We are confident that
we could quit any time, but...
In a new study in the journal Addictive Behaviors,
researchers at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego tell of a
31-year-old man who was being treated in the Navy’s alcohol-abuse
program. He showed “significant frustration and irritability”from not
being able to use his Google Glass, researchers said, to the point where
his right forefinger would almost involuntarily move up to his temple
and tap, as if to turn on the device. The patient told doctors that if
he had been prevented from wearing the device at work, he’d become
irritable and argumentative, according to the study.
Modern medicos thank themselves;
The good news is that over the
month-long treatment program, the patient became less irritable, stopped
automatically touching his forehead and experienced improved short-term
memory and clarity of thought. But he continued to occasionally dream
“as if looking through the device,” researchers reported.
Without therapy, where would we be?
“People used to believe alcoholism wasn’t a problem – they blamed the
person or the people around them,” Dr. Andrew Doan, head of addictions
and resilience research at the Navy’s Substance Abuse and Recovery
Program and co-author of the paper, told The Guardian. “It’s just going to take a while for us to realize that this is real.”
Google Glass opens users to a near-constant stream of stimuli, which can take a toll on the brain, Doan said.
And Dr. Doan expects to hammer on that nail for a while longer.
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