Digital Detox: How our love affair with our screens can harm us—and how to break free
01 Jun 2018
Are you guilty of phubbing?
By Kerry Parry Ping. It’s an innocuous sound that notifies you to pick up your smartphone. You have a message from a friend or a boss. Someone or something requires your attention, tearing you away from the task at hand or time spent with a friend or family member. Of course, you can always ignore it. But why not look and see? If you often find yourself torn between the people in front of you and the beckoning call of your phone, not only are you guilty of “phubbing” (snubbing others in favor of your phone), but you might be in need of a digital detox. A digital detox is a means of breaking a pattern of overuse—whether that means time away from all electronics or adopting some mindful practices to curb habits. Overuse is a far cry from addiction, but both terms describe the condition that everyone who is “plugged in” can relate to. People can become addicted to gambling, shopping, web surfing, sex, porn or games in the digital landscape. What may start as a healthy interest in something novel can turn into an actual chemical dependency that interferes with work, school and relationships. A case in point: A group of young Chinese men became so addicted to their gaming, afraid to miss even a second of the action, that they took to wearing adult diapers to skip bathroom breaks. Less dramatic, but perhaps more insidious, is our craving for connection via social media. While work demands have us glued to technology, we remain tethered to our devices during our off-hours because we feel compelled to keep connected with friends, family members and even strangers. Social media is designed to hook us. Sean Parker, Facebook’s founding president, recently made headlines when he claimed the company’s success rested on answering one question: “How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?” Facebook built a system to exploit a vulnerability in human psychology. Every time you get a “like” on a post, you’re receiving a dopamine hit. Parker is not the only tech executive to take advantage of digital’s allure. Companies are sprouting up that use neuroscience as a means of getting users hooked on a digital product. Some even sell solutions to help addicted users kick the habit they helped create.
Breaking free
How to break free? Amy Ippoliti, a Boulder resident, international yoga teacher and frequent contributor on mind-body practices, suggests unplugging completely. “Go somewhere for a week with no WiFi and no cellular.” If the thought of such a retreat makes you break out in a cold sweat, it might be an indication that you need it. “The loneliness (of being away from our devices) can be terrifying at first,” she says. After a while though, the mind fills the emptiness with other things. “You can journal, draw, have long conversations or create art.”
Kerry Parry is a longtime Colorado resident, freelance writer, blogger and author of Conversations with the Faithful: Seeking Enlightenment Over Lunch.
