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Addiction to social media
Addiction to social mediaAddiction may be referred to dependency on certain things. Anyone may be addicted to the social media and internet depending on how they use it. Currently, everyone is accessing information online. This makes it easier for anyone to print the information accessed and read it at his or her own convenience. As far as accessibility is concerned, digital media has improved technological. A smarter methodology would be how people use the resources available.
Many people think that social media sites such as twitter and Facebook are harmless platforms allowing personal expression and social interaction. Other people think that social media is an entertaining form of engaging with others.
Various studies conducted show that social media can make people to be addicted to it. According to a research conducted by University of Chicago, social media was found to be more addictive than alcohol and cigarettes (Osuagwu, 4). This addiction is compelling the urge of one feeling to be connected to the internet throughout. This urge is satisfied when one logs on and becomes social with other people on the internet all over. Social media desires are hard to control as the internet is easily accessible and people think that it is less harmful than drugs. Additionally, people suffering from low self esteem are likely to be addicted to the social media to sites such as twitter and Facebook. Social media becomes addictive to an individual when he or she checks the Facebook account and twitting regularly. One way to know if the social media has addicted you is the moment you feel worried when you have not accessed either Facebook or twitter.
A research conducted at Cornell University, for instance, showed that half of a class was permitted to use laptops connected to the internet throughout a lecture, however the other half were not allowed to use laptops. Those students having internet connection did worse in the tests as they did not retain the contents of the lecture. This showed how shockingly web surfing would interrupt students. Schools should be cautioned on wiring classrooms with internet cables with the hopes of improving learning (Carr, 2010).
Another study conducted at Stanford University’s Communication Between Humans and Interactive Media Lab showed how a group of researchers gave different intellectual tests to 49 individuals doing a lot of media multitasking. On the other hand, the researchers gave intellectual tests to 52 individuals multitasking frequently (Carr, 2012). The study showed that the heavy multitaskers’ students did their tests poorly. They became distracted easily, they did not differentiate vital information from trivia and these students had minimum control over their attention. These studies surprised the researchers. Their expectations were that the intensive multitaskers’ students would have acquired an exceptional mental advantage.
But this was not the case. These heavy multitaskers’ students were not good at multitasking. According to Carr (2010), Clifford Nass heading the Stanford laboratory stated that everything distracted the multitaskers. Scientists discovered that the human brain’s cellular structure adapted readily to the tools used by humans. These include tools used for storing, finding and sharing information. By changing our mind habits, every new technology toughens other neural pathways and weakens other neural pathways. The cellular variations are continuing to shape our thoughts even if we are not using the internet and technology.
The revolutionary neuroscientist Michael Merzenich believed that our brains were being remodeled massively using the internet and other related media. He was worried on the consequences of the interruptions and distractions created by using the internet often. Michael went on to affirm that the long term effects of these distractions could affect the lives of many internet users. Using the internet encourages everyone to slow down putting them in a continuous mental locomotion state. Using internet scatters the attention of many users while the book focuses on the attention. In addition, book pages endorse contemplativeness (Carr, 2010).
Lisa Merlo a professor in UF College of Medicine stated that even though mobile phones have made the modern life to be more convenient, they have started to interfere with the users lives who do not know when to turn the phones off (Fla, 2007). Talking on a phone regularly might have consequences but being connected and having the urge to know what is happening and being available to other individuals’ leads to phone addiction. Nearly every individual has a mobile phone and uses it often. A number of individuals become worried when they forget their phones or when they are forced to switch off their phones.
Fla (2007) asserted that Merlo said that mobile phone addicts regularly checked their phones for text messages or voicemails. For instance, an addicted mobile phone user may be nervous when his or her messages or phone calls are not answered at the moment. This will affect the user on a day to day basis. A Japanese research showed that young people using mobile phones frequently do not make new friends with other youngsters with no phones. Moreover, a British research showed that 36 percent of university students surveyed stated that they could not survive without using mobile phones (Fla, 2007).
In conclusion, mobile phone addiction may cause brain changes even though researchers have not shown anything that may happen to the brain of mobile phone users. Mobile phones are a great technology and useful but one needs to regulate the time spent when using the phones. On the other hand, to get rid of social media addiction, one needs to keep track of the time spent on the sites such as twitter and Facebook. Scheduling the social media time is a good idea. Additionally, closing down web browsers and removing desktop applications could minimize addiction. Using an alarm clock than the mobile phone will be more effective.
