The age of digital addiction?

There is no doubt that we are now deeply immersed in a digital world.  But to what extent can we say that there is such a thing as ‘digital addiction’?

A generally accepted definition of addiction is: ‘Not having control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful to you’.  Arguably, this definition could apply equally to a person’s use of digital devices (such as smartphones) as it does to a person’s use of drugs or alcohol.  But others disagree.  In an article in the New Yorker, Maria Konnikova points out that there is a distinction to be made between ‘substance addictions’ and other types of addiction, and the key difference is that ‘a substance affects a person physically’ because ‘something new’ has been introduced to your ‘bloodstream’ in a way that other behaviour does not. 

Unlike addiction to substances, digital addiction is often categorised as a ‘behavioural addiction’, along with other types of behaviour such as gambling addiction.  However, unlike gambling addiction, digital addiction was not included in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM).  Some say that this is simply because we are in the early days of digital devices, and it is only a matter of time before we gather sufficient evidence to support its inclusion.  But as Konnikova pointed out in her article, ‘there’s something different, and more complicated’ about digital addiction:  ‘Unlike gambling’, the internet ‘is a medium, not an activity in and of itself. If you spend your time gambling online, maybe you have a gambling addiction, not an Internet addiction. If you spend your time shopping online, maybe it’s a shopping addiction’.

No matter what the conclusion of this debate, the job of the psychotherapist would be to work with a client to explore the following questions:

• What does this behaviour mean to the client?
• Has the client lost control of their use of digital devices?
• Is this behaviour harmful?

Often when these questions are explored, a key lightbulb moment is the realisation that the client is no longer in control of their behaviour.  The harm is often obvious, and it is sometimes the reason they have come for psychotherapy, but it is only when they realise that they no longer have control over their behaviour that they accept that they are addicted.

So how can a psychotherapist help someone who is addicted? 

• A lack of connection and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)–

In an article in Huffington Post, Johann Hari suggested that addiction was a person’s reaction to a lack of connection.  In his article Hari quoted Professor Peter Cohen when he said:  ‘Human beings have a deep need to bond and form connections’ and ‘if we can't connect with each other, we will connect with anything we can find -- the whirr of a roulette wheel or the prick of a syringe. He says we should stop talking about 'addiction' altogether, and instead call it 'bonding.' A heroin addict has bonded with heroin because she couldn't bond as fully with anything else.  So the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It is human connection’. 

A psychotherapist might explore with the client whether this is something that rings true, and if it is, the client can look at alternative ways to create that connection.  This is likely to be an approach followed by a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist as they focus on a client’s thoughts or assumptions.  Cognitive Behavioural Therapists offer their clients the opportunity to identity their thoughts or assumptions (for example, through Socratic questioning), and once these have been identified, they are able to challenge (and sometimes change) the unhelpful thoughts and assumptions.

• The addiction cycle and the multimodal approach –

Some clients find it helpful to look on addiction as a cycle, and by viewing it this way, they can see how to break that cycle.  Arnold Lazarus, who used what is known as a multimodal approach to therapy, referred to addiction in this way.  He said that ‘the individual in stress situations makes a number of different responses, one of which might be’ engaging in certain behaviour ‘which affords him temporary relief.  Repetition...eventually leads to a conditioned response between stress and’ further engagement in that behaviour.  ‘This may soon occasion feelings of guilt ... which in turn adds to the already mounting stress.  This 'self-perpetuated stress' precipitates further behaviour, which in turn creates the addiction.

Lazarus argued that this vicious cycle must be broken at several strategic points, and so he suggested the multimodal approach, which examines a client’s addiction from each of the following perspectives (BASIC ID):  Behaviour, affect (feelings), sensations, imagery, cognition, interpersonal relationships and drugs.

• Mindfulness –

Some clients find mindfulness to be a useful approach to an addiction.  Mindfulness starts from a place of awareness, so the client is simply noticing how they are with their digital devices, they are not trying to change anything.  In order to really become aware of what is going on for the client when they use their digital devices, it might be useful for them to reflect on the following questions –

• How did they feel when they were using the device?
• Did they notice any particular thoughts arising?
• What was going on for them at the time? (For example, was anything happening in their physical environment?)

They should ask the above questions at each of the three following stages –

• Before they used their digital device
• Whilst they used their digital device
• After they had used their digital device

​Whether we like it or not, we are now immersed in a digital world, but that does not mean we have to drown.  No matter what the official term for digital addiction, if this behaviour has become harmful, and we do not have control, we can take control by talking to a trained expert.  We cannot change anything we are not aware of, so the first part of this will involve becoming fully aware of our behaviour, the underlying thoughts and assumptions that drive that behaviour, and the resulting feelings.  Once we are fully aware of all of this, we can look at changing our thoughts and assumptions, our behaviour, and ultimately the feelings that flow from these. 

Chris Warren-Dickins LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor in New Jersey. 
To book an appointment, please telephone +1 (201) 862-7776 or email chris@exploretransform.com

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