Unplugged

Trust me, I realize the irony of writing about digital overload in an online forum. But seeing as how I have no print media willing to publish my rants, this is what we're stuck with. The latest "Outside" magazine featured an article by a (supposedly) well-known tweeter and blogger who unplugged for a year (he could do Google maps and online searches, but no "daily news cycles or social media...I would not blog, tweet, share, pin, like, star, favorite, or forward anything.") Holy buckets, I can barely go without checking facebook at a red light.

But I can put at least some of the blame for my digital addiction on the neurobiology of something called variable intermittent reinforcement. Compulsive behavior is built by varying the timing and size of rewards, leading to increased dopamine release in the brain. It's why slot machines are so successful. "One time you check your inbox and there's a single new message, from LinkedIn, which reminds you that you can't figure out how to delete your LinkedIn account. Sad face. The next time you check, you have five new messages, including one from an old friend and another from a potential employer. Happy face! So you check, check, check."

There's also a deeply ingrained response from childhood where we are rewarded when "a signal sent gets a signal back." At 2 months of age, a baby learns that when they smile, they are rewarded with loads of positive attention. Toddlers will repeat a behavior (good or bad) over and over if it continues to get a response. And we carefully word our facebook posts to garner the most likes--signal sent, signal back.

A 2012 study by two Boston University psychologists found that Facebook use is driven by two "primary needs"--the "need for self-presentation" and the "need to belong." Broadcast and be acknowledged: that's a ping. Each one affirms our existence as efficacious agents in the world and prompts a squirt of reinforcing hormones from the brain's reward center. "That is why people will respond to a text while driving a two-ton vehicle." (sound familiar?)

That constant leak of dopamine in our brains is why we sit around a table all staring at our smartphones. Why I constantly check my phone to see if anyone loves me. Yes, that's the way my reward-addicted mind phrases it. As if a lack of text messages during a shift at work or a paucity of likes on a status update somehow diminishes the reality of my relationships.

So, what's an addict to do? Bottom line: improve mindfulness. Recognize those impulses as a legitimate chemical reaction in your brain and make a conscious effort to replace the impulse with something else. Engage in what you are actually doing. Recognize the beauty around you. Connect with a friend, listen to a song, exercise, smile. Meditation is one of the most well-established ways to improve mindfulness. Conscious presence actually does cause changes in brain chemistry and activity. Bottom line? We have to find other ways of activating those same reward pathways. Otherwise we end up like the rats in early experiments that die because they push the "reward" button in their cage to the exclusion of everything else, including eating.

If you've never been exposed to mindfulness training or are unsure where to start, I recommend a short little book by mindfulness guru Jon Kabat-Zinn called "Wherever You Go, There You Are." It introduced me to meditation in a whole new way, helping me to recognize my thought patterns and be present more fully.

Now here's hoping that I can practice what I preach and stop reaching for my phone every time there's a lull in the constant stimulation of my day-to-day.