Posted Wednesday, February 24, 2016 8:00 am
“Recent studies reveal that Internet addiction is associated with impaired brain structure and function, which affects planning, prioritizing, organizing, and impulse control,” according to a February 2016 telecast of “Dr. Oz” on Internet addiction.
Mehmet Oz, M.D., the talk show host and cardiothoracic surgeon, said, “Other studies showed shrinkage in the area known as the insula, which regulates the capacity to develop empathy and compassion for others.”
Dr. Oz added, “This addiction affects the way we handle our emotions, it affects the way we make decisions and affects your ability to focus at all!”
This would pose a real problem for true Christians who are warned at 1Thessalonians 5:6 to “Watch and keep your minds awake to what is happening.” — New Life Version. How can anyone be fully “awake to what is happening” with an addiction that “affects the way we make decisions and affects your ability to focus at all?”
Neuroscientists say the brain region known as the insula is also crucial to understanding social emotions like lust and disgust, pride and embarrassment, guilt and reconciliation. Imagine the adverse impact this could have on human relationships, including our personal relationship with God? If Internet addiction can affect the way we make decisions, as Dr. Oz asserts, might that explain why many intelligent adults have exercised such poor judgement in posting or texting embarrassing photos and messages that ended their careers? Haven’t you asked why they would do such a thing?
Dr. Larry Rosen, an international expert in the “Psychology of Technology,” pointed out that this obsession with technology “is making us all exhibit signs and symptoms of psychiatric disorders such as OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), narcissism, voyeurism, and depression.”
Have you ever sent a text or email you regretted, or posted a picture that you regretted minutes later? Did you ever stop to think why you did that? Is this a sign of addiction? Dr. Oz said, “It’s literally changing the way our brains function. It’s become a problem for families all across America.”
A research review regarding the impact of technology on child development, behaviour and academic performance stated, “Attachment to technology is ‘detaching’ children from humanity, with consequent increased incidence of childhood psychological and behavior disorders, often accompanied by prescription of psychotropic medication.
“Brain development research shows technology overuse by children results in ‘pruning’ of tracks to the frontal cortex, adversely affecting executive functioning and impulse control. Early studies now indicate that electromagnetic radiation emitted from some forms of technology is harmful to adult physical and mental health, with no studies to date on the effects of EMF radiation on children.”
Think about what is happening. Your brain’s ability to function properly — your ability to control your impulses — is slowly being taken away from you! People write things they didn’t mean to write, do things they didn’t mean to do and then react inappropriately to bad behavior because a mental illness is involved. Historically, an addicted person no longer has full control over everything they say or do. That’s one way to define mental illness.
Tony Schwartz, a business consultant appearing in the episode with Dr. Oz, suspected his Internet addiction was sabotaging both his attention span and his life. He explained, “For me, it was picking up a book. I’m a lifelong reader. I love books! Reading the same paragraph over six times and finally saying to myself, ‘I can’t do it! I can’t do it!’ and that’s not a good thing. I better find some way to change this.”
Talking with a woman who reads her Bible online, Schwartz said, “We know that if you read in print, that’s actually a better experience for the brain in terms of absorbing, in terms of depth — so 20 minutes a day on something that requires your full concentration — for you the Bible would be great — that requires your full concentration for the entire duration that you’re doing it.”
Schwartz offered a solution that many experts agree with. They call it “deep reading” — that is, reading each sentence carefully, reflecting on its meaning and how it might apply to you. Some experts believe the digital pixels and the translucent background of iPads somehow interfere with long-term memory.
It’s been suggested that screens are better for browsing and scanning while deep reading and concentrated study are best derived from reading off the printed page.
In a 2013 study of Norwegian teens, Literacy Professor Anne Mangen, of Norway’s University of Stavenger, found a deeper comprehension of texts on paper over electronic devices. She was quoted in “Wired” as saying, “Perhaps the tactility and physical permanence of paper yields a different cognitive and emotional experience.” This is especially true, she says, for “reading that can’t be done in snippets, scanning here and there, but requires sustained attention.”
God’s Word encourages deep reading and meditating on the Scriptures at Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:2, Psalm 119:97, 1Timothy 4:15 and James 1:25. How can you break free from internet addiction and get back to the kind of deep reading that influences your mind and heart?
Dr. Oz said, “you’ve got to re-train your brain.” It was suggested that we try withdrawing from our electronic devices a little at a time — tapering off — as with any addiction. Are you up for the task?
For me, there is nothing like reading the Word of God directly from the Word of God. Yes, I do read numerous online Bibles. It’s easier. But it’s also easier for me to get distracted. Besides, I don’t want to immerse myself in a world of virtual reality and exhibit signs of sensory deprivation or become disconnected from people. We were created to interact, to find pleasure that way.
For me, the Internet is a world within a world, a digital misrepresentation of reality. I see technology turning many people into impersonal, detached droids living face down in technology. It offers a floodgate of excitement designed to distract us with just enough indulgence to lure us into a brain-impaired stupor.
If you want your life back, go out and meet people. Read a book. Read the Bible! Share what you learn and interact face-to-face with friends and loved ones! Keep in mind, while modern technology can be used by our Creator, it can also be dangerous and addictive. So, be careful. A mind is still a terrible thing to waste.
http://clevelandbanner.com/stories/wright-way-our-self-inflicted-brain-damage,28464?
Posted by Aaron Isaacs
