Technology addictions

Technology addictions, also commonly known as digital addictions or internet addictions, are often overlooked due to the acceptance that society has placed on using digital devices. Gaming has become more popular than ever before and is available not only on consoles and computers but also right on your phone. Every time an individual completes a level, beats a boss, kills an opponent, or unlocks a new player or level the individual receives a boost of dopamine, resulting in gaming-induced pleasure.  Some games are never-ending. Social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and others are highly addictive, and YouTube can also be grouped into this category.  Every time an individual receives engagement via a “like,” “follow” or “comment” the individual’s brain releases feel-good neurotransmitters, ultimately resulting in wanting more engagement.

While Gambling Disorder is a diagnostic addiction unto itself, it is important to recognize and treat pathological digital usage in tandem with pathological gambling when gambling is done virtually. Online gambling includes but is not limited to online casino games, online poker, online sports betting, eSports gambling, day trading, and cryptocurrency trading. An online shopping addiction, also known as compulsive buying disorder, is a behavioral addiction that involves impulsive and compulsive buying of goods and services online. online shopping addictions often serve as a temporary way to induce pleasure and feel good, and as a way of avoiding negative emotions and evading boredom. Individuals who are addicted to their work are often praised for being hard workers, and while there is great admiration for good work ethic, problems can arise when individuals become dependent on their work. While work addiction is different from digital addiction, there are often technical problems associated with work addiction, especially for those in executive-level positions or others who do office-related work.

 

 

They are popular. They are controversial. And now, video games have just become an internationally recognized addiction.

On May 25, the World Health Organization officially voted to adopt the latest edition of its International Classification of Diseases, or ICD, to include an entry on "gaming disorder" as a behavioral addiction.

This is a move that could alarm parents all over the country. According to Pew, 97 percent of teen boys and 83 percent of girls play games on some kind of device.

But to be classified as having a disease, being a video game fan isn't enough. According to WHO, the criteria don't include a certain amount of hours spent playing. Instead, the description is of someone with an inability to stop playing even though it interferes with other areas of one's life, such as family relationships, school, work, and sleep. And, these problems would typically continue for at least one year.

Technology addiction" doesn't appear in the latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the DSM-V, published in 2013. That's the bible of the psychiatric profession in the United States. The closest it comes is something called "Internet Gaming Disorder," and that is listed as a condition for further study, not an official diagnosis.

This omission is important not only because it shapes therapists' and doctors' understanding of their patients but because without an official DSM code, it is harder to bill insurers for treatment of a specific issue.

Dr. Nicholas Kardaras is the author of the 2016 book Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction Is Hijacking Our Kids. There are brain-imaging studies of the effects of screen time, he says. And he also has treated many teens who are so wrapped up in video games that they don't even get up to use the bathroom. Addiction may not be an official term in the U.S., at least not yet. But researchers and clinicians like Bishop, who avoid using it, are still concerned about some of the patterns of behavior they see.

"I came to this issue out of a place of deep skepticism: addicted to video games? That can't be right," said Dr. Douglas Gentile at Iowa State University, who has been researching the effects of media on children for decades.

But "I've been forced by data to accept that it's a problem," he told me when I interviewed him for my book The Art of Screen Time. "Addiction to video games and Internet use, defined as 'serious dysfunction in multiple aspects of your life that achieves clinical significance,' does seem to exist."