Digital Addiction: Stronger Than Heroin

[TigaHawk]

Will chime in here as someone who you'd class as digitally addicted.

Parents got me a Sega when i was young. Loved Sonic the Hedgehog. They eventually got a PC and i started playing Mechwarrior 2 and other games. Now i am 31. I go to work, and look forward to coming home each day to play video games. I do my job well, keep the house clean, cook food, do laundry etc - but every single second i can i will dedicate to playing games on the PC.

Why you may ask?

It's an Escape. Fairly sure i have Depression at this point, I'm terribly bitter at the world because I don't want to be here. Everything is extremely ****ed up, I'm living in an Insanity ward where everyone but a few that are looked at by the "normal" people as crazy are completely ****ed up, have no moral compass, believe what the law dictates is 100% correct with no grey areas. They don't care about this planet, or anyone else but themselves. We're more than likely headed to WW3, IT doesn't matter if i go out and protest (great example here is for the Barrier Reef. Protested a heap so they backed off on letting the Adani corporation the mine / dreding the reef. Now they've given it to them and they're about to get 1 billion handed to them by our government to setup a train instead. I work for Government in IT and it's compartmentalised to ****, it's all about ego and social status. money wasted everywhere. People make big decisions that effect others based off how they feel it will impact people they like / dislike in the office... But i'm finally Permanent. Almost impossible to fire, the pay is good and the job is piss easy. I used to love my job - now i don't give a **** because any attempt to improve or really help people is instantly shut down by political BS.

When I jump on the PC I can forget about all that, and enter a faux world (when you think about it, it's not that dissimilar to IRL because the life you life if you go to work each day is a complete lie, a charade of insanity) that is significantly more pleasing and relaxing than reality.

[wegge]

Another interesting perspective on some of the underlying factors that lead to addiction: from Johann Hari

snippets from the article:

"If you had asked me what causes drug addiction at the start, I would have looked at you as if you were an idiot, and said: “Drugs. Duh.” It’s not difficult to grasp. I thought I had seen it in my own life. We can all explain it. Imagine if you and I and the next twenty people to pass us on the street take a really potent drug for twenty days. There are strong chemical hooks in these drugs, so if we stopped on day twenty-one, our bodies would need the chemical. We would have a ferocious craving. We would be addicted. That’s what addiction means.

One of the ways this theory was first established is through rat experiments — ones that were injected into the American psyche in the 1980s, in a famous advert by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. You may remember it. The experiment is simple. Put a rat in a cage, alone, with two water bottles. One is just water. The other is water laced with heroin or cocaine. Almost every time you run this experiment, the rat will become obsessed with the drugged water, and keep coming back for more and more, until it kills itself.

The advert explains: “Only one drug is so addictive, nine out of ten laboratory rats will use it. And use it. And use it. Until dead. It’s called cocaine. And it can do the same thing to you.”

But in the 1970s, a professor of Psychology in Vancouver called Bruce Alexander noticed something odd about this experiment. The rat is put in the cage all alone. It has nothing to do but take the drugs. What would happen, he wondered, if we tried this differently? So Professor Alexander built Rat Park. It is a lush cage where the rats would have colored balls and the best rat-food and tunnels to scamper down and plenty of friends: everything a rat about town could want. What, Alexander wanted to know, will happen then? "

[shaberon]

Posted by joeecho (here)
...while rejecting the information shared heart-to-heart.

When put in just those simple terms...it's nothing verbal, it's not even really a gesture or any kind of activity. It is the electric field of a heart seeking to harmonize with the electric fields of other hearts nearby.

If someone is nearby, does your heart tense, race, or flutter? Or not respond at all? That is a rejection of straight heart-to-heart information or communication.

Unless harmony is anchored in that specific organ, it is false. And I believe that if the very young are given tablets and the like, they are going to be so thoroughly gimped and hobbled, they will be unable to ever detect the correct harmony. It's not something you should accidentally discover once or twice a year, it should be the standard mode of existence.

You could be an idiot with the capabilities of a pile of mud, and still participate in harmony. In fact, such a person is probably a better candidate, than someone who's mind got launched down the digital tube and picked up a million bright ideas.

