Techno-stress: The Consequences Of Abusing New Technologies

New technologies have brought about changes at all levels, from social to cultural and economic. There is no doubt that its benefits, both at a communicational, relational and informative level are multiple and make our lives much easier.

However, poor management of their use, as well as the time we spend using them, can lead to different types of problems such as nomophobia, FOMO syndrome or techno-stress. Below, we delve into the latter.

What is techno-stress ?

In 1984, Craig Brod defined this phenomenon for the first time as ” an adaptive disease caused by the inability to deal with new computer 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 case, the authors explained techno-stress as the negative impact of technologies, either directly or indirectly, on an individual’s attitudes, thought, physiology or behavior.

As we can see, techno-stress is a negative psychological state related to the use of technologies. In fact, according to the psychologist Marisa Salanova, this state arises from the perception of a mismatch between the demands and resources of the use of ICTs that cause discomfort, negative attitudes and high levels of psychophysiological activation in the individual.

Thus, techno-stress is the result of poor management of technologies along with other types of factors such as poor self-control and low tolerance for frustration.

Causes of techno – stress

The causes that cause techno-stress can be varied. In general, they have to do with the age and generation to which the person belongs. Among them we find:

• The excess of information and the demand for knowledge.
• The need to always be connected.
• The need to always be reachable.
• Refusing to use technology due to a lack of ability to handle it.
• Addiction to new technologies. That is, the inability to disconnect and efficiently manage the time of its use.

Addiction and techno-stress

As the researchers Salanova, M., et al. (2007), new technologies offer the young and not so young an immediate sensory stimulation.

Now, how does this addiction develop?

• First, create a tolerance. In other words, it is necessary to be more and more hours connected and in contact with new technologies.
• Second, it creates dependency. Therefore, the person will probably seek to be in permanent contact with these objects, which provide sensory stimulation.
• Finally, they can create a true withdrawal syndrome. In fact, for people addicted to technology, deprivation of technology often causes restlessness, anxiety, irritability, and other related symptoms.

Why are new technologies so attractive?

According to various opinions, this attraction would be supported by the way in which stimulation is presented to us by these technologies. Rapid reward and ever-changing stimulation overload trigger the brain’s reward circuit to fire.

Therefore, this constant stimulation would be capable, at least initially, of giving us pleasure and capturing our attention. Hence it could be that they are generally so attractive to us, and also so difficult to ignore.

Treatment for techno-stress

In especially serious cases, the most advisable would be psychological therapy and, especially, exposure therapy with response prevention – a behavioral strategy that is usually beneficial in treating addictions. However, for milder cases of presentation, the following is recommended:

• Take time to encourage face-to-face communications.
• Disconnect from new technologies to do sports or a hobby.
• Learn only those technologies that are useful.
• Impose a schedule to interact with technologies.
• Use technologies to carry out specific tasks ; never use them because we are bored or have nothing to do.

It is clear that, in some ways, new technologies have done human good. Far from condemning them, we could congratulate ourselves on our technical progress and on making the world a place with fewer barriers.

However, it is extremely important to make rational use of these devices and not neglect, because of them, our human interactions.