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Jordan Warren
3/1/15
132 Work of Art
Winter 2015
Issue Based Paper

The Effects of Excessive Exposure to Technology

Whether we are in the classroom, the workplace, or at home, technology is an

essential aspect of our everyday lives. In the past ten years, technology has advanced
rapidly and continues to do so; but as technology progresses, so does our constant need to
keep up with it. At an early age, we are being exposed to the internet, television, and now
more recently, cell phones; our use of technology has become as natural as eating and
drinking. Many will argue that this excessive utilization of technology as a society is just
a normal adaptation method, that it is doing nothing but making our lives easier, but
experts say that this constant need to be plugged in is proving to be detrimental to our
health, both mentally and physically. Even though a majority of the worlds population is
able to sustain a healthy relationship with technology, there is also an overwhelming
amount of people who are still failing to maintain the balance between healthy and
excessive. Skeptics often question this claim; exactly what physical and psychological
effects can excessive technology have on our health?
While it is debatable as to what can be classified medically as excessive in
means of technology use, it is inevitable that abusive use of anything, whether it be

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substance or object, can have damaging effects on our minds and bodies. Studies have
linked various health issues with excessive technology use, including trouble sleeping,
communicating, and socializing, as well as other social, physical, and mental problems.
Individuals who are exposed to too much technology during adolescence can become
predisposed to the later psychological effects that excessive exposure can have on the
brain. Once a child becomes used to constant audio and visual stimulation, it is difficult
to function normally without it, they become disinterested, agitated, anxious, and restless
these feelings are similar to that of withdrawals associated with addiction in adults, and
can continue to develop aggressively throughout their lifetime, possibly triggering other
mental and behavioral disorders (LeClaire).

Although the analysis of technology addiction as a behavioral addiction is a fairly

new area of study, more and more experts have taken interest, various experiments and
surveys have shown that it is a very real and serious behavioral addiction amongst
children, teens, and adults. It was not until recently that technology and internet based
addictions were recognized in the scientific community, but with more research being
done and experiments being conducted, they, and other issues related to them, are finally
being recognized medically as addictions. Technology addiction is diagnosed through
observation and discovery of symptoms similar to those associated with gambling, sex,
dieting, and other addictions, all of which have significant effects on the physical and
mental health of the individual (Young). These effects include depression, anxiety, mood
swings, incapacity to focus for long periods of time, as well as possible ties to
psychological and behavioral disorders, that being said, side effects are not limited to that

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of the psychological, many also experience trouble sleeping, fatigue, back and eye strain,
and other physical health issues.

Although we like to think that we have adapted rather well to these rapid
technological advancements, it seems that our bodies and minds have not had the chance
to catch up; our brains have not yet developed the capacity to effectively take in all of
this new technology, and our bodies still require constant physical stimulation, which
many of us are not getting, this has lead to some serious gaps in critical growth and
development, causing physical health issues, such as obesity and poor eyesight (Bener),
as well as learning and developmental delays. Children are spending too much time
online and in front of televisions, and not enough time doing the physical activity needed
to maintain a healthy weight and insure proper growth and development of motor skills
and coordination (Rowan). It was discovered that those who spent the most time on a
computer were 1.5 times more likely to be overweight and 2.5 times more likely to be
obese than those who did not use a computer at all (Borne).

Not only is a technology overload of this extent at a young age hindering

development physically, but it is also harmful mentally. It is no argument that children
spend too much time glued to television screens as compared to those in previous
generations, and some believe that this is having negative effects on mental development
in regards to social and communication skills. More and more experts are finding that
those who have too much screen time often experience significant developmental delays
in regards to social interactions; they have trouble initiating conversation and

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communicating effectively, and because of this often experience social exclusion,
becoming isolated and closed-off (Weisen). In relation to mental development, excessive
screen time can also have an impact on the occurrence of behavioral disorders. It was
found that children under the age of five who watched two hours of television a day were
twenty percent more likely than kids who watched no television, to have issues paying
attention at school age (Alderman); this study and others like it concluded that there may
be, although not yet proven, a significant link between ADHD and excessive exposure to
technology at a young age. Although these accusations are often untrue, it is still a
daunting possibility that this delay in development could become a major issue as the use
of technology amongst youth continues to escalate.