Works Cited
Carr, Nicholas. “Does the Internet Make You Dumber?” The Wall Street Journal. (2010): Web. 1 Dec. 2012 <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704025304575284981644790098.html>
Osuagwu, Nnamdi. Facebook Addiction: The Life & Times of Social Networking Addicts. Massachusetts: Ice Cream Melts Pub, 2009. Pp. 4
Fla, Gainesville. “Addicted to phones? Cell phone use becoming a major problem for some, expert says.” University of Florida News. 2007. Web. 1 Dec. 2012 < http://news.ufl.edu/2007/01/18/cell-addiction/>
Case Study on Case 14.1 Can This Virtual Team Work
Case Study on Case 14.1 Can This Virtual Team Work
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To save the teamwork that he leads, Jim has to come up with solutions to solve all the underlying problems. The team lacks sharing of knowledge and skills, collaborative climate, poor passing of information (communication system) and imbalanced work in the tea thus existence of overload amongst workers. The team lacks proper planning, as many projects exist at the same time.
The intervention level should be internal since the challenges originate from the situations existing within the teamwork and its operation. For instance, the problems such as overloading of workers, uncontrolled project works and frequent travelling of the team members. The internal actions would greatly bring changes in the state of the team and thus improved efficiency. Since the leader has to deal with the challenges within the teamwork, he has to employ internal based intervention. The actions are to be task, as he must introduce more employees to prevent overloading of workers. He must also put in place methods of handling message transmission. However, he must also use relational actions to improve the relationship between the members and thus encourage joint works in projects for higher productivity (Teo et al., 2017).
Jim needs to take an immediate action to save the team’s goal and mission. Through a proper planning, Jim will see the need of having specific travel officers to ease the work of current employees. He should specify the employs’ duties for increased productivity. Furthermore, the team leader should get views from the team members on the possible ways of reducing the overloading that currently exists and the, inability to get off the ground. The team leader will tackle the latter through key steps made by the team leader for instance, keeping an eye on and communicating the vision, and keeping every day under control as he tries to achieve the main goal. He should foster unity through face-to-face meetings and having joint projects. The employees need motivation to enhance and improve their workability.
References
Teo, W. L., Lee, M., & Lim, W. S. (2017). The relational activation of resilience model: How leadership activates resilience in an organizational crisis. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 25(3), 136-147.
Addiction is a complicated issue to deal with
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Thirteen
Addiction is a complicated issue to deal with, both for the addict and those around them such as family and friends. Many teenage children are exposed to drugs and alcohol due to peer pressure even before they realize the harm that the substances will cause them. They are just eager to fit in and will do anything to please their friends. This is aptly depicted in the movie ‘Thirteen’ that follows the lives of teenagers and the start of their journey with drugs, sex, and alcohol.
The movie ‘Thirteen’ revolves around the life of a thirteen-year-old girl known as Tracy Freeland. She begins her year in middle school as a well-behaved girl in Los Angeles. Her mother Melanie is divorced and has many problems including alcoholism. She can barely make ends meet to support Tracy and her brother. Melanie has a boyfriend who is a recovering addict. Tracy feels out of place at her school because she is teased for her clothes. She gets her mother to buy her new outfits, and this gets her noticed by one of the popular girls in school, Evie.
Evie exposes Tracy to a life of shoplifting, sex, drugs, and alcohol. Evie also cuts herself when she is under stress to deal with the problems in her life. She is a bad influence on Tracy’s life, and this escalates when Evie moves into Tracy’s house to when her guardian is out of town. Melanie is concerned at the person that Tracy is turning into and decides that Evie has to leave. Evie does not want to go, and Melanie contacts Evie’s father, Brooke. Brooke is reluctant to respond, and Evie asks Melanie to adopt her. Melanie refuses. Brooke eventually shows up, but to everyone’s shock, Brooke blames Tracy for being a bad influence on Evie while the opposite is true (Olivier 101).
