Technology "High"

     The second theme that Dr. Larry Rosen talks about is how we almost get a high from using our technology.  In this section of the book he talks about different addictions and how Internet addiction is just as serious and real as some drug addictions. Internet addition is the most researched form of a technology addiction, but other related addictions have been proposed by scientists.  Some have proposed television addiction, while others have proposed video game addiction.  He talks about how there are symptoms of withdrawal, like agitation, depression, anger, and anxiety when the person is away from technology or computers and how these psychological symptoms might even turn into physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, tense shoulders, and shortness of breath.  It also presents the problem of habituation or tolerance.  Tolerance means that an addict grows accustomed to the “high” received from technology use and therefore must do something more extreme to achieve the same high the next time that technology is used.  A great example he used was a video game addict that could thoroughly enjoy playing a game, but after awhile, needs to be able to play it for a longer period of time to get that same satisfaction.  Not surprisingly, addiction to cell phone use is now being identified and studied by researchers.  “Christina Jenaro and her colleagues at the University of Salamanca in Spain found out that, while many students were frequent phone junkies, 10 percent of the students in her sample exhibited problematic cell phone overuse and, additionally, 3.9 percent of the students had both problematic cell phone and problematic Internet overuse” (Larry Rosen, 2012).