Gadget Addiction

First it was ‘texter's thumb'. Now gadget addicts are coming down with ‘text neck'. Today, many patients are suffering neck pain from spending too much time hunched over phones and computers. The rise of smartphones and tablet computers has fuelled the problem. The extra capability for playing games and browsing the Internet on smartphones means they tend to be used for longer periods. And unlike laptops, tablet computers are often placed flat on the lap, meaning you crane your neck over to view the screen.Knee and hip replacement surgeon Dr Kaushal Malhan says, â€Å"Technology has made life easier, but at the same time brought in newer problems. The easy accessibility to almost any information and quick communication through the use of smartphones and laptops has made them an invaluable resource. At the same time, their indiscriminate use has brought in new health problems. † It is common to find people using their laptops for hours at a stretch. Smartphones now work as mini computers and it is not unusual to find people busy with their phones which are much more than simply a means of communication. People often complain of neck and back pain, and the cause for these can often be sourced to indiscriminate laptop use in an incorrect posture. These patients often have a good range of movements with pain mainly at the end of the day,† adds Dr Malhan. Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Ashish Arbat agrees. â€Å"Today, we are observing many young patients who are into gadgets with wry neck, which is caused by continuous craning of the neck for texting, etc. † He advises that one should exercise one's neck daily and stretch the cervical and trapezial muscle, with a healthy habit of sleeping supine straight, with balanced diet to prevent wry neck.How to avoid such problems – Use a chair of correct height so that your legs comfortably reach the floor. – Table height and computer monitor height should be at your eye level so that yo u are not forced to adopt unphysiologic postures. – Elbows should be well supported on armrest or table in front of you. – Do not forget to blink your eyes intermittently to reduce eye fatigue. – Change your posture every now and then and regular breaks in between. – Stretch out all muscle groups whenever you have the opportunity. – Regular stretching exercises are a must for people who sit for long hours.In case of problems like neck pain, see a doctor to rule out other non-postural causes. Once that is ruled out, one can look at changing habits and lifestyle as advocated above. A short course of anti-inflammatory medication and hot packs with gentle massage should help. — Dr Kaushal Malhan http://articles. timesofindia. indiatimes. com/2012-08-03/fitness/33002266_1_neck-pain-text-neck-tablet-computers Carl Alasko: How will gadget addiction affect us? Carl Alasko On Relationships Posted: 04/08/2012 12:06:07 AM PDT Updated: 04/08/2012 12:06: 07 AM PDT Dear Dr. Alasko: Our two sons, ages 9 and 13, love technology.My husband is himself a computer geek so he thinks it's great. He says the more they know the better equipped they'll be for their future. But I worry about the human side of their lives. For instance, when they're together with their friends, all of them seem to be looking at their gadgets and doing very little talking. I worry that they won't be able to form healthy adult relationships and bond with their own children — except maybe through technology. Dear Reader: You have a right to be worried. We don't yet know if there are permanent developmental problems when children have constant access to fast-moving technology.At this point the â€Å"experts† seem divided. About half are optimistic. They believe that electronically connected youth will have the advantage of being nimble analysts and fast decision makers. The others are pessimistic. They worry that hyper-connected young people are too dis tracted by constant input to have deep-thinking capabilities. And they're not able to retain information and train their brain to remember things because everything is instantly available on their phone. Then there's the question of face-to-face relationship skills and the ability to focus on emotional issues.My personal concern is that boys who grow up completely immersed in the electronic connectivity of video games, texting and ear-buds will not be capable of the extended focus required to deal Advertisement with the complex world of emotional issues, the kind that every adult relationship requires. There's a physiological analogy with our vision. If you do a lot of reading as a child in dim light, your eyes strain to see the tiny printed words and in response your eyeballs actually become enlarged. This condition leads to extreme myopia.It seems logical to suppose that if a child's growing brain is subjected to constant fast-moving images and scattered input from video games, te xts, etc. , the child's brain will lose the ability to remain focused on one issue beyond a few seconds. From the psychological point of view, the term â€Å"deep-thinking capabilities† is the biggest area of concern. I recently read about how we are losing our ability to do long-term thinking, the kind that happens when, for instance, a person spends a few hours walking in a forest. During extended periods of rest (without media), the brain automatically sorts things out on its own.We can â€Å"think through† complex problems. Supporting this idea is the fact that we must have periods of deep sleep. Only during REM sleep does our brain recalibrate and settle down. If we consistently interrupt REM sleep the person develops a kind of psychosis. As I said earlier, you have a right to be worried. The goal would be to achieve a balanced, moderate use of technology. But promoting these behaviors in your technology-dominant family will be difficult. However, if you strongly believe in the wisdom of moderation, your belief (and common sense) should provide the energy to effect meaningful change.Carl Alasko, a licensed marriage and family