Pol Osés: "Addiction to new technologies may be the new pandemic".

We talked to this renowned Catalan psychologist about the new reality.

New technologies are both a cause and a possible solution to many of the psychological problems in our era. of many of the psychological problems in our era. An infinite number of tools that promise to make our lives easier, paradoxically, can also generate addiction or keep us preoccupied with issues that should be secondary.

In this context, many psychologists are beginning to warn that misuse of technology can lead to physical and psychological disorders. Recently, the DGT released a worrying statistic: every year there are nearly 400 deaths due to the improper use of smartphones, most of them due to distractions at the wheel that lead to accidents.

We talked to Pol Osés about new technologies and psychology.

We were able to talk to Pol Osés, one of the most renowned psychologists in the Catalan capital, about this duality between technology and life. What factors do we have to take into account to make a healthy approach to technology? Have addiction cases increased during the forties? How do we try to manage this reality from the psychological intervention? Osés will help us to understand all this.

Bertrand Regader: How are everyday technology (smartphones, tablets, computers) related to our mental health? Could the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated this process of 'technologization' of our society?

Pol OsésPol Osés: There is a general conception that new technologies are misused in today's societies, which, in my opinion, corresponds quite closely to reality.

Do we have to educate for a healthy use of new technologies? Undoubtedly. In the last 20-25 years, computers, internet and smartphones have come into our lives to transform them in record time, which should not scare us, but we must understand that a misuse of these technologies can have very negative consequences for our mental health.

Addiction to social networks, sedentary lifestyle, lack of social skills, sleep problems or anxiety, among others, are some of the problems that can develop if we misuse new technologies. These are a very powerful tool that can make our lives better and easier as long as we are aware of their benefits and detriments associated with their use.

To the second part of the question, there is no doubt that this period of confinement at home has forced us to carry out many tasks, tasks or moments of entertainment through virtual environments. Working from home, meetings with friends or family, shopping, banking, medical visits, etc., are an example of some, this situation has accelerated the process of transformation towards a more digital society and where technology is more present every day.

You deal with many cases of people who have certain difficulties in managing their time in front of the screen. What are the most effective therapy methods to improve this facet?

In recent years the frequency of patients with problems linked especially to excessive use of smartphones has increased considerably, the dependence it generates on some people is very high and this leads to both physical and psychological problems.

Decompensations in the brain's reward systems, anxiety, stress, insomnia, postural problems or headaches are some of the problems that can be caused by spending too many hours in front of a screen.

In case of these cases, the most common is to use cognitive-behavioral therapy to deactivate certain habits and build a new model of behavior in relation to the use of new technologies. It is important to emphasize that previously a deep analysis of all the vital areas of the person must be done, since this type of addiction, as well as any other, has the origin in emotional imbalances that lead to develop maladaptive behaviors, in this case of dependence/addiction on smartphones or video games for example.

There is the paradox that there are interesting technological resources that allow us to rationalize the use and abuse of electronic gadgets. Which ones do you think could be the most interesting?

Exactly. This use can be very positive as long as, obviously, there is no underlying smartphone addiction problem. If it is a question of providing the user with tools for problems such as subclinical anxiety or stress, for example, there are interesting apps that can be useful. Anyway, the premise must be that we can never replace psychological therapy with these resources.... They are valuable and practical resources, but they should always go hand in hand with a professional and personalized approach.

That said, I usually keep abreast of new applications that aim to improve some psychological or psychopathological aspect. The more than well-known Calm is interesting because it brings us closer to the world of meditation in a very studied way.

With the confinement, many of us do not know how to put an end to the working day and continue teleworking for more hours than we should. Do you think that cases of burnout syndrome will increase with this 'new normality' in which remote work will gain ground?

Very probably, because as I have been telling you throughout the interview, these are new realities that we have to learn by trial and error, generating knowledge in this regard and over time defining routines and habits that make it compatible and healthy to work from home.

Currently we are finding cases in which the so-called "Home office" is causing a non-dissociation between the time/space of work and personal life. As a consequence, since 50-60% of the hours we are awake are dedicated to work, this causes work to represent a higher percentage of our day if we do not respect our start and end times, sleep, meals, breaks between hours, or the fact of not being equally productive at home and at work and that this leads to an extension of the working day.

If we do not manage to separate the professional from the personal within the same space, cases of burnout syndrome will increase considerably.

Therefore, it is advisable to delimit a space to work at home that we dedicate exclusively for it, which on the one hand isolates us from all kinds of distractions we have at home and at the same time, when our workday ends or we have a break, we can close a door and somehow isolate everything we associate with work (laptop, cell phone, notebooks, documents, etc.).

In addition to the negative consequences that we have already discussed, let's try to take the positive side of this process in which we are immersed... What advantages do you, as a health psychologist, find in this new reality?

The advantages associated with working from home are many, but they will come as long as we apply all the recommendations mentioned above and we are aware of the detrimental part that not doing so may entail.

The main advantages are associated with the optimization of resources, time, money and energy.

If we used to spend 45 minutes commuting to our place of work, now we will save this time going and coming back. We will avoid the physical and psychological wear and tear generated by commuting during peak hours by public or private transport in urban areas, in addition to the costs associated with such trips.

On the other hand, we will be able to work more independently and have greater flexibility in our schedules, which will allow us to better combine it with family life, hobbies or the study of a course among many other things.

On a professional level, by increasing our perception of quality of life, our productivity will increase, which will also be positive for our self-esteem and the company's activity.