Today I found an article from November 2014 in the Huffington Post that states or at least suggests that technology is making teens feel less lonely when compared to the generations ahead of them.  They have less friends and are less lonely.  They are more secure in their friendships and have less desire to form new ones, and technology is the vehicle for this transformation.  The way the article is written this is supposed to be a good thing. The concept that someone has less desire to form new friendships and are less lonely is counterintuitive to me.  I was just listening to an episode of Invisibilia from January 29th, 2015 on NPR this morning and it implied what I would consider the opposite.  The episode from Invisibilia talks about how we are all connected, gets into empathy, and the importance of relationships. Even the Huffington Post article states that, “People become less dependent on their families … which could lead to less interest in social support and more self-sufficiency.”  That is the price to be paid for being more individualistic, more extroverted, and higher self-esteem?  But isn’t this really because the individual has become detached from everyone?  It has also been stated that technology is leading to a lack of empathy in the younger generation and is why online bullying is more prevalent.  Bullying is a lot more different if it has to be done face to face. The standard definition of lonely is without companions or solitary.  It would seem that technology increases the ability to be lonely not be less lonely.  A person might feel less lonely because of their devices but doesn’t mean they are.  It reminds me of the study about the rats from a previous article I talked about.  Studies with Rats involving drug addiction used to primarily done with rats that were alone.  Yes, when presented with heroin laced water the rat will consume it.  However, if one increases the size of the cage, adds companions, and things for the rats to do they don’t use the drugs.  How the find that patients in hospitals that are given morphine or the pharmaceutical equivalent of heroin for months on end don’t experience the withdrawals that street addicts nor the desire to do more. The reason provided for this behavior is the social network that the patient returns to when they are out of the hospital.  Why would behavior be any different for younger generations and technology instead of turning to a drug they are just turning to a device.  What is the definition of addiction to technology?  Loneliness is the root cause of addiction yet we are to believe that technology that causes a detachment of a younger generation is going to end up being a good thing?  I just don’t see it. ...read more

I have posted multiple articles on ADHD over the past couple of weeks and there is definitely a reoccurring theme: misdiagnosis. Pharmaceuticals have become the answer or quick fix to every problem someone might have. Kid is too rowdy in class? He's got ADHD, give him or her a pill. The article Ritalin vs Recess questions whether or not the absence of recess is part of the cause of the spike in ADHD diagnosis. Looking at the numbers we can see that in the 70's ADHD hovered at around 1 - 2%. By 1997 only 3% of kids were diagnosed ADHD. In 2014 11% of kids are being diagnosed with ADHD. Europe has hovered around 1 - 2% but is now on the rise due to aggressive marketing by Pharmaceutical companies.  Are we to believe that American children are different now than they were in the 70's?  Or that American children are different from European children?  So what is causing the spike? What I got out of Ritalin vs Recess was that the new education standards are partially to blame for the increase.  Physical Education and recess have been the casualties in the modern day school schedule.  Childhood is supposed to be a time of play and innocence yet we are expecting children to sit still and pay attention to someone talk for six hours a day.  I'm 38 years old and I have a problem listening to someone talk for six hours straight even with breaks.  Kids have energy and we aren't giving them the opportunity to expend it failing to realize they are going to expend it whether we want them to or not.  But a lack of activity isn't the only problem. Childhood Trauma is being diagnosed as ADHD according to some of the information I found.  I thought it was noteworthy because it made several of the clients that come to Penrith Farms appear in a different light to me.  About half of the residents that come to Penrith Farms are adopted, and I can't even begin to fathom the number that were diagnosed ADHD and taking medication.  Although when you look in their background trauma was apparent.  Was someone to quick to try and medicate their problems away? More and more medicating our problems away seems to be the solution to every issue.  While there are definitely some things that do require medication the necessity isn't as high as we are currently claiming it be.  Certainly, 1 - 2% of kids have ADHD and need medication but 11% and still climbing?  One of the articles brought up a good point, what is the impact this is having on our kids? ADHD, or Childhood Narcissism? How Childhood Trauma Could Be Mistaken for ADHD Ritalin vs. Recess: Are Drugs Really the Answer to the ADHD Epidemic? ...read more

A little while back I found some articles that appeared to relate to one another.  One article stated that counseling effected alcohol abuse it had no impact on substance abuse.  The question is: Was that because we treat symptoms and not the issue itself?  Another article I read highlighted a new study that discovered the cause of addiction is loneliness.  Loneliness brings me to the rabbit hole. Internet addiction has been a big topic for years now.  It is so bad in China that it has been declared a disorder since 2008.  There are lots of crazy tales out there about how terrible it can be for some people.  For instance, people ignoring their children until they starve to death because they were playing World of Warcraft.  People dying because they sat for so long without getting up a blood clot formed and killed them.  Acts of violence kids when their parents question their video game time. Some countries have declared it a disorder.  The debate is still ongoing in the United States as it is under review in the DSM-V while the DSM-V is being rejected by Europe and to some extent in the United States (hopefully replaced by the NIMH).  The article I found on the issue asks if there is some other psychological problem causing the issue with these individuals?  Is it coming down to the use of the electronics themselves?  If it is to be treated as an addiction it then the loneliness argument seems fitting.  The problem is: Are all these internet connected electronics creating this loneliness? I have to wonder if the idea of Internet Addiction and Loneliness are so interconnected they fuel one another.  The Internet has creates distance and detachment between us so we look for something to fill that emptiness in our lives whether it be alcohol, drugs, gambling, or the internet.  In the case of the internet filling the void, it seems that would make one even more lonely and it just becomes a self-sustaining cycle. I don't have the answers I just know what we try to do at Penrith Farms.  We try to teach responsible use and prioritization of one's time.  With the establishment of healthy relationships we hope we can fill that internal void that cause people to reach out for something outside of themselves.   Is Internet Addiction Real? ...read more