Giving up Social Networking
Giving up Social Networking
ADRS 2310 Sec 001
October 30, 2013
Addiction is a very complex and controversial phenomenon that has affected the lives of individuals for centuries. Addiction is said to have biological, psychological, and social components that must be considered in reference to recovering successfully from an addictive behavior. Though some individuals don’t recognize their repetitive behavior as addictive, they often recognize that they have a dependency. The experimental project challenged those of us who have an addictive behavior or an addiction to a substance. It allowed me to recognize the key components involved in having an addiction such as experiencing changes in moods, triggers, cravings, relapses, and initiating recovery.
The behavior that I gave up for my experimental project was social networking. I consider social networks to be public networks that you use for communicating with others by posting statuses/pictures, sending messages, and advertising events. These criteria included my Facebook and Instagram account. The stipulation that I made with giving up these social networks, was that I couldn’t log onto them or post pictures on them for 28 days. Over the course of the assignment I experienced mild to severe triggers, and changes in mood which caused me to relapse. Mild changes in mood that I experienced were boredom, isolation and loneliness. These mild changes in mood soon turned to severe changes that I could no longer ignore. When I first started the experiment, I was oblivious to the importance of triggers in relation to addiction. I felt as if an addict chose to be addicted to a substance and that they could easily control their urges. As the experiment started to progress I started to experience triggers such as seeing the Instagram and Facebook app on my phone while browsing through it to access my text messages and pictures. Before the experiment I would see these apps and immediately open them
ADRS 2310 Sec 001
October 30, 2013
Addiction is a very complex and controversial phenomenon that has affected the lives of individuals for centuries. Addiction is said to have biological, psychological, and social components that must be considered in reference to recovering successfully from an addictive behavior. Though some individuals don’t recognize their repetitive behavior as addictive, they often recognize that they have a dependency. The experimental project challenged those of us who have an addictive behavior or an addiction to a substance. It allowed me to recognize the key components involved in having an addiction such as experiencing changes in moods, triggers, cravings, relapses, and initiating recovery.
The behavior that I gave up for my experimental project was social networking. I consider social networks to be public networks that you use for communicating with others by posting statuses/pictures, sending messages, and advertising events. These criteria included my Facebook and Instagram account. The stipulation that I made with giving up these social networks, was that I couldn’t log onto them or post pictures on them for 28 days. Over the course of the assignment I experienced mild to severe triggers, and changes in mood which caused me to relapse. Mild changes in mood that I experienced were boredom, isolation and loneliness. These mild changes in mood soon turned to severe changes that I could no longer ignore. When I first started the experiment, I was oblivious to the importance of triggers in relation to addiction. I felt as if an addict chose to be addicted to a substance and that they could easily control their urges. As the experiment started to progress I started to experience triggers such as seeing the Instagram and Facebook app on my phone while browsing through it to access my text messages and pictures. Before the experiment I would see these apps and immediately open them