Dear members,
I'm a writer and had emailed this group in 2009 regarding reaching out to members for possible interviews and understanding individual stories. I have been researching the science of Internet-related addiction, and the effects of technology use for five years. I want to thank you all for for the time you offered back then.
Since I had reached out to this group for some input, thought I'd let you know the report got published this month and here is the link: http://caravanmagazine.in/periscope/totally-wired
I hope it does justice to the range of issues concerning behavioral addictions, as viewed by a variety of people and across a variety of fields. Hope that it is of value to members and others interested in the field.
Best,
Venkat Srinivasan
Loved it! You write so well - thanks for sharing/posting. I was actually thinking Foucault as I read and was pleased to see the reference mid-way through. Did not expect Deleuze and now I'm keen to read the body without organs stuff. My fun thought at your 11% statistic about India was that - it's still probably more people than in most other countries ;)
The one part that I felt might have got more focus was about how addiction is related to everyday coping/difficulties (you touched upon it but recovery had less focus than addiction - which I thought you really did justice to). One of the main things I've learned from OLGA is that leaving addiction is also about building good 'life' skills, something that actually has a far broader applicability (when I talk to non-addicts as well, it's very relevant/useful for them).
That was the only thing - everything else was fantastic and well researched/written - great job :)
Thank you for reading and for your comment. I am glad you found it interesting. I agree with you that recovery did not have the emphasis that addiction had. In a sense, that gets to the heart of what concerns research in sociology, psychiatry and in general, mental health. What constitutes an addiction, and what constitutes a recovery from that is a coupled set of questions that has bothered folks for centuries now. I definitely suggest reading Deleuze as a way of understanding our choices and needs in a way that is hardly discussed today. To requote something from the text: 'Over time, the body will undergo chemical changes, and the addictive behaviour may have huge personal costs, but the alternate world is the only world that an addict sees. If alcoholism has pushed an addict into this virtual world and has ravaged his brain chemistry, then it may be as important to focus on opening other doors into this imagined world as it may be to wean the addict off alcohol.'
It's a good article. I would hope that it gets put in the resource section around here, but I no longer can do that myself.
Leveling in Real Life
I did, but snvuser asked that it be removed, for advertising reasons. I respectfully complied.
Liz Woolley
Thank you for reading and for your comments. I think excerpts are always fine, but for the whole reprint, perhaps the best bet is to contact the publisher and see if they'll be fine with a reprint for non-profit use such as this website. I guess it's their call more than it is mine: http://www.caravanmagazine.in/contact-us