Tech Addiction Increases Risk of Mental Disorders

A few years ago, warnings about Internet use were met with derision and accusations of naiveté. That has changed. Now the evidence is piling up that overuse of the Internet and its spawn, social media, are making us dumber, lonelier, more anxious, and more depressed.

The statistics about Internet use are startling. Americans spend more time staring at screens than they spend on any other activity, including sleep. More than one-third of smartphone users go online before getting out of bed in the morning. The average teen sends some 3,700 texts per month.

Tech devices can cause trouble even if you’re not actively engaged. Do you leave your smartphone by your bed so you can check it just one more time before turning in? If so, the light from your tech device may be messing with your sleep cycle. Our brains associate blue light with daytime, so the blue light emitted by screens tricks your brain into thinking it should be awake and alert. The result can be sleepless nights and groggy days.

Many studies have shown connections between living in the virtual world and stress, depression, and even suicidal thinking. The threats include being more prone to serious mental illnesses such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and even psychosis. One California psychologist who has studied the issue feels that the Net “encourages—and even promotes—insanity.” Results from serious Internet addiction can be horrendous. A couple neglected their real infant so badly that it died, while they nourished an online virtual baby. A young man beat his mother to death for suggesting that he log off. Several Web users have died of blood clots from sitting too long. But even if Web users’ behaviors are not extreme, there is evidence that their brains are being rewired. Researchers have found that the brains of Internet addicts resemble the brains of drug or alcohol addicts. So, give the virtual world a rest. Your survival in the real world may depend on it.

Image Credit: Photodisc/Getty Images

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20 Comments

  1. Anonymous says:

    oh yeah i forgot, cool beans

  2. joejoe monkey says:

    yeah like we would even get addicted

  3. jffffghdkjghjhru says:

    mm broccoli

  4. facepalm says:

    im addicted i cant be stoped i try and try to put down my lap top but im playing mineecrafffftttt

  5. snonomus says:

    the internet or facebook is so bad for us we dont want to be like these people.. so GET OFF THE INTERNET.

  6. SNONOUMOUS says:

    THIS ARTCAL IS SO TRUE LISTEN TO THE STUDIES!!!!!!

    • Darin says:

      Linds Posted on yyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeesssssssss. i alpprentay missed the spontaneous version of this song that got played with chris’ mandolin and sar’s harmonica in my room so i been waiting to hear this for a long time now. thanks for sharin’ buddy!

  7. ali says:

    @facepalm
    it’s stopped not stoped.
    fwi if you ever learned anything in school…

  8. someone over the rainbow says:

    i think that we should spend at least an hour outside and being active

    • Nil says:

      tdfisk on August 30, 2011 @TheGoodalpha One of the greatest myths from esmvronientalints is that our environment is fragile. Too many people think humans are far more powerful than nature. I’ve even seen scientists claim science knows more than nature & how nature is flawed. Nature has it’s own rules & they can rarely be classified and put in logical order. You talk about natural equilibrium, but that is not an absolute, It is in constant motion with infinite variables. The earth can’t be put into a nice neat box. Thomas

  9. someone over the rainbow says:

    It is also scary what people do when the r addicted so be active people

    • dasudas says:

      true say

      • Irving says:

        TheGoodalpha on August 30, 2011 @tdfisk So you prefer GW over padcemins Why not have both ? Pandemics thrive in humid/wet and unsanitary conditions becoming more frequent with GW especially in the summer months. Take large flood events (increasing due to Climate Change), which bring Typhus/Plague/Cholera/Ecoli into direct contact with humans due to i/flooded cesspools/sewage works washing downstream, ii/overwhelmed sewer networks discharging via storm drains, iii/polluted water contaminating drinking water supplies

    • Jaris says:

      tdfisk on August 30, 2011 @TheGoodalpha Geo-domes built just for them? That’s a bit fanciful. They don’t want to silmpy survive. Actually they have several values and money is not at the top. Most important is their social standing and the power they wield. They can’t have that in a Geo-dome. They need civilization to survive. They may allow quite a bit of destruction, but they are also very careful not to cause a collapse. I foresee the eventual elimination of oil, but I don’t see oil as threatening our existence.Thomas

      • Edilaine says:

        Sam Posted on absolutely agered it’s probably more appropriate to have a Best Idea Executed Across More Than One Channel, Including At Least Two Digital category or if you want to be succinct Most Versatile Idea but you’ve got me thinking about how best to evaluate integration

  10. a guy says:

    Ummmmmm, you do realise that we’re on the internet……. and I’m not addicted

  11. Suzan says:

    If you want my advice, Internet Users (including Me)If ur gonna use the internet use it WISELY!!

  12. Suzan says:

    A D D I C T I O N…..
    ?????
    What Does Addiction Mean 2 U People????

  13. Alexandria says:

    So after you have read this, you can now say…GET OF THIS SCREEN YOU ARE ON!!!