The title to this post is identical to the title of a News & Technology piece by Timothy Revell in the 9 December 2017 Issue of the New Scientist.
Hung Suk Seo at Korea University and his team scanned the brains of 19 teenagers who answered in surveys that their tech usage was detrimental to their lives, and compared the results with 19 others of similar age who said that had no problems with tech. The initial scans showed that those who said they were addicted had more of a neurotransmitter called GABA, which slows signals and is thought to help regulate anxiety, but less of a chemical glutamate, which caused neurons to become electrically excited.
Of the 19 tech addicts they examined, 12 undertook a course of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) designed to reduce the amount of time spent using technology. These participants then underwent a second scan. The relative amounts of GABA and glutamate converged to more normal levels after CBT. The amount of time spent using technology also moved to more normal levels.
Although the direction of cause and effect is unclear here (whether the abnormal levels caused the abnormal use, or whether abnormal use caused the abnormal levels) is not really important. What is important is that CBT can bring technology use to normal levels.
Although the term technology addiction is predominately used, and technology companies use insights from psychology to increase usage, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder task force, which is used in the United States has yet to include internet addiction as a diagnosis for fear of mislabeling many of the 3 billion people around the world who are attached to their smartphones.
What is important is how the individual feels about their own technology use. Unless they feel that they are addicted, it is doubtful that they will free themselves of their perceived addiction. However, we all would do well to objectively consider if we are suffering adverse effects from technology use and respond accordingly.
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