In relation to mental disorders, use of technology and the internet also has
associations with anxiety and depression. Statistics show that 28% of the worlds
population regularly uses social media; this number has increased by 12% in the past year
and continues to climb. Social media has become a major technological development in
recent years; apps and websites, such as Instagram and Twitter are popular amongst and
widely used by individuals ranging from elementary to college age. Unintentionally or
not, these individuals are being exposed to an online world made up of images, articles,
and posts by others through the use of these entities, which can trigger issues with selfesteem and body image. The unrealistic expectations that are plastered all over social
media regarding beauty, body type, and gender often have harmful mental effects on the
individuals who use these apps; this online realm also opens up the possibility of cyber
bullying, and unwanted exploitation through the use of images, videos, and text.

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Although these online interactions can further contribute negatively to those already
suffering from mental illness, it has also been observed that those who suffer from
depression and anxiety can find solace online (Caplan). Individuals with depression and
other mental illnesses often have skewed perceptions of their own social competence;
online interactions prove to be safer and less threatening, providing a false sense of
confidence and comfort. This newfound confidence develops from the high that one
experiences after receiving recognition online, similar to the feeling one gets after using
drugs (Klein). Unfortunately, just like an actual high, this feeling of euphoria eventually
wears off, reality sets in and the individual once again becomes overwhelmed by feelings
of depression and low self-worth. Although social media is not a direct cause of
depression and anxiety, it seems to surface underlying issues that wouldnt necessarily
emerge on their own, contributing to the problem.
Percieved Effect of Social Networking on
Social and Emotional Well-Being
Less
Better About Themselves

More
4%

Sympatheric to Others
Shy
Popular
Outgoing
Depressed
Confident

15%
7%

19%
29%

3%
4%

19%

5%
5%
4%

28%
10%
20%

13-17 year olds with social media account, percent of feeling more or less on social media (Magid)

Countless experiments, surveys, and studies have helped further develop our
understanding of technologys overall impact on our daily lives. It is clear that we need to
develop a healthy relationship with technology in order to coexist alongside it, even as it

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continues to advance. So how do we know where to draw the line between a healthy
amount of technology and too much? When our usage, or the withdrawals from lack
thereof, begins to hinder our quality of life or harmfully impose on everyday activities,
that is when we need to reevaluate how often we expose ourselves to technology.

Works Cited
Wang, Ligang, Jing Luo, Wenbin Gao, Jie Kong. The Effect of Internet Use on
Adolescents Lifestyles: A National Survey. Computers in Human Behavior
Vol.2, 2012. Print. [Peer Reviewed]

LeClaire, Jennifer. "Kids and Tech: How Much Is Too Much?" Tech News World. 2006.
Web.
Young, Kimberly, Dr. "Assessment of Internet Addiction." The Center for Internet
Addiction Recovery, 1997. Web. [Peer Reviewed]
Alderman, Lesley. "Does Technology Cause ADHD?" EverydayHealth.com, 2010. Web.
[Peer Reviewed]
Bener, Abdulbari, Huda S. Al-Mahdi, Mohammed Al-Nufal, Awab I. Ali, Pankit J.
Vachhani, and Ihab Tewfik. "Association between Childhood Computer Use and
Risk of Obesity and Low Vision". Public Health Frontier Vol.1 Issue 3, 2012.
Web.
Wiesen, Norene. "Social Skills in the Digital Age: What's Screen Time Got to Do With
It?" Scientific Learning, 2014. Web.
Rowan, Cris. "The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child." The Huffington Post,
2013. Web.
Borne, Cheryl A. "Internet Use, Obesity, and Poor Health - America's New "Sitting
Disease"" HealthCentral.com, 2012. Web.
Caplan, Scott E. "Preference for Online Social Interaction: A Theory of Problematic
Internet Use and Psychosocial Well-Being. Communication Research 30.6,
2003: 625-48. Web.
Klein, Sarah. "Is Social Media Dependence A Mental Health Issue?". The Huffington
Post, 2014. Web.
Magid, Larry. "Common Sense Media Report Shines Positive Light on Kids and Social
Media." The Huffington Post, 2012. Web.
Kemp, Simon. "Digital, Social, and Mobile Worldwide in 2015." We Are Social, 2015.
Web.