In the movie, several of the characters have problems such as substance abuse, aggression, and even self-harm. Melanie’s mother, as well as her boyfriend, are both recovering alcoholics. Evie is a shoplifter and uses drugs as well as alcohol. She also cuts herself as a coping strategy when things get hard. She introduces Tracy to all these habits and Tracy follows her lead as she would like to be as popular as Evie is in school. It is easy to dismiss Evie’s habits as bad behavior, but in essence, she is suffering from addiction. She requires treatment to help her deal with the problems in her life.
Watching the film ‘Thirteen,’ the characters are shown to have real challenges in their lives most of which revolve around an addiction to drugs and alcohol. This is the situation for many people in real life situations. The film is thus an accurate portrayal of the issue of substance abuse and crime especially among teenagers and adolescents in society. However, the media can do more in terms of not just showing the root of the problem but also the fact that recovery is possible with treatments such as counseling, rehabilitation among many others. Such a media experience such as watching this film shows the dangers of addiction and might dissuade others from the same path (Raymond 11).
I would begin treatment of Evie’s substance abuse by using one of the questionnaires by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The program is called the Brief Screener for Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drugs (BSTAD). This screening option asks the user about how frequently they have used the substances in the past year. Respondents are grouped into three, those who have no reported use, low risk, and high-risk users. Evie can be termed as a high-risk user due to her frequent use. She is at a high stage of dependence on drugs and other substances. Without proper treatment, she is unable to stop abusing drugs and other substances.
Evie is a danger to herself. The fact that she keeps cutting herself to deal with stress shows that in the future she might attempt more severe measures to cope. She should, therefore, be kept under close watch to avert any further incidences. To deal with the issue of self-harm, it is vital to discover the underlying cause. Evie explained that her guardian’s boyfriend is physically abusive and this shows that she lives in a toxic environment that motivates her self-harm. She should be put in a healthier environment.
The ASAM criteria are used to determine the best care that will yield desired results and outcomes for both adults and adolescents. It ensures a complete biopsychosocial assessment of the patient for a comprehensive and suitable treatment plan for the patient. There are six dimensions to the ASAM criteria. The first is acute intoxications and the potential for withdrawal. The second dimension explores biomedical conditions and the third looks at the patient’s emotional and behavioral states. The fourth dimension is about the individual’s readiness to change (Herron, & Brennan). The fifth looks at the potential for relapse and the sixth dimension explore the living environment during their recovery.
A DSM diagnosis is also essential in dealing with the matter of substance abuse. Some of the DSM-V criteria include taking the substance in excessive quantities for a longer time than required; having the desire to stop but being unable to, a lot of time spent consuming and recovering from consuming the substance and severe cravings for the substance in question. The fifth criterion is the disruption of tasks at home, work and school due to substance abuse, the sixth is continued use despite problems in relationships, and the seventh is giving up daily activities (O’brien 866). The eighth is continued substance use despite the danger, the ninth is continued use despite physical problems, the tenth is a high tolerance for the substance, and the final criterion is withdrawal symptoms alleviated by taking more of the substance.
In developing a treatment plan, spirituality is a fundamental point. Spirituality does not necessarily refer to religion. It is more about discovering our purpose in life and enables one to develop a connection with other things and people. Addiction takes away the addicts spirituality by destroying relationships, and the ability to be in control of one’s life as the addict is wholly dependent on the drugs. The journey towards recovering from addiction, therefore, demands that the addict gets in touch with their spirituality in a 12 step program.
For Evie’s case, her addiction is at an acute level, and the best course of treatment would be inpatient treatment at a rehabilitation facility. This will give her an excellent environment to get better away from the availability of drugs and the toxic environment at home as well as negative peer influence. Recovery is a journey that involves not only the addict but requires the support of parents, friends, family, schoolmates, teachers and the community as a whole. It is crucial therefore that even after treatment, those around the addict do not stigmatize them but instead accept them back so that they can reintegrate into society.
Works Cited
Herron, Abigail, and Timothy K. Brennan. The ASAM essentials of addiction medicine. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2019.
O’brien, Charles. “Addiction and dependence in DSM‐V.” Addiction 106.5 (2011): 866-867.
Olivier, Bert. “Passive’nihilism in Clark’s Kids and Hardwicke’s Thirteen.” South African Journal of Art History 19 (2004): 98-109.
Raymond, Courtney M. “Non-suicidal self-injury: The movie industry’s influence on its stigma.” McNair Scholars Research Journal 5.1 (2012): 11.