Review: iDisorder – Larry Rosen, Phd.
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| Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (March 27, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0230117570 ISBN-13: 978-0230117570 |
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Review
You’re sitting at dinner in a restaurant. Your cellphone lies next to you. Your significant other is telling you about problems at work. Suddenly your cellphone buzzes. What do you do?
If your answer is you check your phone, you might need this book because you might have an iDisorder. An iDisorder is a psychological disorder related to technology. It can be an addiction to social media, it can be the urge to use your cellphone when you are engaged in conversations with others. It can involve texting and driving or even sexting.
In iDisorder Dr. Larry Rosen, Phd. visits many different psychological disorders. In a survey of 3500 people, 61% said they keep their cellphone by their bed.
Some statistics from the book:
- Pre-teens who used more technology and played more video games were more depressed.
- Once interrupted, lag time to resume tasks could be 5 minutes or more, in a business environment, this could amount to hours of lost productivity every day.
- 995 (18%) distracted driving crashes resulting in fatalities were cellphone use.
- Technology is reducing our ability to be empathic to others.
- It can lead to medical issues related to sites like WebMD or in eating disorders from images we’re bombarded with.
Throughout the book, the reader is given specific examples at the beginning of each chapter as well as throughout the chapter. Each chapter is on specific iDisorders. The book presents the facts, figures, and the author even included some sample tests to determine if you might have an iDisorder.
Overall a very eye opening book. I think it would be valuable for anyone to read, particularly those who use a lot of technology and feel like it’s in control of their lives. One caveat though, if you read it, like myself, you might find you have a lot of these iDisorders. I think my problem lies with like facebook, the internet, and my ereader.
Pick it up, give it a read, and stop by here and let us know what you thought.
About the Author
Larry D. Rosen, Ph.D., author of iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession with Technology and Overcoming its Hold on Us, is past Chair and Professor of Psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is a research psychologist and computer educator, and is recognized as an international expert in the “Psychology of Technology.” Over the past 25 years, Dr. Rosen and his colleagues have examined reactions to technology among more than 30,000 children, teens, college students, and adults in the United States and in 23 other countries. He has been quoted in numerous media outlets, includingThe New York Times, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, CNN, and Good Morning America and writes a regular blog for Psychology Today.
Nancy Cheever, Ph.D. and L Mark Carrier, Ph.D. are Associate Professor and Chair of Communication and Professor and Chair of Psychology respectively, at California State University, Dominguez Hills, where they cofounded the George Marsh Applied Cognition Laboratory with Dr. Rosen.
For more information, view Larry D. Rosen’s Web site.
*Disclaimer* A special thanks goes out to Anna at FSB Associates for a review copy of this book. It in no way influenced my review. You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.
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