be addictive, keeping users glued to their screens for as long as possible. 

    “Big tech has embraced a business model of addiction,” he said in a statement. “Too much of the ‘innovation’ in this space is designed not to create better products, but to capture more attention by using psychological tricks that make it difficult to look away. This legislation will put an end to that and encourage true innovation by tech companies.”

    Critics Speak Out

    The freshman senator has made a name for himself as a leading critic of major technology companies, and this bill has some major opposition from organizations like the trade group known as the Internet Association (IA) and others from Silicon Valley as well as free market conservatives, according to The Hill.

    “There are a wealth of existing tools that allow users to make choices about how they engage online,” IA President and CEO Michael Beckerman said in a statement opposing the SMART Act.

    However, Hawley argues that the options to turn off potentially addictive social media features are often difficult to locate. His bill would change that by requiring it to be easy to opt out of features like autoplay as well as forcing social media platforms to offer tools that help users limit their time on their sites and apps.

    If passed, companies would have a few months to make these changes before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys could take action against them.

    Hawley’s SMART Act has not yet gained and co-sponsors, but his past bills addressing consumer data protection and what some believe is “political censorship” have drawn some bipartisan interest.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Apple Takes Down Smartphone Addiction Apps, Puts Up Their Own

    Apple Takes Down Smartphone Addiction Apps, Puts Up Their Own

    Apps meant to help users limit screen time for themselves or their kids are having permissions revoked, or removed entirely.

    Developers of screen addiction-fighting apps say that Apple has been squeezing them out. The company behind the iPhone has been revoking permissions from some of these apps and outright removing others.

    The crackdown comes after Apple released its own screen time-reducing feature, and some don’t think this is a coincidence.

    According to app developers, Apple has been forcing them to remove usage-tracking features, even those intended for parents to limit how much time or what kinds of apps their children can access on their own devices.

    Fred Stutzman, chief executive at Freedom, sees this as a conflict of interest considering Apple’s own usage-limiting features are not as aggressive or convenient as what apps like Freedom provided.

    “Their incentives aren’t really aligned for helping people solve their problem,” Stutzman said. “Can you really trust that Apple wants people to spend less time on their phones?”

    Freedom had 770,000 downloads from the App Store before it was removed in August. Whether users want or depend on the apps doesn’t seem to matter to Apple, considering they removed OurPact, the most popular parental control app with more than 3 million downloads.

    “They yanked us out of the blue with no warning,” said Amir Moussavian, OurPact’s chief executive. “They are systematically killing the industry.” 

    Apple CEO Tim Cook touted their suite of screen time-related features at a conference this month, saying they intend to fight smartphone addiction. “We don’t want people using their phones all the time,” Cook said. “This has never been an objective for us.”

    Representatives say that the timing is purely coincidence.

    “We treat all apps the same, including those that compete with our own services,” said Apple spokesperson Tammy Levine. “Our incentive is to have a vibrant app ecosystem that provides consumers access to as many quality apps as possible.”

    The app developers aren’t buying it. Popular parental control apps Kidslox and Qustodio are taking it up to the European Union’s competition office.

    Two of Apple’s big shareholders urged the company to personally take responsibility for the “toxic” effects of excessive smartphone use early last year—though they probably didn’t mean it like this. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Study Challenges Link Between Teen Social Media Use And Depression

    Study Challenges Link Between Teen Social Media Use And Depression

    Researchers explored whether teens are using social media to feel better or if it makes them feel worse.

    Which came first? It has been documented that teen social media use is tied to higher rates of depression, but a new study suggests that experiencing symptoms of depression may actually lead to social media use, rather than the other way around. 

    The study, published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, polled 6th, 7th and 8th graders over the course of two years, and college students over the course of 6 years.

    Researchers asked about weekday and weekend social media use and other screen time, and evaluated the participants for depression using established scales, according to Science Daily. 

    The researchers found that social media use did not predict symptoms of depression.

    Breaking the data down between ages and genders, the researchers found that among people with depressive symptoms, only teen girls are likely to spend more time on social media, said lead study author Taylor Heffer.

    “This finding contrasts with the idea that people who use a lot of social media become more depressed over time. Instead, adolescent girls who are feeling down may turn to social media to try and make themselves feel better,” Heffer said.

    The study differed from previous research because it polled participants over time, rather than relying on information about depressive symptoms and social media use from one specific time. 

    “You have to follow the same people over time in order to draw the conclusion that social media use predicts greater depressive symptoms,” Heffer said. “By using two large longitudinal samples, we were able to empirically test that assumption.”

    The study results may be a welcome relief for parents who are concerned that social media engagement could be detrimental to their children’s health, Heffer said.

    “When parents read media headlines such as ‘Facebook Depression,’ there is an inherent assumption that social media use leads to depression. Policymakers also have recently been debating ways to tackle the effects of social media use on mental health.”

