It isn't easy for many to unplug
Having a hard time putting down your smartphone? Can't go 15 minutes without checking your favorite blog? Might be that you've got a virtual addiction.
Today is the . Running from sundown today to sundown tomorrow, the 24-hour period is a project by Reboot meant to inspire people to connect with others in the real world and escape the digital "bubble of silence."
The group even offers a free "cell phone sleeping bag" if you sign up for its unplugging . But that might be a tough call for some people immersed cyberspace.
A Harvard Business School professor's said 70 percent of those surveyed check their smartphone within and hour of getting up and 44 percent would experience "a great deal of anxiety" if they lost their phone and couldn't replace it for a week.
Another recent from Common Sense Media showed nearly 78 percent of teens and nearly 70 percent of parents check their devices at least hourly. A third of parents and teens said they argue on a daily basis about device use, though the large majority say it hasn't hurt their relationships.
Research is growing on Internet and technology addiction. The latest revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders includes as a potential new diagnosis and outlines the debate on non-substance addictions.
is more proactive in how it approaches the disorders. Founded by Dr. David Greenfield, who released the book "Virtual Addiction" in 1999, the group offers addiction on smartphone and Internet abuse, digital distractions, child technology and online pornography, along with treatment approaches.
Some of Internet addiction:
- Use of the Internet in increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction.
- Repeated, unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back or stop Internet use.
- Use of the Internet as a way to escape from problems or to relieve a bad mood.
- Jeopardized family, personal, profession relationships due to Internet use.
- Spending more time alone to use the Internet.