Technology Addiction
5 Types: Gaming, Social Media, Online Gambling, Online shopping, Work-related.
Gaming has become more popular than before and is available on a variety of devices/ gadgets.
Part of what makes gaming so addictive are built-in rewards, hidden features, and side quests. 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.
Socially interactive games such as eSports have also become increasingly popular. Such games may be more socially engaging than one-player games but can also lead to a false sense of social interaction.
Gaming can also be compounded with gambling (example: eSports betting) and lead to a dual addiction of both gaming and gambling.
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.
Social media, like social gaming, can invoke a false sense of social engagement leaving individuals feeling isolated and alone. Endless scrolling of social media feeds, constantly refreshing feeds or binge watching TikTok or YouTube videos also serve as a way to fend of loneliness, fight off boredom and fill other psychological voids.
Doomscrolling and a fear of missing out also play a large part in social media addiction.
It is also important to note that social media addictions that involve vanity such as posting selfies, using filters, and hyperfocus on the physical appearance of self or others can transcend into other disorders such as body dysmorphia disorder or plastic surgery addiction and other ways of altering one's physical appearance.
While Gambling Disorder is a diagnostic addiction unto itself, it is important to recognize and treat the 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. As previously mentioned, Internet Gambling Disorder is recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a diagnosable mental health disorder.
Of all the various forms of addictions, including substance use addictions, gambling addiction has the highest rates of suicide.
An online shopping addiction, also known as compulsive buying disorder, is a behavioral addiction that involves impulsive and compulsive buying of good 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.
Online shopping is not only about the purchasing in and of itself, but is also about the excitement of browsing prior to the purchase.
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.
The work becomes a means of escape, and relationships, mental health, and general wellbeing can suffer.
While work addiction is different from digital addiction, there are often technological problems associated with work addiction, especially for those in executive level positions or others who do office-related work. For example, being tethered to your email, especially late at night or during other non-work hours, on weekends or holidays can be extremely problematic, resulting in problems connecting with family, increased stress, and other problems relating to psychological and general wellbeing.
The commonly found social impact of technology addiction, especially social media addiction, is that many people who are not addicted to such practices (which is good), feel that they are being left out and are made to feel weird and abnormal by the people who are addicted.
Another social impact of online and eSport gambling, is that when people start getting addicted to these practices, they tend to cripple their relationships with the people around them, in terms of the relationship, social status, financial status and many more.
Gaming and social media have become addictions to a lot of the youth, resulting in less focus on their studies and education. This could ruin their future, and if this does happen, their social status would have a major blow, which could cause a cascading affect.
Work related addiction could earn quite a lot of respect and appreciation from the people who the addicted person works for, so it would not be quite a huge blow in this area. However, the relationships with people who are closer to them such as family and friends would definitely suffer, which could lead to an mental health decline.
