Are you a slave to the virtual world?

ldquoGoogle lsquoiDisorderrsquo rdquo says Mumbaibased psychotherapist Reema Shah at the mention of digital addiction and the irony isnrsquot lost on her She explains ldquoTechnology is inseparable from our lives today Computers mobiles and social media platforms arenrsquot the problem itrsquos the way we use them that negatively impacts our mental healthrdquo iDisorder as a Google search reveals refers to an lsquoobsession with technologyrsquo This addiction in turn puts us at risk of an entire gamut of psychological disorders which fall under the broad umbrella of lsquoiDisorderrsquo Shah elaborates ldquoTechnological addictions can make us display symptoms of everything from obsessive compulsive disorder to depression mania narcissism voyeurism and the likerdquo The above definition will probably bring to your mind more than a few on your lsquofriends listrsquo For instance that one couple we all know who communicate by posting on each otherrsquos wall or the handful of people we lsquofollowrsquo who tweet their lives away Given the technological advancements little wonder that iDisorder is on the rise and Shah warns ldquoOne too many bytes are all it takes to get caught in the webrdquo But fret not Shah helps you understand the problem recognise warning signs and suggests simple remedies to guard against a crash Why the addiction Psychologist Abraham Maslow theory of social needs explains the addiction Shah elaborates ldquoTechnological addictions are a relatively new subject in Psychology Since social media platforms have entered our lives only recently even less is known of their impact on our livesrdquo However recent research attempts to understand iDisorder in terms of Maslowrsquos theory u00a0Maslow had proposed a hierarchy of human needs These consist of physiological needs security needs esteem needs and selfactualising needs Research has revealed that many social media platforms are cunningly built to feed our social and selfesteem needsu00a0 For instance Numbering friends FacebookTwitter allows us to keep track of the number of lsquofriendsrsquo or lsquofollowersrsquo we gather and thereby reinforces our social need We define our popularity and those of others in numbers this is addictive Yet it does nothing to nurture relationships Connect with a click All we have to do is wait for our picture to get more lsquolikesrsquo or get lsquoretweetedrsquo and we feel accepted by others But such virtual connections without facetoface contact remain shallow Voyeurism One click can feed voyeurism For example our Facebook feed fills us in on events in our friendsrsquo lives where theyrsquove lsquocheckedinrsquo people they have lsquotaggedrsquo and so on Measure your lsquolikesrsquo The lsquolikesrsquo we gather on our pictures satisfies our esteem needs The more lsquolikesrsquo we get the prettier and smarter we feel Unfortunately this could breed narcissism or render us paralysed to othersrsquo opinions Blog the good life By reading a personal blog we often live vicariously through others This works because many posts on popular blogs are written for entertainment and excitement This can be addictive as we want to escape our routines Yet at the end of the day we havenrsquot experienced anything When you become aware of the problem areas that could make you an online addict herersquos a check list to spot the symptoms Warning signs of iDisorder MOST OBVIOUS gtgt Spending more time on the internet than you intend to regularly gtgtu00a0Chatting texting friends with less time to socialise gtgtu00a0Lower attention spans mdash Digital addiction is linked to the ability to multitask You have to be able to talk to someone in front of you while sending a text message This in turn encourages distractions so much so that even when you need to concentrate you find that yoursquove lsquotrainedrsquo yourself otherwise w You text and spend time on social media networks even at work and your coworkers and seniors have hinted at reduced efficiency MOST SUBTLE gtgtu00a0Feeling panicky when you lose network gtgtu00a0Frequently preoccupied with thoughts of how others have reacted to your status messages or tweets w Making impulsive decisions rather than thinking things through because you find the need to get things done quickly After living in a virtual world where you chat in real time everything else seems slow Pull the plug off Recognise the addiction and realise that a problem exists In our society there is little awareness of digital addiction But when you spend too much time in a virtual world you cannot be unaware of it More often than not you refuse to recognise that this is a real addiction Once you have accepted the problem delve deeper In most cases digital addiction exists in the framework of a larger emotional issue such as depression Here digital addiction fills a void or provides an escape route from more deeprooted problems Discriminate with regard to the applications you use A popular app isnrsquot reason enough to download it Ask yourself if you really need it as opposed to merely wanting it Gauge how much it gives you and how much it takes away from you Donrsquot lose touch with yourself to stay in a virtual world Get a virtual detox plan in place Set aside a few hours daily where you switch your phone off log off your computer and disconnect from all forms of technology Internet Addiction across the globe gtgt In highlywired South Korea digital addiction has reached alarming rates in recent years In 2010 the Huffington Post ran a story about a couple in South Korea who let their threemonthold baby starve to death while they were addicted to an online game where they raised a virtual child gtgtu00a0China recognised the disorder early on and set up internet deaddiction camps in 2007 These camps combine militarystyle discipline with counselling sessions and sympathy tou00a0aid recovery gtgtu00a0Research by German scientists at the University of Bonn has found that a genetic link plays a part in internet addiction A comparison of the genetic makeup of the problematic internet users with that of healthy control individuals found such people are more often carriers of the genetic variation linked to nicotine addiction ldquoIt was a relief to get off Facebookrdquo Sejal Patel 30 a Philadelphiabased instructor with the American Red Cross found the social overload of Facebook to be stressful and went off Facebook Patel says ldquoFacebook became a routine I checked it daily often several times a day I would even login on my drive to work itrsquos got me thinking about deactivating my accountrdquou00a0Sejal realised that she could do without most of the information ldquoA lot of it feeds pictures links had little bearing on my life I could do away with this data yet it was stuff I was spending too much time thinking about At times Irsquod see a photo or read a status and find myself making comparisons It stressed me out and so I deactivated itrdquo Shersquos happier now ldquoI didnrsquot expect much but going off Facebook gave me a sense of relief I felt more focussed and centered within a few days of logging outrdquo Did it affect her social life ldquoSometimes I donrsquot learn of an event or a party or Irsquoll have friends discussing something they read and I find myself out of the looprdquo But would she go back ldquoI had logged back on once to connect with someone for an email address But I deactivated my account promptly I am sure I wonrsquot join Facebook againrdquou00a0 150 Figure in millions of Internet users in India We have the third largest internet population in the world after China 575m and the US 275m