iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession with Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us

by Rosen, Larry D., Ph.D.

• ISBN13: 9780230117570
• ISBN10: 0230117570
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-03-27
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Summary

iDisorder: changes to your brain's ability to process information and your ability to relate to the world due to your daily use of media and technology resulting in signs and symptoms of psychological disorders--such as stress, sleeplessness, and a compulsive need to check in with all of your technology. Based on decades of research and expertise in the "psychology of technology," Dr. Larry Rosen offers clear, down-to-earth explanations for why many of us are suffering from an "iDisorder." Rosen offers solid, proven strategies to help us overcome the iDisorder we all feel in our lives while still making use of all that technology offers. Our world is not going to change, and technology will continue to penetrate society even deeper leaving us little chance to react to the seemingly daily additions to our lives. Rosen teaches us how to stay human in an increasingly technological world.

Author Biography

Larry Rosen is past chair and professor of Psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is a research psychologist and computer educator, and is recognized as an international expert in the "Psychology of Technology." Dr. Rosen and his colleagues have examined reactions to technology among more than 30,000 children, teens, and adults in the United States and in 23 other countries. Dr. Rosen has been a commentator on Good Morning America, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, CNN, and Lifetime Television, and has been quoted in hundreds of magazines and newspapers, including Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, The Chronicle of Higher Education,  The New York Times, and USA Today.  He is a featured blogger for Psychology Today and has spoken to audiences around the world for the past 30 years on how technology is affecting our way of life.  He lives in San Diego, California.

Table of Contents

1. We Didn’t Start the Fire * 2. Mini Generations 3. Internet of the Future * 4. Our Social Selves * 5. Who Am I Anyway? Am I My Online Persona or My Real Self? * 6. Is Anything Private Anymore? * 7. Information Overload * 8. The Myth of ADHD/OCD * 9. Taking an Emotional Toll * 10. How Does the Brain Work and What Are We Doing to Drive it to its Limits * 11. Distracting Ourselves to Death * 12. It’s Not About Managing Your Time. It is About Managing Your Technology