Spanish psychologist Marc Masip, one of the references in studies on how technology alters our mental patterns, believes that there are not many differences between abstinence caused by a lack of drugs and that caused by the lack of internet.
In an interview with the BBC, Masip stated that “the cell phone is the hero of the 21st century”. And he speaks properly on the subject because part of his job is to help people who enter technology detox clinics.
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He explains that it is more difficult to recover technology addicts precisely because in the world of drugs there is an understanding that they are bad, while in the technological world people extrapolate without understanding the magnitude of the damage they cause us.
When WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram were down last October 8th, the psychologist went to Twitter to wish a “happy abstinence syndrome”. And they explain the motivation behind it.
“People went crazy when in reality nothing was happening. We’re all a little lost. Addictions are all addictions, and there’s not much difference between drug addiction and cell phone addiction,” he said.
In his view, when we don’t have technology in our hands, as when WhatsApp and Facebook fell, we all “feel a malaise, a withdrawal syndrome”.
“When heroin started being used, you didn’t know how bad it was, and in the end a lot of people died. I hope it’s not like that now, but there are people who die because they use their cell phones even when they’re driving,” he reminds the BBC.
And how is a person detoxified from technology?
“If you think about it, when you deal with heroin, cocaine, or marijuana addiction, you assume it’s socially frowned upon. People assume that smoking, drinking and taking drugs is bad for you. With technologies it is more difficult because it is not about not using them. What you have to do is re-educate them so they are better used. And it’s not easy when everyone around you is using it too. In our treatment, it is very important that the patient overcomes this awareness phase, in which he recognizes how good it is to use a technology”, he evaluated.
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