    Instead of looking to broad trends in the cause and effect of social media use, Heffer said it’s important that individuals pay attention to how they particularly are affected by heavy social media use, if at all. 

    “There may be different groups of people who use social media for different reasons. For example, there may be a group of people who use social media to make social comparisons or turn to it when they are feeling down, while another group of people may use it for more positive reasons, such as keeping in contact with friends.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Ralph Breaks The Internet" Was Originally About Social Media Addiction

    "Ralph Breaks The Internet" Was Originally About Social Media Addiction

    The original storyline of Ralph Breaks the Internet focused on social media addiction and the obsession with getting “likes” and affirmations.  

    Ralph Breaks the Internet is the follow-up to the popular animated movie, Wreck-It Ralph. Sarah Silverman and John C. Reilly voice the video game characters Vanellope and Wreck-It Ralph, two unlikely friends.

    The sequel—now playing in theaters—was almost a tale of internet addiction, according to the film’s producers.

    Wreck-it Ralph is about arcade-game character Wreck-It Ralph who doesn’t want to be the bad guy in the game anymore. After years of being the bad guy to good guy Fix-It Felix, Ralph takes action: he hops through video games to prove that he can be the hero. But while on this hero’s journey, Ralph accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy to the entire arcade.

    Wreck-It Ralph meets Vanellope, a video game character who thinks she is the bad guy, when actually she is the princess destined to win the game.

    The sequel sees Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope beginning a journey inside the world wide web to find a replacement part for Vanellope’s game. Without the replacement part, Vanellope will cease to exist in the virtual world they inhabit.

    Producer Clark Spencer told Yahoo Movies UK that the original concept went down a darker-themed journey. In the original movie plot, Vanellope became obsessed with her online status and growing her social media affirmations, echoing the experience of many young people in the modern world.

    “In the very beginning we did want the story to be the concept of being caught up in the Internet,” Spencer told Yahoo Movies UK earlier this year. “So there was a story told where Vanellope, being the younger character, actually got caught up in the ‘likes’ and she started to feel like that was giving her the affirmation she needed.”

    Social media addiction is a growing concern as generations of children are growing up spending hours a day engaging online.

    However, the filmmakers felt that the plot wasn’t authentic to the strong character of Vanellope they had created. Spencer told Yahoo, “It made us take a step back and say: what’s a different story we can tell that still deals with those elements of the Internet that are complicated?”

    Spencer continued. “How do we deal with comments? How do we deal with the word ‘likes’ and what does it mean for someone? That idea of affirmation through this kind of anonymous body of the Internet.”

    Ultimately the storyline focused on how identity is created and understood through how we spend our days, and what we identify with.

    “What we wanted to say is: What would it mean to a character if their game actually was gone?” Spencer told Yahoo. “Do they define themselves by their games rather than who they are? It’s sort of like do I define myself by my career or do I define by myself as an individual or as a person? That is a key element of what we explore with Vanellope.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Why People With Internet Addiction React Worse When Wifi Fails

    Why People With Internet Addiction React Worse When Wifi Fails

    Researchers explored the reaction to digital technology failure in people with internet addiction for a recent study.

    When the Wifi loses its connectivity, or the movie we’re streaming buffers endlessly—when the digital technology by which we have come to expect as part of our daily lives fails, our response to this interruption can take a variety of forms, from mild annoyance to more extreme or “maladaptive” reactions, including anger, panic and depression.

    What determines our response, according to a new study, may be dependent on our psychological makeup. Researchers found that participants who expressed a “maladaptive” response to digital technology failure also showed signs of extroversion, neuroticism, internet addiction and a pervasive “fear of missing out” (FOMO).

    Understanding what provokes these responses may help provide better support for such individuals, researchers suggest.

    In the study—published in the November edition of Heliyon—researchers from De Montfort University in Leicester, England engaged 630 participants, all between the ages of 18 and 68, in an online questionnaire that examined their responses to digital technology failure.

    Participants self-reported how they responded such incidents, as well as their attitudes towards “fear of missing out” and internet addiction. The study authors also measured responses in regard to the BIG-5 personality traits: conscientiousness, extraversion-introversion, agreeableness, openness and neuroticism.

    The researchers found that those participants whose responses indicated extroversion and neuroticism, and who expressed positive responses towards FOMO or symptoms of internet addiction also exhibited more signs of a maladaptive response towards digital technology failure. They also noted a correlation between age and level of response: specifically, as Science Daily noted, as age increased, a person’s level of frustration decreased.

    A frustrated response to technological failure is normal, according to study co-author Dr. Lee Hadlington. “[It’s] one of the things we all experience on a daily basis, so it seemed to be a logical step in our research.”

    But with technology playing a more significant role in our lives with each new development, our dependency on those devices to make our lives function also grows.

