Digital detox

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Digital Detox ([ dɪdʒ.ɪ.təl ˈdiː.tɒks ], German: digital detoxification , coll. Also Handyfasten ) describes efforts to reduce and withdraw the use of digital devices and media . Within a certain period of time, those affected want to completely refrain from using electronic devices such as smartphones , tablets or computers , as well as television and the Internet . As a result, people consciously withdraw from being networked and accessible , want to reduce stress and focus on real life (RL) again or seek a relationship with nature .

Concept and distribution

The term detox (from English detoxification , detoxification ) has so far been used in the German-speaking world mainly in connection with diet , purification and detoxification. Withdrawal therapy follows a clear plan that extends over several days or weeks and must be strictly adhered to, with special nutrition, group discussions, yoga, body treatments, etc.

Digital Detox has been included as a term in both the Cambridge Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary .

Computerization , the information age and social media , all inventions of the second half of the 20th century, have led to addiction-like use of computers, tablets and cell phones. This phenomenon, often referred to as " Internet addiction ", is associated with the analog withdrawal symptoms when these devices or the Internet are suddenly no longer available. Extensive use severely disturbs the work-life-sleep balance , and in advanced stages also the ability to work and social skills .

To what extent digital natives have a more natural way of dealing with the media and the Internet has not yet been investigated.

Extensive use

Today digital use takes place around the clock and de facto everywhere
Many events are only perceived in a digitized representation

Research shows that the average user picks up their mobile phone every 12 minutes on average and unlocks their mobile phone around 80 times a day. An eight-hour time window is taken into account as the sleep phase. The computer scientist Alexander Markowetz from the University of Bonn evaluated the usage data of a total of 60,000 people. According to his results, the subjects spent an average of two and a half hours a day on the cell phone. Analogous to the increased use of electronic devices, the user's ability to concentrate falls sharply; it is often only eight seconds per subject.

A general denial of the achievements of the digital revolution is becoming increasingly impossible. Participation in social processes or even just generating information necessary for survival (e.g. about emergency calls, opening times and pharmacies on duty) becomes increasingly difficult, in some cases even impossible, without the Internet. The concept of bring your own device (BYOD) presupposes the possession of electronic devices and the ability to operate them. Otherwise, participation in certain courses, seminars or studies is not possible. The extensive use of cell phones and Internet platforms was intended from the start by the Internet companies. Sean Parker , US Internet entrepreneur, co-founder of Napster , Plaxo and Causes , advisor to Facebook Inc. , bluntly stated: “The motivation behind developing the early applications - and Facebook was the first - was: How can we do this get as much time and attention from the users as possible. ”Also, special formats have been developed for television that keep viewers interested and achieve the highest possible ratings.

The terms mobile phone addiction  and internet addiction describe the addictive use of smartphones and the internet. Online game addiction has been listed as a disease by the WHO since June 2018, but it only represents a relatively small sector of the umbrella term. Internet addiction is generally defined as pathological or compulsive use of the Internet. There is heated debate among experts as to whether it is an independent disease or whether the symptoms stem from another underlying disease, whether it is a disorder of impulse control , an obsessive-compulsive disorder or a substance- independent dependence . The lack of definition and standardization has so far been the main obstacle to the formation of a new concept of disease, including the accompanying need for treatment and the provision of resources.

Reduction in consumption

The seven tips on digital detoxification published in November 2017 by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the Tages-Anzeiger have been cited many times and are rated by experts as practicable:

  1. Outsource services such as clock, alarm clock, flashlight, map
  2. Fewer apps, more browsers , because apps are constantly attracting attention with push messages
  3. Digital detox apps , as the first step towards self-monitoring, provide information about the daily usage time
  4. Addressing social norms , not answering questions immediately and communicating the change in behavior
  5. Smartphone-free time , as a first break with the principle of constant availability
  6. Smartphone-free rooms , especially important in families with small children, to prevent permanent distraction
  7. Airplane mode, switch off , airplane mode complicates smartphone use; It should be switched off while driving, if only because of the massively increased risk of accidents.

Professional help

Numerous coaches, psychologists and psychotherapists have developed specific offers, which, however, require an awareness of the problem on the one hand and a desire for change on the other. David Greenfield founded the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction in West Hartford , Connecticut.

Cold turkey

For all those who want or have to write despite Digital Detox, there is a separate program that turns the laptop into a typewriter. Cold Turkey Writer eliminates anything that is distracting. Chats, mails and program icons disappear. There are only white pages left to write on.

Travel as an aid to getting out of the car

The National Day of Unplugging was introduced for the first time in 2010 . It is celebrated in early March.

A change of location and a closed setting, especially through travel , are promising offers to support withdrawal from digital detox - as with almost all addictive diseases . Travel book publishers such as Reiseepeschen Verlag specifically focus on publications that enable conscious and sustainable travel without a smartphone. Deutschland im Winter and Der Inselguide Thailand , the first publications by this publisher, were realized through a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Since 2013, holiday camps for adults have been offered in the USA and since 2015 in Germany. The Wall Street Journal coined the term Digital Detox Camps . With community games, dance evenings, workshops , night hikes and talent shows, but also with relaxation techniques, yoga and a healthy diet, the withdrawal of technical devices is to be facilitated. There are now travel agencies that specialize in this area and offer a wide range of cures - from the Alps to Madeira . The Americans Levi Felix and Brooke Dean, both from Silicon Valley, are considered to be the inventors of the DD cures .

Web links

literature

  • Daniela Otto : Digital Detox. How to live relaxed with mobile phones & Co. Springer (Heidelberg) 2016.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Birgit Fingerle: digital detox . In: ZBW Mediatalk from June 24, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b Der Standard (Vienna): Just before digital burnout? The new trend "Digital Detox" could help , March 14, 2019
  3. ↑ Dave Asprey : Digital Detox: How to disconnect, and why it's goof for you , accessed October 13, 2019
  4. ↑ Uniglobale: Digital Detox - 20 Tips for Digital Detox , accessed on October 13, 2019
  5. ^ Sara Ashley O'Brien: Levi Felix, Digital Detox cofounder, dies at 32 . In: CNNMoney . ( cnn.com [accessed July 3, 2019]).
  6. ↑ SUMMERJUNG - The holiday camp for adults. Retrieved on July 3, 2019 (German).
  7. ↑ FitReisen: Digital Detox : Digitally detoxify your body from stress and radiation , accessed on July 3, 2019