The subject of technology addiction is relatively new as compared to drug or gambling addictions. This leads to a heated dispute over whether we need to consider the fervent need for technology and the monotony that the lack of technology causes, as an addiction. There are several qualifications that a craving needs to be termed as an addiction.What Makes an Addiction?
The human state survival works on a simple reward system. Every time you attain a biological requirement like food, sex or lactation, the body releases a neurotransmitter called 'dopamine' (in this case, into the brain) that helps us decide the approach to something to be rewardhed. This means the phase of wanting something and getting it, and the eventual liking of it is controlled by dopamine. It is this that fuels an addiction. Once you start using a piece of technology (like video games) and eventually start to like it, release of dopamine in the brain creates a reward system for it, which creates an addiction for it. The same example works for cigarettes - nicotine induces a dopamine release, creating the craving for more. An important point here is that people who seek more satisfaction from things, actually are seeking more in terms of dopamine release, and therefore require a larger release of the neurotransmitter, which in turn requires you to pursue that thing even more.
Apart from dopamine, there's also 'serotonin', the neurotransmitter that's involved with mood control and sensory perception. Serotonin imbalance is a major cause of depression, suicidal tendencies and aggression. Norepinephrine is another mood control neurotransmitter that also can work as a hormone. It is directly related to stress.
Traditionally, all this was considered to apply to sectors that involve more physical activity (like sex) or actual substance consumption (food and drugs), which later translated to gambling too. We are now at the verge of seriously considering the very gadgets that help in making life easier as the gadgets that mark the very difference between success and failure. There have been many arguments over this issue - one side stating that technology addiction satisfies the scientific qualifications (dopamine release), while others say that overusing technology is only a phase that is a let go of the moment we set on something more challenging. But there lies the downside of calling something an addiction. When you're 'addicted' to something, you forget all other needs and wants, concentrating solely on satisfying your now first priority, craving.
Students of the International Center for Media & the Public Affairs (ICMPA), along with the Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change, conducted an online study, asking over a thousand students in ten countries across five continents to refrain from using any form of media for 24 hours. A majority of students considered this an impossibility in this modern age. Most kids today have grown w
ith console and a cellphone in their hands, making them take technology for granted and completely shirk the idea of living without it. Most students failed to complete 24 hours, some described signs of withdrawal and early stages of depression, shocked by their total dependence on cellphones, computers and the TV. Only a small minority actually pulled it off successfully. It may thus be said that even if technology addiction cannot be called as a medical condition, the cravings and the anxiety related to an addiction still exists.