Edit: on seeing TigaHawk's post show up. I completely understand about the immoral establishment, depression, and escapism. I've had times like that both as an adolescent and as an adult, and all I can say is that it is well worth the effort to find any alternative to spending 100% of one's time with the pc, even if it means looking at faces in the clouds.

[wegge]

Posted by Selene (here)
When I worked with the horrendous problems of crack-addicted street hookers in my fair city - people who would do utterly anything to sustain their addictions – I maintained, in the face of expert opinion to the contrary, that addiction has much less to do with your character or willpower than it does with our human neurology.

The addiction is like a nuclear weapon: it doesn’t care who you are, how you feel, what kind of parents or upbringing, trauma etc you’ve had.

It cares only for the control of your brain.

The sooner that we recognize the overwhelming power of addictive material, the sooner we will be able to address its treatment. It’s not about you, or your willpower. It’s about overwhelming force.

And anyone who thinks “I’m stronger than this, I’m exempt …” is delusional. We are all at risk for something.

I am so very happy to see this discussion.

Regards,

Selene

But you have to factor in that your upbringing and trauma directly change your neurology. Which then in turn ´plays a role in what´s going to be overwhelming to you.
It´s also said trauma is "too much too fast too severe."

Another side point is, what we call TRAUMA, IS NOT AN INCIDENT OR MANY BUT A (PERSISTING) REACTION OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.


another side point, not related to the quoted post:

I think Jon Rappoport would say addiction just comes from boredom. But, utterly encompassing boredom of your whole being.
Not knowing what to do in your life. No one thing that thrills you and gives you energy. So you take a quick fix.

It´s also related to many doomsday prophecies, or the next big quacke or attack that will happen next fall in california, when you look at it from an energetic perspective.

Boredom is low, stagnant energy. Then you imagine this big energy event of a catastrophy and attach yourself to this and suddenly you´re thrilled and filled.

[BongoBob]

As someone who has had the (not-always-so) wonderful experience of growing up, and with, the internet age (hooked, in a sense, to the drug of the internet -and video games- and all it's ... glory) since the age of 10, one of the most interesting things that comes to mind most fervently in this moment is the internet hive-mind phenomenon; almost a philosophy of sorts.

There's many websites out there now that expand upon this phenomenon for better or worse- Reddit is one such community that comes to mind as expounding such a philosophy (among a generally younger audience) of the 'internet hivemind'. It may just be strong confirmation bias culminating from being able to subscribe to, and getting fed information that resonates with your beliefs on a daily basis from a range of users.

But when you look at the larger sub-reddit communities, there are some ideas that are posted near-simultaneously, similar in fashion to the notion of Global Consciousness (monkeys learning to use sticks as dinner utensils in different locations among the planet or what have you). In essence, the instant-connectivity of the internet allows the user a sort of pseudo-psychic connection to their peers.

Early in the 1900's, before the FCC, before Radio was unregulated, when the Ham techies flooded the radio spectrums, it was the same sort of deal.. when you hit a great wave-propagation, you could communicate across the world instantly, and making contact with someone-so-far would kickstart the seratonin in the brain instantly.

I suspect that the psychic connections are as real as the great release of seratonin that these experiences release. From experience, i've met MANY people through this web ( and what a precarious web it is, entangling us all.. we are posting or reading here of course ) who I probably would not have met otherwise due to physical constraint of location. I've met people on-line through such serendipity and synchronicity who at times resonate on the same mental patterns in such an exquisite way to send me into a satori of sorts.

The internet, and computers in general are a tool, and one which on the whole has done more benefit than harm in the global sense. Very much the same as nuclear energy or a pool table, which can be used to benefit or harm; The former consisting of a range from efficient electrical energy generation to potential nuclear fallout, the latter ranging from facilitating friendly social interaction to exacerbating trope-like pool-shark competition.

