Do You Suffer From “Disconnectivity Anxiety?”
Life happens 24/7; there’s nothing new about that. What is new is our ability to experience it, in real time, no matter whose life it is. First came email, which let us stay connected all the time with co-workers. Then, text messages on our phones kept us in touch with friends and family. Along came the smartphone, which let us stay connected by all of the above technologies and added social media on top of that. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, you name them, they are all in our hand. More importantly, they are all in our hand 24/7, and some people have become so addicted to the constant contact that they instantly feel anxious when temporarily cut off from them.
Dr. Jim Taylor calls this syndrome “disconnectivity anxiety,” “a persistent and unpleasant condition characterized by worry and unease caused by periods of technological disconnection from others.” This can be very mild in some but nearly incapacitating for others. You may know someone who has the latter reaction — cut them off from the web for any length of time and they freak out.
I have been recently extolling the virtues of unplugging from the technology, so those who are affected by DA likely think I am evil. I am convinced that it is good to disconnect occasionally, though, as it can’t be healthy to be on 24/7 for very long. It’s a wonderful age, with information being passed constantly, but the reality is we can’t stay on top of everything all the time. Do you suffer from DA when you are disconnected?
Hmmm, I don’t think I am in the DA realm, but I do feel more comfortable being able to get connected should something important at work needs to be taken care of immediately, or if something with my kids needs attention while I am gone.
I think its all about “taking the good with the bad” in this era of 24/7 connectivity. The trick is to try to maximize the good and minimize the bad. I try to do this constantly…
As mobile tech warriors do we ever find ourself disconnected? I’m sure most of us have a smartphone of sorts but I do recommend a weekend away with loved ones with only a basic phone for emergencies. It’s a good reminder of what’s really important.
A lot of it though is how we respond to being connected. We’ve all seen people pulling out the blackberry every 2 mins to check email. I rather prefer knowing I can access info but only if I need to. So I might take my iphone on that weekend away but it’s put in a drawer and only used when needed.
Recently, I visited the US for three weeks, and since I’m not a gazillionare I turned the phone part of my phone off and kept it off for virtually the whole time. I did get online at night some nights using a laptop, but for most of that three week I walked around disconnected. Knowing that even a simple mail check would have cost real money was a surprisingly good deterrent to going online – and after a few days, I didn’t even think about seeking out wifi hotspots.
It was surprisingly painless! I thought I’d be much more bothered by it, but in the end it was rather a relief to know that nobody could reach me, yet I could have called out in an emergency and accepted the ridiculous surcharges I would have faced.
My advice when people complain about being called all the time and feeling the strain of being connected is and has been for a while: use the power button on your phone. That’s what it’s there for. The world won’t end.
I have come to really, really dislike those people who must use their Blackberries during meetings and be so tied with their email that they have to check it every three or four minutes.
I like my disconnected time. In fact, I’m forcing myself to disconnect at least twice a day from anything with a screen on it. Even when I take a walk, I can think about stuff, rather than have music or news blasting my ear drums.
I’ll always be a geek, but there’s a time and a place for it, IMHO. Learning how to disconnect is as important as knowing the technology.
Are we Cyberholics?
I experienced this first hand a couple weeks ago. While traveling to another city, my T-Mobile data on my G1 mysteriously went out from the time we hit the airport. I tried everything I could to get the data working, but it was a no go. I found myself constantly trying to re-establish the connection just to try to get some browsing in. I managed to connect to my cousin’s wifi, plus I was surrounded by family which helped me forget about it for a while. This was the first time I was actually without data and couldn’t do anything about it. Needless to say if this was a real test if I could disconnect, I failed miserably. The irony was that I actually like to “disconnect” sometimes, but when it wasn’t voluntary, it made a big difference.
I feel better now
good………
I think as people point out in the comments, disconnection is along a continuum. Being unreachable by phone? By email? Or being reachable on your phone, versus on a computer (where you presumably shift more to read-only mode, or a keep-an-eye-on-things mode).
I think for me being able to move along that continuum in different circumstances gives me a good feeling of comfort/safety. And then being able to enjoy – as other commenters said – when technology’s breakdowns force you to disconnect further.
I am prone to binging on tech, carrying it way overboard, catching myself and pulling back.