The power and connectivity of modern-day technology has never been more evident than during the COVID-19 pandemic. Information-sharing, distance learning, remote work, the safe procurement of goods and services, socially distanced personal connections, and telehealth…all critical lifelines provided by the internet and social media. There is no denying these positives. There is also no denying a darker side of these tools and their use, and overuse, in society.The medically-used term is Problematic Internet Use or PIU, if the focus is video games, Internet Gaming Disorder. Informally, it has been called internet addiction and it carries similarities to other so-called behavioral addictions such as gambling, but also has some aspects of diseases like impulse control disorders, OCD and substance abuse.Dr. Elias Aboujaoude has made the study of this new condition and the intersection of technology and psychology his specialty. An author and clinician, he is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Stanford School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Chief of the Anxiety Disorders Section, and Director of the OCD Clinic.In this What Makes Up Your Mind conversation, Dr. Aboujaoude introduces us to the signs and impacts of PIU. He explains how interactive and visually stimulating technology entrances us, how the anonymity, invisibility and speed of social media can give rise to problematic behaviors we wouldn’t usually exhibit in person, and why putting forward a reinvented identity through social media –which imitates real life very well with its rewards and punishments - is so powerful and hard to resist. This begs us to ask ourselves the ultimate question; what is our real selves – what defines us?Click through and listen in as Dr. Aboujaoude also gives us some real-world advice on how to better monitor our technology use to create optimum life balance and well-being on this installment of What Makes Up Your Mind.For more on Dr. Aboujaoude’s work:med.stanford.edu/ocd.htmlmed.stanford.edu/psychiatry/about…ovid19/tech.html

Ver todos los episodios