Our world as it is will still unfortunately still have a few pool sharks and saber-rattling nuclear powers who have their own karmic lessons to learn, but the general consensus seems to me bias towards enlightenment for all through a more open dissemination of information and concepts... ( Twenty years ago, Tesla was regulated to dustbin of history in the name of capitalistic progress, but now, propagated through the magic of memes (completely different topic), his legend of combining the meta-physic with material has become near commonplace!)

[Sunny-side-up]

On a related note.

The Ufology, Paranormal, Zero-Point, Electrogravitic-Tech combined subject of these days is so addictive.
Can't watch and or read enough and there is a lot of it

For us in the truth seeking, alt (real world) it is like living a Si-Fi novel.
The so called Real-old-world and it's sciences, history is so dull in comparison.
I often feel like I'm coming down from acid, the established old world is such a dull colour.

Add to the above the truth seeker alt world is like living in a massive mystery/detective story.
It is a hard book to put down.

[BMJ]

With all these ill effects. What are some constructive ways to counter computer gaming and mobile phone addiction?

[greybeard]

Posted by BMJ (here)
With all these ill effects. What are some constructive ways to counter computer gaming and mobile phone addiction?

Good question BMJ
First and foremost there has to be an acceptance that its harmful, secondly that its harmful to the person who is addicted--I doubt they would admit to being addicted first off.
A habit takes on average thirty days to get out of.
What worked regarding smoking for me was delay " I wont have one just now"
Making a big deal of it is counterproductive as that makes giving up or limiting seem difficult.

Find something else interesting to do.

Hope this helps someone.

Chris

[Catsquotl]

Posted by BMJ (here)
With all these ill effects. What are some constructive ways to counter computer gaming and mobile phone addiction?

That is a good question. There are addiction programs dealing with video game addiction.
Like Alcohol abuse the line to cross before one conciders it an addiction is different for everyone. As always some will consider it a problem if you use a computer for anything more than usefull computing or communication. Or even wanting to use it at all as a sign of addiction. Others condone a wide variety of use before considering it problamatic. Others need a strong intervention and some will remain hopelesly lost. Not owning up to the fact that they are addicted or prefering the addiction over anything else.

I recently drawn a line for an alcoholic. The resulting argument became nasty real fast. It hurts, everyone looses and has their own idea's of what exactly transpired.
Addictions are complicated. Any kind of adiction and there is hardly any good way to stop them save from complete withdrawl. I doubt computers leave one with that option, because it's becomming so ingrained in everyday life these days.

[Frances2014]

It is a coping mechanism for CPTSD.
Complex post traumatic syndrom disorder.

I was helping my grandson this morning to read a childrens book for school.
The storyline was constructed to create trauma.
Monsters, predators laughs at pain, subtle cruelty, ect ...
Then the child will have trouble reading books...

Its everywhere, with everybody, all the time, this is a trauma based 3d holographic constructed dimension.
Trauma is a physical response to repeated physical and psychological aggressions in every day life.
The memory of each aggression is imprinted in the cells (The body keeps the score book...)
It has to do with the double vagal system in mammalian species and brain growth.
See the vagal theory by Steven Porges)

The internet is home to with awakening people who discover their own experience of trauma,
there are groups of support on facebook,
Richard Grannon to name one, and others on yt, for exemple...

It was/is programmed that way to produce a narcissic supply of strong primitive emotional rush to support psychopatic elitists.
The predator/prey duality model is collapsing on itself.
Terra, mother nature is destroying the structures of slavery in her own way (geological changes).

We become aware of this dysfunctional millenium matrix of fear and violence.
The other day, I watched a movie and I was surprised because there was no violence from beginning to end...

I was an internet addict myself for some years, while in a situational crisis period.

Each human is an individual being, the healing of trauma is an individual process in the moment.

The HD tv is a coping mecanism, as food or alcool or drugs or digital toys...

The cause of all the trauma is this system of slavery, ruled by corporations as banks, commercial entertainment, industrial warfare, ect...

We stll have to support ourselves and each other in our every day life.

Remember the root cause is what needs to be understood and adressed, not only the coping mecanism.

[Hervé]

What is addiction?

Rather than getting lost in some rabbit's chemical or genetic galleries, I'll consider it from the energy fields perspective, whether they are called shadows, entities, tulpas, eggregores, AIs, hitchhikers, walk-ins or starving inner wolves, any and all are in need of some loosh.

