From the UK Daily Mail. so true
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Smartphone cold turkey: Scientists prove youngsters suffer gadget 'withdrawal'
By DANIEL BATES
Last updated at 8:15 AM on 8th April 2011
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Withdrawal symptoms: Many young people feel distressed when separated from their mobiles. (Posed by model)
As any parent of a teenager knows, trying to stop them using their computer or mobile phone usually results in a tantrum.
But perhaps such outbursts are not pure petulance. The withdrawal symptoms young people experience when deprived of their gadgets are comparable with those of drug addicts going ‘cold turkey’, a study claims.
Researchers found that 79 per cent of students subjected to a complete media blackout for just one day reported adverse reactions ranging from distress to confusion and isolation.
In vivid accounts, they told of overwhelming cravings, with one saying they were ‘itching like a crackhead [crack cocaine addict]’.
The study focused on people aged between 17 and 23 in ten countries, including the UK, where about 150 students at Bournemouth University spent 24 hours banned from using phones, social networking sites, the internet and TV.
They were allowed to use landline phones or read books and were asked to keep a diary.
One in five reported feelings of withdrawal akin to an addiction while 11 per cent said they were confused or felt like a failure.
Nearly one in five (19 per cent) reported feelings of distress and 11 per cent felt isolated. Just 21 per cent said they could feel the benefits of being unplugged.
Some students took their mobile phone with them just to touch them.
 
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One British participant reported: ‘I am an addict. I don’t need alcohol, cocaine or any other derailing form of social depravity... Media is my drug; without it I was lost.’
Another wrote: ‘I literally didn’t know what to do with myself. Going down to the kitchen to pointlessly look in the cupboards became regular routine, as did getting a drink.’
A third said: ‘I became bulimic with my media; I starved myself for a full 15 hours and then had a full-on binge.’
Susan Moeller. lead researcher of the University of Maryland study, said: ‘Technology provides the social network for young people today and they have spent their entire lives being “plugged in”.
‘Some said they wanted to go without technology for a while but they could not as they could be ostracised by their friends.’
Claiming that technology ‘absolutely’ changed relationships, Professor Moeller added: ‘When the students did not have their mobile phones and other gadgets, they did report that they did get into more in-depth conversations.
‘Quite a number reported quite a difference in conversation in terms of quality and depth as a result.’


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1374632/Smartphone-cold-turkey-Scientists-prove-youngsters-suffer-gadget-withdrawal.html#ixzz1IwUoK97c