therapist, is the author of â€Å"Emotional BS† and â€Å"Beyond Blame. † For information about his books, see: carlalasko. com. Contact him at [email  protected] com . http://www. montereyherald. com/carlalasko/ci_20351336 Modern menace: Society's addiction to gadgets Top ArticleAll 4 Articles 2 of 4 by Nanette Piotrowski Created on: February 19, 2013 Just ask any six year-old to put down his cell-phone or controller to a video game to come to the table to eat and you have your answer to the statement.They would rather starve to death than do it. Children no longer know what to do with themselves without them. The statement ‘go outside and play' is foreign. If you told them to play a game of tag, they would look at you like you'd lost your mind. Unfortunately it is the parents who have turned the young ones into veritable Zombies. The parents are the ones who fortunately (or unfortunately), benefited from the advancement of modern conveniences; whether it is appliances like washer/dryers, toasters, coffee pots and micro-wave ovens to cell-phones, computers and fancy cars.Somewhere and somehow with time, people have forgotten how to wash dishes and clothes by hand, cook over an open fire, use a broom and live by candle-light or lantern. Heaven forbid! Whereas modern technology has made crucial advances like medicine and surgery, time travel shorter (planes, trains, automobiles) and life easier, it has also created a decline in family time, creative thought, obesity and believe it or not, intelligence.Today a majority of the population (particularly children), cannot add, subtract, multiply and divide (without a calculator), spell (without spell check) or count back change for a dollar, balance a checkbook, change a tire, work on a car, and in a lot of cases, can't even cook. So regardless of technological advances (by a brilliant few), the remainder of the population has become inept, unproductive robots. It is a sad state of affairs to see adults and/or children sitting in a restaurant texting someone, only to find out that it is to each other.Cell-phones, while a possible convenience and safety gadget (calling for help), is also one of the main reasons for deadly car accidents. Most people can't walk and chew gum at the same time, let alone operate a motor vehicle that weighs 3,000 pounds safely while they are talking and texting. Besides these issues, there is also the fact that these modern gadgets also make it possible for government intrusion. Cameras in the television, GPS in vehicles and cell-phones, direct accessibility into your computer; every move you make can be accounted for and watched.Very real intrusions of privacy which can be very menacing. The big question to be asked here is: â€Å"How would society react if there was a complete el ectrical and satellite shut-down? † It could happen whether caused by a meteor, massive volcanic explosion, hackers or terrorists. Think about it; could you and/or your family survive without all the modern gadgetry and convenience? Would you know what to do? And what if it was the worst case scenario where it was impossible to return to the current standard of things and we were thrown back to the 1800's.Truly, society's addiction to gadgetry has become our greatest menace; that of how to cope without them http://www. helium. com/items/2422560-addiction-to-gadgets-in-modern-society Gadget Addiction Making People Crazy Gadgets and machines have become an integral part of our lives. What would we do without them These gizmos are like a necessary condition now which make our lives complete. However, we must keep in mind that everything has its own limit otherwise it can become a cause for concern and in extreme cases, fatal. Market of devices and gadgets seems to be flooded with production.Day in and day out new technologies appear in front of us. If one has bought the latest mobile phone or laptop etc then he does not have much time to feel proud on that because the next day there would be much more superior device than that in the market. This is one of the reasons of addiction. The present day is no less crazy. We are now getting addicted to those things which five years ago we had not thought of even. Earlier people would go and talk to people they know, spend time with them but now they love to talk to their gadgets.Once my friend showed me an application of speaking Tom-cat in her mobile phone which repeats everything you speak and told that she spends a long time with it.. seems crazy.. The effect of this addiction is that people even can’t resist themselves from taking calls and accessing Facebook and other social networking sites during office hours. The lure of being constantly in touch is so strong that they don’t stop sending text messages even if they are told to switch off their phones. It creates a distraction from work. The devices supposed to increase the productivity are giving an opposite effect.In fact the worst affected are the youths. In most of the schools use of cell phones is banned but many of the students carry them. Use of costly and hi-fi gadgets has become a status symbol among them. Daily on way to my work, I see children in school uniforms of age not more than 15 carrying smart phones, iPods etc. It has become a trend now. They push their parents to buy them the latest cell phone or other gizmos because their peers use it. HOW TO GET OVER THIS ADDICTION Gaining or using anything in excess frequently becomes a source of disturbance.It is very important to prevent this. There should be some time bounds to use gadgets. Getting dependent on them is harmful. We will have to learn to balance and manage time. It is important to have a balance between our different engagements such as time spent with family and friends, office work, proper rest as well on gadgets. â€Å"We are exposing brains to an environment and asking them to do things we weren’t necessarily evolved to do. We know already there are consequences. † http://writerspavilion. hubpages. com/hub/-Gadget-Addiction-Making-People-Crazy