The New Addiction That Plagues Many in Today’s America

Health Wellness

When you hear the term ‘addiction’, most people think about drugs, alcohol, gambling, smoking and things along that line. There are actually many types of addictions that impact everyone differently as listed here:

List of Addictions to Substances

Substance use disorders in the 5 [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)] provide a list of addictions relating to the following substances:1

List of Impulse Control Disorders

The DSM-5 lists disorders where impulses cannot be resisted, which could be considered a type of addiction. The following is a list of the recognized impulse control disorders:2

  • Intermittent explosive disorder (compulsive aggressive and assaultive acts)
  • Kleptomania (compulsive stealing)
  • Pyromania (compulsive setting of fires)
  • Gambling

List of Addictions – Behavioral

It has been suggested one of the types of addictions is behavioral addiction. The following is a list of behaviors that have been noted to be addictive:3

Yes, things like shopping, seeking pain, exercising and working can and do become addictions. Ever hear of a workaholic or shopaholic?

In today’s America, we are bombarded with information. We get it from so many different sources, many of which are electronic. We often hear about information overload or just wanting to unplug and tune out.

I can’t tell you how often I long for the days when I used to just go out in nature away from everything. I enjoyed the peaceful sounds of nature, the quiet rustling of the breeze in the leaves, the singing birds and the sounds of water traveling down a stream.

But did you know that information in today’s culture can become an addiction? Check out this report:

Can’t stop checking your phone, even when you’re not expecting any important messages? Blame your brain.

A new study by researchers at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business has found that information acts on the brain’s dopamine-producing reward system in the same way as money or food.

“To the brain, information is its own reward, above and beyond whether it’s useful,” said Assoc. Prof. Ming Hsu, a neuroeconomist whose research employs functional magnetic imaging (fMRI), psychological theory, economic modeling, and machine learning. “And just as our brains like empty calories from junk food, they can overvalue information that makes us feel good but may not be useful–what some may call idle curiosity.”

The paper, “Common neural code for reward and information value,” was published this month by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Authored by Hsu and graduate student Kenji Kobayashi, now a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, it demonstrates that the brain converts information into same common scale as it does for money. It also lays the groundwork for unraveling the neuroscience behind how we consume information–and perhaps even digital addiction.

“We were able to demonstrate for the first time the existence of a common neural code for information and money, which opens the door to a number of exciting questions about how people consume, and sometimes over-consume, information,” Hsu said.

How often do you check your phone, tablet or computer for messages or just for news? How many times a day do you go to social media to see who’s doing what? How many times do you just check news feeds to see the latest political, social or entertainment news?

You may be an information addict and not even realize it. To find out try unplugging for a just a day and then monitor your withdrawal symptoms.

If you are, then perhaps you need to start taking steps to turn off and unplug for a little bit at a time and then slowly increase that time. You may be surprised to learn that you are an information addict and if you take steps to correct it, you may find other things in your life or the world around you that are just as exciting or entertaining.

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