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Technological Addictions is a wakeup call alerting the medical community—and society at large—to the addictive potential of technology and to technological addictions as legitimate psychiatric conditions worthy of medical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. No other book tackles these addictions, individually and collectively, contextualizing them for both mental health professionals and the interested public. Petros Levounis, an authority on addiction who's been an early voice on the intersection of addiction and technology, and James Sherer are uniquely well-suited to the task, and they have recruited an impressive list of contributors who write thoughtfully, eloquently, and authoritatively on their respective topics. The 10 chapters address the different kinds of technological addiction, as well as how they manifest and impact particular populations. Core to this discussion is the fine line between addictive and nonpathological use. After all, technology makes modern life possible, so assessing whether patients have crossed that line is not an easy task. Other noteworthy topics • In 2019, \"gaming disorder\" was added to the ICD-11, a controversial move raised a difficult question: are video games addictive and harmful, or are they just another pastime? The book helps clinicians understand video games as a cultural phenomenon, analyzing both their social importance and with their addictive potential.• Cybersex and online pornography can hijack our dopaminergic reward pathways like any other addictive substance, destroying relationships, bank accounts, and mental health. The book provides a brief history followed by a discussion of diagnostic criteria, screening tools, associations, and treatments.• Although seemingly harmless, even social media can become addictive, as people create online personae that may confuse and undermine both their sense of self and their sense of connectedness to the world, leading to anxiety, depression, impulsivity, and ADHD. The book helps readers distinguish between healthy and pathological social media use and explores treatment options for the latter. • Technology is an integral factor in what has become known as \"information overload, \" which is associated with decreased performance and job satisfaction, work-related stress, social isolation, impaired sleep, relationship issues, and other problems. The book examines the underlying psychology of internet addiction and problematic internet use, their comorbidities, psychopathological models, and treatments. • Significantly older when first introduced to the internet, older adults may face unique challenges and vulnerabilities, and this evolving understanding of the role of technology in their lives, both in terms of positive changes and the risk for pathological patterns of use and other potential harms, is explored in-depth. Although written primarily for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, patients, parents, teachers, students, administrators, and anyone who is interested in how humans interact with technology will find Technological Addictions fascinating and thought provoking.

Purpose of Review The COVID-19 pandemic changed people’s lifestyles and such changed lifestyles included the potential of increasing addictive behaviors. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the prevalence of different behavioral addictions (i.e., internet addiction, smartphone addiction, gaming addiction, social media addiction, food addiction, exercise addiction, gambling addiction, and shopping addiction) both overall and separately. Recent Findings Four databases ( PubMed , Scopus, ISI Web of Knowledge , and ProQuest ) were searched. Peer-reviewed papers published in English between December 2019 and July 2022 were reviewed and analyzed. Search terms were selected using PECO-S criteria: population (no limitation in participants’ characteristics), exposure (COVID-19 pandemic), comparison (healthy populations), outcome (frequency or prevalence of behavioral addiction), and study design (observational study). A total of 94 studies with 237,657 participants from 40 different countries (mean age 25.02 years; 57.41% females). The overall prevalence of behavioral addiction irrespective of addiction type (after correcting for publication bias) was 11.1% (95% CI : 5.4 to 16.8%). The prevalence rates for each separate behavioral addiction (after correcting for publication bias) were 10.6% for internet addiction, 30.7% for smartphone addiction, 5.3% for gaming addiction, 15.1% for social media addiction, 21% for food addiction, 9.4% for sex addiction, 7% for exercise addiction, 7.2% for gambling addiction, and 7.2% for shopping addiction. In the lockdown periods, prevalence of food addiction, gaming addiction, and social media addiction was higher compared to non-lockdown periods. Smartphone and social media addiction was associated with methodological quality of studies (i.e., the higher the risk of boas, the higher the prevalence rate). Other associated factors of social media addiction were the percentage of female participants, mean age of participants, percentage of individuals using the internet in country, and developing status of country. The percentage of individuals in the population using the internet was associated with all the prevalence of behavioral addiction overall and the prevalence of sex addiction and gambling addiction. Gaming addiction prevalence was associated with data collection method (online vs. other methods) that is gaming addiction prevalence was much lower using online methods to collect the data. Summary Behavioral addictions appeared to be potential health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare providers and government authorities should foster some campaigns that assist people in coping with stress during COVID-19 pandemics to prevent them from developing behavioral addictions during COVID-19 and subsequent pandemics.

The diagnostic construct of “food addiction” is a highly controversial subject. The current systematic review is the first to evaluate empirical studies examining the construct of “food addiction” in humans and animals. Studies were included if they were quantitative, peer-reviewed, and in the English language. The 52 identified studies (35 articles) were qualitatively assessed to determine the extent to which their findings indicated the following addiction characteristics in relation to food: brain reward dysfunction, preoccupation, risky use, impaired control, tolerance/withdrawal, social impairment, chronicity, and relapse. Each pre-defined criterion was supported by at least one study. Brain reward dysfunction and impaired control were supported by the largest number of studies (n = 21 and n = 12, respectively); whereas risky use was supported by the fewest (n = 1). Overall, findings support food addiction as a unique construct consistent with criteria for other substance use disorder diagnoses. The evidence further suggests that certain foods, particularly processed foods with added sweeteners and fats, demonstrate the greatest addictive potential. Though both behavioral and substance-related factors are implicated in the addictive process, symptoms appear to better fit criteria for substance use disorder than behavioral addiction. Future research should explore social/role impairment, preoccupation, and risky use associated with food addiction and evaluate potential interventions for prevention and treatment.

\"Internet addiction is an emergent disorder in the psychiatric and psychological fields. This book provides a theoretical framework to understand how to define and conceptualize compulsive use of the Internet from a clinical perspective. With various theoretical models from the psychiatric, psychological, communication, and sociological fields, it explores the prevalence of the disorder and the most addictive or problematic online applications, such as online pornography, Internet gambling, and online games. Evidenced-based treatment approaches are provided as well. A must-have for every clinician\"--Provided by publisher.

Substance addiction (or drug addiction) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by a recurring desire to continue taking the drug despite harmful consequences. Non-substance addiction (or behavioral addiction) covers pathological gambling, food addiction, internet addiction, and mobile phone addiction. Their definition is similar to drug addiction but they differ from each other in specific domains. This review aims to provide a brief overview of past and current definitions of substance and non-substance addiction, and also touches on the topic of diagnosing drug addiction and non-drug addiction, ultimately aiming to further the understanding of the key concepts needed for a foundation to study the biological and psychological underpinnings of addiction disorders.