When one feeds kids candies... one knows what to expect next, right?

So, here is something from Steve Richards' "Dreamtime healing":

...Aboriginal culture says, ‘everything is alive.’ So, I had a woman that comes in, to me, from Chile. Doesn’t speak good English. Her daughter said, “my mum can’t sleep, she’s on two lots of sleeping tablets and can’t sleep.” I said, ‘well that makes sense, she’s got two separate entities in there, they both need to keep her awake before she feeds them.’ Everything’s alive.

So what happens is, for these drugs to be created, they’ve got to have an intent behind their creation. The first is the law of intent and the law of agreement. So what is the intent in the creation of that drug and what’s its intent? It now becomes a life‐form that needs to survive like anything else. Therefore, an anti‐depressant means it has to keep you depressed so you’ll feed it. And when you feed it, it will make you no longer depressed. It got it’s food source, thank you very much. Another life‐form taking over the vehicle. Stunned.

...

Everything’s alive. And that’s where we go back to the drugs. When these drugs are created there’s an intent in the creation of those drugs, and they’re alive. They need to survive like everything else. Because they are atoms with memory stored in them. But what I’ve found is when you hit something where there’s equal force, crumbles null and void.

...

other times lots of life‐forms come out and they try to justify why they should exist. The drugs are really good. They often state that they’re spiritually aware [but] they're a life form trying to justify its existence in the being.

So, maybe, life could be defined as an energy field animated by an intention and forwarding an intent to survive via the acquisition of external energy and which translate into a digestive system in physical 3D.

It seems then, that the most common denominator/intent behind most of these drugs is:

"EASE PAIN"

... whether physical or emotional, real or imagined... from Rio's favelas to Bern's mansions... Woala...

Of course, now, it makes me wonder why abductees usually don't remember pain... watching cartoons/games while being probed?

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Selene (here)
That’s when I began to wonder: What is addiction, really?

The activity that leads to addiction is an attempt to solve a problem. (The problem is never solved, of course.)

In some cases, the problem is poverty, or a set of apparently inescapable personal circumstances.

But it can also be any (or all!) of

• boredom
• lack of personal meaning, or meaningful personal goals
• lack of self-esteem, or self-worth
• desperately needing to be liked and accepted by others.

[enfoldedblue]

With my son we have withheld screens. We have no TV and no video games. At five o'clock he is allowed to watch something (previously on DVD now Netflix) until dinner is ready. When he started school he learned about video games from the other kids and started trying to use WORD to pretend to be playing a video game....++++++++++ gogo...lol It was a bit sad to see...lol. So I went out to a second hand shop and bought a couple of lame learning video games and told him he could choose to play these games instead of a show at 5:00. He played for a while and quickly got bored. This worked really well because rather than feel deprived and missing out on something he could just tell his friends...all cool like...that he thought video games were boring. Now that he is eight he spends most of his time outside kicking the soccer ball around, practicing juggling or creating comic books. He says he can see how video games make his friends not want to play outside and makes him even less attracted to playing. At school his teachers always rave about his incredible attention span and ability to focus.

Though it is soooo much easier in the short term to plonk a kid down in front of a screen, I am glad we made the parenting choices we did. I think in the long term we are all happier... I cn hear him kicking the ball around right now

[BMJ]

Posted by enfoldedblue (here)
With my son we have withheld screens. We have no TV and no video games. At five o'clock he is allowed to watch something (previously on DVD now Netflix) until dinner is ready. When he started school he learned about video games from the other kids and started trying to use WORD to pretend to be playing a video game....++++++++++ gogo...lol It was a bit sad to see...lol. So I went out to a second hand shop and bought a couple of lame learning video games and told him he could choose to play these games instead of a show at 5:00. He played for a while and quickly got bored. This worked really well because rather than feel deprived and missing out on something he could just tell his friends...all cool like...that he thought video games were boring. Now that he is eight he spends most of his time outside kicking the soccer ball around, practicing juggling or creating comic books. He says he can see how video games make his friends not want to play outside and makes him even less attracted to playing. At school his teachers always rave about his incredible attention span and ability to focus.

