Unit-SE Caderno 1 Medicina 2014

TEXTO:

Life in the age of internet addiction

Just one more tweet, dad!

Anyone who spends their day staring at screens

can speak to the modern-day epidemic of eye fatigue.

But what is our digital obsession doing to our brains?

Researchers have noted a rise in something called Digital

[5] Attention Disorder — the addiction to social networks

and computers in general.

How does it work? More than 50 years ago,

psychologist B.F. Skinner was experimenting on rats

and pigeons, and noticed that the unpredictability of

[10] reward was a major motivator for animals. If a reward

arrives either predictably or too infrequently, the animal

eventually loses interest. But when there was anticipation

of a reward that comes with just enough frequency, the

animals’ brains would consistently release dopamine, a

[15] neurotransmitter in the brain that (basically) regulates

pleasure.

What does this have to do with the internet? Some

researchers believe that intermittent reinforcement — in

the form of texts, tweets, and various other social

[20] media — may be working on our brains the same way

rewards did on Skinner’s rats. “Internet addiction is the

same as any other addiction — excessive release of

dopamine,” says Hilarie Cash, executive director of the

reStart program for internet addiction and recovery, a

[25] Seattle-area rehab program that helps wean people off

the internet. “Addiction is addiction. Whether it’s

gambling, cocaine, alcohol, or Facebook.”

“The vast majority of the American population is

mildly addicted to technology, and our clinic treats only

[30] very serious cases,” she told me in a phone interview.

“Most of the people that come are young adult males

around the ages of 18 to 30 who spend a lot of time on

the internet. Their health is poor, their social relationships

have turned to crap, they have no social confidence or

[35] real-world friends. They don’t date. They don’t work.”

Internet and video game addiction starts young.

Most young men are given computer or video games

when they are five or six years old and therefore their

childhood development is profoundly wired for these

[40] activities. It’s quite different to drug addicts and alcoholics

who are usually exposed to drugs or alcohol closer to

the age of 15. Internet addicts usually have 15 to 20

years of addiction on them due to starting younger.

The problem isn’t just young men, either. “Women

[45] are getting addicted, too,” Cash told me. ”Although

women usually become addicted later in life and, more

often than not, directly to social media, while men are

more adept to becoming addicted to multiplayer games.

Women seem to juggle addiction and life better than

[50] men.”

Life in the age of internet addiction. Disponível em: . Acesso em:12 out. 2013.

According to Hilarie Cash, Internet addiction