This book was designed to offer knowledge and alternative solutions to clinicians, patients, and families struggling with the negative effects of technology’s pervasive presence in our lives and the excessive attraction it holds for some users. Today, mental health professionals recognize that video games, online pornography, online gaming, and other technology-related hobbies can prove just as addictive as substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and illicit psychoactive drugs. Given that many of these technologies offer immeasurable benefits and have been successfully integrated into modern life, identifying their pathological use is essentially an exercise in distinguishing subtle differences.
Petros Levounis, a leading expert on addiction, together with James Sherer, the scientific co-editor of this volume, and a team of distinguished contributors, has created a pioneering book focused on the everyday lives of people struggling with these particular addictions. Its carefully structured chapters explore the cultural, psychological, and practical dimensions of each technology and the related behaviors—from social media to online sex—and examine in detail the difference between healthy engagement with a technology and addiction to it.
The analysis is based on the understanding that technology should not be banned or restricted, as it is an entirely beneficial, perhaps even essential, part of our everyday lives. Two separate chapters focus on how technology addictions affect specific populations: children and adolescents, on the one hand, and older adults, on the other. Technology addiction emerges as a serious medical disorder, rather than simply an aggravation of the illnesses caused—at both social and individual levels—by everyday life in the 21st century.
Technology Addictions thus stands out as a pioneering guide in the literature, especially useful and effective for clinicians and general readers alike.
