Is Technology Driving You Crazy?

by Kristi Caporoso

They say that too much of a good thing can be bad for you. Evidently, this is true in the case of modern technology. While we may not be able to realize it, most of us spend more time of the day attached to a screen or a keyboard than doing anything else: including sleeping.
But technology is good, right? It improves our daily lives, makes our world smaller, and gives us seemingly all the information we need right at our fingertips. While all of this may be true, some severe negative effects of our overuse of technology are becoming apparent. An excellent example of this is the case of Jason Russell, launcher of the now famous "Kony 2012" documentary. After the release of the documentary and Russell's skyrocket to online fame, he found himself bombarded by tweets, texts, and other online rants and raves. However, several days after the release and the nonstop media attention, Russell suffered a psychotic break and was hospitalized for four months. The episode was not triggered by drugs or alcohol, but by the huge, sudden onslaught of his technology use.
Studies are now confirming that our daily use and abuse of technology in all its forms can play a factor in increasing our likelihood of developing anxiety, depression, OCD, ADHD, and in some cases psychosis. While constantly being connected may be the norm, it isn't necessarily healthy for us. It's not  the content or the actual technology that is harmful, but the manner in which we use it-or abuse it.
Many people out there are skeptical that technology can actually be harming us, but some places are taking steps to address the crisis. In some countries in Asia, where a young couple was so addicted to caring for their cyber baby that their actual baby died from neglect, the government is addressing the nation-wide issue. The latest addition of the DSM also includes Internet Addiction Disorder under the appendix marked "further study."
It is without a doubt that abuse of technology is affecting us. Studies have shown that those who use technology frequently compared to those who don't have a significantly different prefrontal cortex-technology is actually rewiring our brains. How does this happen? Most people don't even realize how addicted they are until they try to go without. But it is in fact true that most people check their smartphones before and after sleep, don't want to be far from their laptops and tablets, and experience significant anxiety when they are unable to connect. Try it yourself: Go one day without using any technology whatsoever, and see how you feel. If you find yourself depressed or anxious by the end of the day and dying to get your hands on a keypad, it might be time to dial back the technology use. Most of us are using it so often that we are substituting it for normal face-to-face interaction, and not even realizing what we are missing. Not to mention the lack of sleep caused by staying online into the wee hours of the night.
While technology is clearly turning out to have some bleak side effects for our world, there is still hope.  Taking a step back and making sure our lives don't revolve around the cyber world is the first step. It is then important that we turn off and tune out more often, and keep ourselves connected to the real world and real people, for our mind and our health's sake.

source: Tony Dokoupil, Newsweek