    “When they don’t work, we tend to just go a little bit ‘crazy’ or just switch off and stop doing things altogether,” Hadlington noted.

    Determining what provokes extreme responses in certain individuals may help make their lives more manageable.

    “If we can understand what leads individuals to react in certain ways, and why these differences occur, we can hopefully make sure that when digital technology does fail, people are better supported and there are relevant signposts for them to follow to get help,” said Hadlington. “Extreme reactions only make things worse.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • First-Ever Case Of Netflix Addiction Being Treated In India

    First-Ever Case Of Netflix Addiction Being Treated In India

    The man would turn on Netflix first thing in the morning and binge-watch shows and movies for more than seven hours every day. 

    Internet addiction disorder is not officially recognized in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), but it’s very much a reality for some.

    A serious case of digital addiction in India highlights the serious effects of getting hooked on technology. According to The Hindu, last week a 26-year-old man became the first “Netflix addict” to seek treatment at the Service for Healthy Use of Technology (SHUT) clinic at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore.

    The man would turn on Netflix first thing in the morning and binge-watch shows and movies for more than seven hours every day to escape the reality of being unemployed. He did this for six months, the Hindu reports.

    “Whenever his family pressurized him to earn a living, or when he saw his friends doing well, he would watch the shows on offer continuously,” said Manoj Kumar Sharma, a clinical psychologist at SHUT. “It was a method of escapism. He could forget about his problems, and he derived immense pleasure from it.”

    SHUT was established in 2014 to help people experiencing a “pattern of excessive use of technology.” Sharma and his team help address the problematic use of technology and replace the technology with healthy activities, build coping skills and strengthen a patient’s support network.

    The unidentified patient—who experienced fatigue, disturbed sleep and eye strain as a result of his Netflix habit—was put on a regimen of relaxation exercises, therapy and career counseling at SHUT, according to the Print.

    Sharma said that many of his patients who excessively watch TV and movies on streaming platforms also struggle with gaming addiction. “The best advice is to avoid the use of technology if it becomes a coping mechanism,” said Sharma.

    While not officially recognized as a mental disorder in the DSM-5, internet addiction disorder affects many—young and old.

    The Hindu notes that children also struggle with digital addiction. “The addiction interferes with the child’s academic performance and counselors are advising students and parents to keep a close watch on the duration and the shows they watch,” said Mansoor Khan, a school official in Bangalore who said they have begun noticing the problem in young students.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Worried About Your Smartphone Use? These Tips Can Help

    Worried About Your Smartphone Use? These Tips Can Help

    A few health experts offer some useful suggestions for limiting screen time and reconnecting with the world outside of your phone.

    Smartphones undoubtedly make our lives easier. After all, we can now do our banking, grocery shopping and trip planning all from the comfort of our homes with a few taps. 

    However, smartphones are increasingly in the news for their negative side effects, and smartphone addiction is becoming a more common issue. In some cases, smartphone use has been tied to serious health consequences. 

    Last year, researchers found that more teen girls were coming into the emergency room for self-inflicted injuries, and they speculated that smartphones might be to blame. 

    “It is unclear why the rate of self-injury among younger teens has climbed,” the Washington Post reports, “though some experts say it could be because of the girls’ access to smartphones and Internet bullying.”

    Smartphone use has also been linked to changes in teens’ brains and an increased risk in mental health problems and suicidal ideation for those who spend hours each day clicking away. 

    However, there are ways to curtail your smartphone use if you’re becoming concerned about how it’s affecting your health or relationships. 

    One simple step that can be surprisingly hard to initiate is charging your phone in another room, where it’s less convenient to access, said Julie Albright, a psychology lecturer at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and author of the book Left to Their Own Devices: How Digital Natives are Reshaping the American Dream.

    Taking a break from the screen can allow you to recharge as well, she told Medical Xpress. 

    “This is a way to reconnect with body, mind and self and not be in a constant state of overstimulation of the mind,” Albright said. “We all need that quiet time to be able to think again and refocus.”

    She also suggests putting all phones away during meal times. 

    “Keeping them out of sight during family dinners lets you focus on the people around you and be present,” she said.

    Steven Sussman, professor of preventive medicine, psychology and social work, suggests setting up a schedule for checking your phone. Begin with once every 15 minutes, and gradually increase the waiting periods, resisting the urge to justify an early check-in by claiming you “need” to do something. 

    “Now we can do so much online—a lot of our daily lives are on our phone,” he said. 

    Although we do a lot online, we also waste lots of time mindlessly swiping through our phones, says Allen Weiss, director of the Mindful USC initiative and a professor of marketing at the USC Marshall School of Business. He challenges students to think about why they’re compelled to check their phones: are they bored, feeling needy, etc?

    “Since mindfulness helps people process these emotions, I wanted [my students] to fully experience the sense of these emotions and see how they arise and pass away,” Weiss said.

    View the original article at thefix.com