Though it is soooo much easier in the short term to plonk a kid down in front of a screen, I am glad we made the parenting choices we did. I think in the long term we are all happier... I cn hear him kicking the ball around right now

Thank you enfoldedblue. I remember as a child growing up in the 70's what I had to entertain myself with were airfix model kits, lego, golden books, matchbox cars, games like hide and seek, army, cowboys and indians which I would play with the kids my age. Or going off walking the storm water drains of Sydney for hours with my mates to see what we could find and where we would end up.



The thing was we didn't have computer games or mobile phones to entertain us. Our entertainment stimulated our mind developing our curiosity, imagination and intelligence. Often I'd create some new never before seen rescue vehicle for my Thunderbirds rescue set from lego, and imagine going off on an adventure with The International Rescue crew and getting a chance to use my new creation in the rescue. I think that's the type of entertainment kids need more of today.



Now in my 40's I have computer games and the internet but I take pleasure in going for a walk with my dog, reading books and spending time with friends and making airfix plastic models.

So it's OK to be connected but I think you need have a balance and spend time away from devices and interact with people and develop friendships and use your imagination when reading a book and nuture your creativity when making an airfix model kit and so on. When it comes to people, the world can be cruel but there are alot of good people out there you just have to put yourself out there and not put to much emotional investment in that possible friendship at first because it might not work out, but at least your giving it a go.

[enfoldedblue]

Thanks for your reply BMJ. I agree unstructured play is so impotant especially in this pre-packaged world. We are heading for a creativity crisis. I think the ability to use imagination and think creatively will become recognized as a valuable skill eventually... but probably until the majority have forfeited this natural ability for the sake of easy entertainment. I am hoping to introduce a creativity course at my son's school... because with so much emphasis on standardization there is amost no opprtunity for kids to develop their unique creative abilities.

[Michelle]

This is such an important article. First of all I have a child that is considered a high functioning autistic. I only let my son on these devices once in awhile. I never let him watch anything violent. I noticed that even though my child doesn't watch anything violent, it seems to cause issues in his behavior. I really think that children with the diagnosis of autism, ADHD, PDD-NOS (on the spectrum) are affected more. They already have sensory issues to begin with. At first the devices seem to calm the child a bit. I noticed with my own son that he seemed to act out more after watching a few YouTube videos. He was more compulsive. I feel like children on the spectrum are already overly stimulated and they get even more stimulated on these devices. It's really something to watch out for if you have a child on the spectrum. I thought at first that I was being silly. It seemed silly at the time I guess. I kept on second guessing myself. So now it's just rare that he uses it.

I know a lot of mothers with special needs children. Sometimes it's easier for them to put the child on the IPad or some other device. Low functioning children on the spectrum can't seem to get enough of the IPad. These devices can almost seem therapeutic in some ways as some mothers will see a decrease in stemming while there child is on it. It does seem to center these children initially, but It could be making them worse I started thinking that after a friend came over with her autistic son and she forgot the IPad and he had massive meltdowns over it.

Like I said, just something to watch out for with the special needs children. My little girl does not show the same signs as my son after playing with the IPad. She's not on the spectrum or have sensory/overly stimulated issues though. This is not to take away from the programs that autistics need for communication etc.. I understand in those ways it helps❤️

[Hervé]

A more overt/obvious and personalized "screen" attack on specific targets:

Twitter will release info on user who allegedly sent a seizure-inducing tweet to a journalist

Russell Brandom The Verge Tue, 20 Dec 2016 18:48 UTC

Four days ago, an unidentified Twitter user tweeted a seizure-inducing animation at Newsweek and Vanity Fair writer Kurt Eichenwald, who has epilepsy. Now, Eichenwald has taken the first step toward identifying the user. In response to a civil suit filed by Eichenwald this week in Dallas district court, Twitter has agreed to hand over all relevant subscriber data for the user in question. The attack came in apparent retaliation for Eichenwald's aggressive coverage of President-elect Trump.

