Tecnostress: The Abuse Of New Technologies

New technologies have brought about changes at all levels: social, cultural, economic. There are no doubts about the positive aspects, both from a relational point of view and as regards communications. In addition, we receive a lot more information and this makes our life easier. But misuse of technologies can cause so-called technostress.

Poor management of their use and an excessive amount of time connected to the internet can cause various problems such as nomophobia, FOMO syndrome or what is called technostress. In this article, we will delve into the latter aspect.

What is technostress?

In 1984, Craig Brod first defined this phenomenon as “an adaptation disease caused by the inability to manage new information technologies in a healthy way”.

In 1997, Larry Rosen and Michele Well popularized the term thanks to their book Technostress: Coping with Technology @Work @ Home @Play . In this book, the authors defined technostress as the negative impact of technologies (directly or indirectly) on an individual’s attitudes, thoughts, physiology and behavior.

As we can understand, it is a negative psychological state linked to the use of technologies. According to psychologist Marisa Salanova, this condition arises from the perception of a discrepancy between real needs and the massive use of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) which causes discomfort, negative attitudes and high levels of activation in individuals. psychophysiological.

Technostress, therefore, is the result of mismanagement of technologies associated with other factors such as poor self-control and a high degree of frustration.

The causes of this phenomenon

The causes that cause technostress can be many. In general, we can say that they have to do with the age and generation to which the individual belongs. Among these we identify:

• An excessive demand for knowledge and information.
• The need to always be connected.
• The need to always be reachable.
• The refusal to use technologies because you think you are not able to use and manage them.
• Dependence on new technologies. The inability to log out or efficiently manage the time of their use.

Addiction and technostress

As the researchers suggest Salanova, M., et al. (2007), new technologies offer young and old people immediate sensory stimulation.

Now the question arises spontaneously: “How does this addiction develop?”

• In the beginning, it develops by creating tolerance. There is an increasing need to stay connected and in contact with new technologies for more hours.
• In a second phase an addiction is created. It is very likely that the person wants to be in constant contact with the technological objects that provide him with sensory stimuli.
• Finally, a real withdrawal syndrome is created. People addicted to technology, deprived of technological items, generally experience restlessness, anxiety, irritability and other related symptoms.

Why do new technologies attract us so much?

According to various opinions, this attraction is caused by the way these technologies stimulate us. The fast reward and the overload of continuous stimulation cause the brain’s reward system to activate.

This constant stimulation would be able, at least initially, to provide us with pleasure and capture our attention. In general, we could say that they are so attractive to us that it is difficult to ignore them.

Treatment for technostress

In particularly severe cases, psychological therapy and, in particular, response prevention exposure therapy (ERP) – a cognitive-behavioral technique that is usually used to treat addictions – is highly recommended. For milder cases, the following is recommended:

• Find time for face-to-face conversations.
• Disconnect from new technologies and play some sport or have hobbies.
• Learn and use only the technologies that are useful to us.
• Establish a time to interact with technologies.
• Use technologies to perform specific tasks. Never use them because you are bored or have nothing to do.

It is evident that, in a certain sense, the new technologies have been good for the human being. Far from condemning them, we should congratulate ourselves on technical progress and on making the world a place with fewer barriers.

However, it is very important to make rational use of these devices and not to neglect human interactions in the real world because of them.