iDisorder: Understanding Our
Obsession With Technology And
Overcoming Its Hold On Us
Larry D. Rosen
Published in 2012
Jessica Swartz
How technology relates to these disorders
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Narcissism
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Addiction
Depression
Attention-deficit disorder
Social phobia
Antisocial personality disorder
Hypochondria
Body dysmorphic disorder
Schizo-disorders
Voyeurism
Overview
• By the year 2015 experts predict that 80% of the world’s
population will have a smartphone, tablet, or laptop
• The constant flow of information is more than the human
mind is meant to handle
• Our technology use has created a new array of symptoms of
common disorders
Overview
• Larry Rosen states how our actions and behaviors when we
use technology make us appear out of control
• 70 percent of those who report heavily using mobile devices experience
“phantom vibration syndrome”
• Heavy use of social media has been linked to mood swings among some
teenagers
• He describes the most common psychiatric disorders and
uses research to demonstrate how the technologies we use
can have a negative impact on the way we live
Overview
• Narcissistic personality disorder
• People overuse social networking sites. They are always posting on Facebook, Twitter,
and Instagram about themselves. They care too much about how many likes they get
and how many followers they have.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• There are people who constantly check their phone and have trouble being away from
technology for a long period of time.
• Addiction
• People who spend too much time on the internet, playing video games, etc. lack the
social skills that they need in life.
• Hypochondria
• People feel that they do not have to go to the doctors because they have the internet
to tell them what is wrong with them. (Cyberchondriacs)
How to combat an iDisorder
• Take a “tech break”
• Family dinners where technology is forbidden at the table
• Spend more time connecting with nature
• Have no distractions in reach of you at night
• Interact only with passive technologies (tv and music) in the hour
before sleep
• The topics of the book apply to our class
• Discusses the negative impacts that technology can have
• The technologies we use daily coerce us to act in ways that may
be detrimental to our well-being
• The world will continue to develop in the future and people will
rely more and more on technology
• I would recommend this book
• Anyone who is interested in the “psychology of technology”
would enjoy reading the book
• Good book for understanding the consequences of heavy use
of technology that makes readers think about their own use
of technology