While Eichenwald has yet to file criminal charges, the civil suit was sufficient for an ex parte order from the district judge. Twitter subsequently agreed to expedited relief, declining to challenge the order or demand further evidence from Eichenwald. The next step is likely to be a lawsuit against wireless carriers or service providers implicated by Twitter's records, who will have records linking IP addresses and other metadata to the attacker's legal name.

Similar legal cases have met with success in the past. Twitter reserves the right to retain IP addresses and other location data in its privacy policy. If the attacker logs into the same account even once from an identifiable phone or home address, Twitter would be able to use those IP logs to identify them. However, Twitter's stated policy is to store those logs for only a brief period of time, and it's unclear how much information of that kind is currently available on the user.

Reached by The Verge, a Twitter representative declined to comment on individual cases, referring questions to the company's public guidelines for law enforcement requests. According to Twitter's transparency report, the company received 2,520 such requests in the US in the first half of 2016, and complied with 82 percent of requests.

=================================================

That's just to emphasized that these "things" are known and made use of... like the datum provided by Dolores Cannon that it takes only 30 seconds of TV watching to turn any viewer into a zombie apprentice... under the influence of - at least - a mild, electronically induced, hypnotic trance.

[BMJ]

Posted by Michelle (here)
This is such an important article. First of all I have a child that is considered a high functioning autistic. I only let my son on these devices once in awhile. I never let him watch anything violent. I noticed that even though my child doesn't watch anything violent, it seems to cause issues in his behavior. I really think that children with the diagnosis of autism, ADHD, PDD-NOS (on the spectrum) are affected more. They already have sensory issues to begin with. At first the devices seem to calm the child a bit. I noticed with my own son that he seemed to act out more after watching a few YouTube videos. He was more compulsive. I feel like children on the spectrum are already overly stimulated and they get even more stimulated on these devices. It's really something to watch out for if you have a child on the spectrum. I thought at first that I was being silly. It seemed silly at the time I guess. I kept on second guessing myself. So now it's just rare that he uses it.

I know a lot of mothers with special needs children. Sometimes it's easier for them to put the child on the IPad or some other device. Low functioning children on the spectrum can't seem to get enough of the IPad. These devices can almost seem therapeutic in some ways as some mothers will see a decrease in stemming while there child is on it. It does seem to center these children initially, but It could be making them worse I started thinking that after a friend came over with her autistic son and she forgot the IPad and he had massive meltdowns over it.

Like I said, just something to watch out for with the special needs children. My little girl does not show the same signs as my son after playing with the IPad. She's not on the spectrum or have sensory/overly stimulated issues though. This is not to take away from the programs that autistics need for communication etc.. I understand in those ways it helps❤️

Hi Michelle, you might find this video interesting, back to topic.

Autism Therapy On Horseback, The Horse Boy, CNN Dr. Sanjay Gupta Talks With Rupert Isaacson

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=b7GHzselNmA

[The Freedom Train]

Posted by BMJ (here)
With all these ill effects. What are some constructive ways to counter computer gaming and mobile phone addiction?

Make them illegal! j/k

IMO we can as individuals endeavor to keep our use to a minimum, and raise our children in a similar fashion. My daughter does not have her own phone yet, nor do I plan on getting her one. I have an old school flip phone. As for the internet, I endeavor not to get too sucked in to this forum, although I find many of the posts very interesting and I enjoy reading about other people's perspectives.

[meat suit]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by Selene (here)
That’s when I began to wonder: What is addiction, really?

The activity that leads to addiction is an attempt to solve a problem. (The problem is never solved, of course.)

In some cases, the problem is poverty, or a set of apparently inescapable personal circumstances.

But it can also be any (or all!) of

• boredom
• lack of personal meaning, or meaningful personal goals
• lack of self-esteem, or self-worth
• desperately needing to be liked and accepted by others.

also, addiction provides additional structure to those who need it....
I have been there.. dividing the day into 30min. segments between nicotin fixes..
that 30 mins. intervall provides another waveform or harmonic to the existing ones . you could say we are addicted to the day/night cycle and the beating of our heart and the in and out of the breath.... and all the rest...