Manfred SpitzerGerman professor, head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University Hospital Ulm and of the Transfer Centre for Neurosciences and Learning, argues that digital media (computers, tablets, and smartphones) "do not increase academic learning capacity, quite the contrary".. In his opinion, they can have a negative impact on the brain's learning processes and cause pathological disorders, both physical and psychological. "Children become accustomed to focusing their attention on the screen, they externalise brain processes for capturing information, reduce their capacity for retention and memorisation and thus learn less. It's logical," he says, "because if they use a pocket calculator or a translator, for example, they will learn less, do not develop the mental processes necessary to adequately learn arithmetic or a language"..
Based on the results of the research, it calls on parents, teachers and politicians to reflect deeply on the pedagogical usefulness of these resources and on their risks, which are also physical. The Spanish medical associations have defined all this abuse as a new addiction to digital media as to any drug. Proof of the fragility of the human mind are these new "drugs". Because our genetics of eight million years among nature and with rewards coming from it and from interrelation in small groups: which is what we still are on an emotional level, is deprogrammed with these.
In his latest work "The Cybernetic Disease", Spitzer warns that screen abuse is making children "fatter and short-sighted".". It also deprives them of rest, as screen time in the hours before sleep leads to a drop in the secretion of melatonin and a decrease of the melatonin levels. reset of their circadian rhythm, "which causes them to in the morning they wake up tired".
The blue light from screens, when we use them at bedtime, is interpreted by the brain as daylight and also oxidises melatonin, which is essential for tissue repair mechanisms and sleep. A teenager says he misplaced his phone for two days and had 200 messages on it. An addict addicted to a new kind of drug.
As for the adverse effects at the psychological level, this expert speaks of attention disorders, stress and depression.. A recent British study indicates that 13-year-old girls who spend more than three hours a day on Facebook are twice as likely to suffer from depression five years later. In light of these risks, it is worth asking why education officials continue to promote the use of digital devices. Spitzer is blunt: "because of commercial pressures, as they bombard us with messages about the benefits of their products and turn us into addicts"..
Isolation from the real world
At Spain, An even more worrying fact is that 22% are extreme Internet users, i.e. they spend more than six hours online on weekdays, which not only leaves them little time for other activities such as sport, going out with friends or studying, reading, but also has a negative impact on their sedentary lives.. No more time for reading, thinking and distractions in keeping with our biological nature!
At South KoreaThe country with the highest penetration of these resources is well aware of this. According to data from the Ministry of Science, 30 per cent of 10-19 year olds are addicted to smartphone. A similar phenomenon is that of the hikikomoris (detainees) Japanese, that isolate themselves from the real world in their room, permanently connected to the network.. Quite a few of them end up being hospitalised or attend technology detox camps.
The analysis has pointed out that inappropriate or excessive use among adolescents "can present problems of aggression, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and, in some cases, social isolation"., as stated by Raquel MuñozThe results were obtained from a study carried out in 2010-2011 in 28 schools in Vallès Occidental. The results were obtained from a study carried out in the 2010-2011 academic year in 28 schools in Vallès Occidental with the 5,538 students aged between 12 and 20 participated..
A sample of the emotional state, of what motivates and of the lack of objectives for the development of one's own personality that is present in the world in which we live. Of the emotional emptiness that hinders the management of personal time in the direction of health, culture, well-being and personal development. A symptom of the simplifying tendency of our civilisation, where new technologies do the rest. A 16% of Spaniards declare themselves openly extremist, demonstrating that trash television produces, facilitates and stimulates this situation. This is in the interest of having emotionally altered and exalted voters for certain political parties. For all this, no author has any reason to be encouraged to write, his readers will not have the time to devote to the book. The functions of the pre-frontal portions of the brain are to anticipate, to plan for the future. When these devices are constantly used from an early age, the brain lobes can remain underdeveloped.
José Antonio Rodríguez Piedrabuena
Specialist in Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis