Addicted To Technology

​​Ironically, you are reading this from a smartphone, tablet or computer, and chances are, you've been in front of that screen for quite some time today.

It might come as a surprise to you, or not, how easy it is to get addicted to these devices. Even if you don't think that's the case for you, to most people a day without their smartphone would only mean a catastrophic event.

Catching up with social media, reading articles, pinning some inspirational pictures, Instagramming; these activities are all a massive part of our daily routine.

So, what's wrong with that?

Well, have you ever wondered how much time you spend on your phone?

---

---

Kevin Holesh asked himself this question and came up with an app called Moment which determines how much time people spend on their phones. While most of them thought the result wouldn't exceed 90-minutes, 88% of users spent an average of three hours a day.

That's a total of 45 days a year of just staring at your screen. Do you still think people aren't addicted to these things?

---

From sex to gambling and even obsessive cleaning, we are surrounded by a number of support groups of people who are behavioral addicts. And like any other compulsive behavior, smartphone addiction is one of them.

Behaviours stimulate the same areas of the brain that go off when an addictive substance is consumed. Whether you are gambling or stalking your ex, a shot of dopamine is released after these actions are made, and it sets off a feeling of intense pleasure. However, this initial high decreases as the behavior is repeated, causing people to spend more and more time online in order to recapture that first dopamine kick.

What if I told you it's possible to relive the dopamine high all over again, just by uploading a picture to Instagram?

---

---

We all have been guilty of enjoying the sensation of receiving a positive feedback; we can't help it, it feels incredibly nice when someone likes your content. But when you are being rewarded for simple actions, like uploading a picture of your cat, that feeling can quickly turn into an addiction. And the like button is the perfect example.

It was first introduced back in 2008 when Facebook offered users a quick and easy way to give positive feedback to their friends, but since that feedback is unreliable, every time we post something we wonder if it will be liked or not. And no likes means everyone hates you. Apparently.

The good news is, behavioral addictions are way easier to beat than the others.

---

---

Our most common reaction to unwanted behavior is to suppress it overnight and hope it will go away, but unfortunately, it takes a lot more than just willpower to overcome them. Repression often leads to relapse and making the addiction even worse. There are practical and creative methods out there to help you break the cycle, and substitution is one of them.

With this in mind, designer Klemens Schillinger created a therapeutic phone-like object to help smartphone addicts cope with being away from their devices and provide them a physical stimulation as a substitute for their phones.

Anyone can develop an addiction if placed in the right circumstances, and thankfully there are plenty of useful resources to help you solve the problem, but first, you have to acknowledge you have one in the first place.

What do you think? Are you a technological addict?

---

Source: Irresistible (2017) by Adam Alter
Image Source: I, II, III