Technophobia (fear Of Technology): Causes, Symptoms And Treatment
New technologies have burst into our lives; computers, tablets and smartphones allow us to be connected to the digital world 24 hours a day. This has caused our way of relating to others and the environment and, in many cases, this has positively influenced our quality of life, because they facilitate greater access to information and provide us with new professional and leisure opportunities.
No one can doubt the benefits of new technologies; However, not everything is rosy, and experts have been warning us for some time about the risks of misuse. Nomophobia, FOMO Syndrome or Technostress are some examples.
Today we will talk to you about another disorder associated with technological advances, it is technophobia, whiche is characterized either by aversion or irrational fear of new technologies and the digital world.
Technophobia is a complex concept, and there is not much research on it. On the one hand there seem to be different degrees, and according to one of the first researchers who studied the phenomenon for 30 years, Larry Rosen, a psychologist at the University of California, there seems to be three categories of technophobic subjects:
Therefore, the symptoms of technophobia range from feeling uncomfortable and insecure to the pathological extreme, that of feeling great anxiety when the person is in contact with new technologies.
This term first appeared in the American psychiatrist Craig Brod’s book called “Technostress: The Human Cost of the Computer Revolution”, which was published in 1984. For the author, technostress is “an adaptive disease that has its origins in the “high ability to deal with new computer technologies in a healthy way.”
The causes of technophobia can be varied, as can its manifestations. In less serious cases, the origin can be found in the perception that the individual has when it comes to mastering technological devices, a special insecurity that prevents him or her from adapting to technological change. We could imagine, for example, the manager of a business who is unable to adapt to new technologies, because he thinks that he will not be able to use them, even if they significantly benefit the smooth running of his company. Or the guy who doesn’t want to update his mobile phone because he doesn’t know how to use smartphones.
In fact, studies suggest that, after the age of 40, adults have greater difficulty getting used to using computers and other technological gadgets; one of the causes, according to research, could be fear of the unknown. That is to say, and as stated by Rosa Farah, from the PUC-SP Computer Science Psychology Research Center (Sao Paulo), “it is not the technological devices that cause fear, but to show their own inability to use the machine.”
However, Technophobia in extreme cases can be a phobic disorder and, therefore, can originate as a consequence of a traumatic event from the past, due to the process of classical conditioning. Some experts also call this irrational fear cyberphobia. Phobic disorders can also be learned by observation, through a phenomenon known as “vicarious conditioning.”
Symptoms of fear of technology
As explained throughout the article, there are different manifestations of this phenomenon, so the intensity of the symptoms can vary from one individual to another. However**, the symptoms of technophobia appear when faced with the use of technological devices or anything that has to do with new technologies**, and the most characteristic are:
Since the severity of the phenomenon can vary, this fear can often be overcome by training the individual in the use of new technologies, encouraging them to take short courses and showing them that they can learn to use the new technologies, which are so useful today.
However, In severe cases, psychological help may be necessary. Psychotherapy is very effective as many research shows, and cognitive behavioral therapy is generally used, which uses different techniques.
For the treatment of phobias, the most used are relaxation techniques and exposure techniques. However, the one that is most used is one that uses both: it is called systematic desensitization. With this type of treatment, the patient learns different coping skills and is exposed to fear systematically and gradually, that is, he confronts the feared stimulus while learning to control the physical and mental reactions that are characteristic of his phobia.
But this form of treatment is not the only one that has been shown to be effective for this type of disorders; cognitive therapy based on Mindfulness and acceptance and commitment therapy are also useful.
Both belong to a group of behavioral psychotherapies called third generation.
Types of phobias
Phobias are relatively common anxiety disorders, and a large part of the population suffers from them in the presence of different stimuli: spiders, snakes, clowns, etc.
