数码海洛因

Susan bought her6-year-old son John an iPad when he was in first grade. “I thought,’ Why notlet him get a jump on things?’” she told me during a therapy session. John’sschool had begun using the devices with younger and younger grades—and histechnology teacher had raved about their educational benefits—so Susan wantedto do what was best for her sandy-haired boy who loved reading and playingbaseball.

在苏珊六岁儿子约翰上一年级的时候，苏珊给他买了一个iPad。“我觉得我为什么不让他对事物的认识有更快的成长？”她在一次疗愈会议中对我说道。约翰的学校已经开始给越来越低的年纪配备这些设施进行使用—并且他的技术性教师极力称赞这些设备所带来的教育受益—因此苏珊想要给她沙色头发儿子最好的事物，她儿子热爱阅读和棒球。

She startedletting John play different educational games on his iPad. Eventually, hediscovered Minecraft, which the technology teacher assured her was “just likeelectronic Lego.” Remembering how much she had as a child building and playingwith the interlocking plastic blocks, Susan let her son Minecraft hisafternoons away.

她开始允许约翰在iPad上面玩不同的教育游戏。最终，他发现了游戏’我的世界’，这个游戏技术性的老师向其保证是一款“如同乐高积木一样的游戏。”回想起自己曾经小时候玩这种塑料搭接的连锁玩具，苏珊便允许她的儿子下午玩。

At first, Susanwas quite pleased. John seemed engaged in creative play as he explored thecube-world of the game. She did notice that the game wasn’t quite like theLegos that she remembered—after all, she didn’t have to kill animals and findrare minerals to survive and get to the next level with her beloved old game.But John did seem to really like playing and the school even had a Minecraftclub, so how bad could it be?

刚开始的时候，苏珊非常高兴。约翰看起来在玩一种创新性的游戏，就像是他自己在游戏中开发一个全新的世界。她没有注意到这个游戏与她记忆中的乐高游戏非常不一样—毕竟她心爱的游戏中不需要猎杀动物，不需要寻找大量的矿物去生存，也不需要升级。但是约翰看起来非常喜欢这个游戏并且在学校成立了我的世界俱乐部，因此这又能又多糟糕呢?

Still, Susancouldn’t deny she was seeing changes in John. He started getting more and morefocused on his game and losing interest in baseball and reading while refusingto do his chores. Some morning he would wake up and tell her that he could seethe cube shapes in his dreams.

尽管如此，苏珊也不否认她看出了约翰的变化。他开始花越来越多的时间不注意力放在游戏中，并且当他空闲时间也对阅读和打棒球失去了兴趣。有时候早晨起床，他会告诉他在梦中看到的那个世界。

Although thatconcerned her, she thought her son might just be exhibiting an activeimagination. As his behavior continued to deteriorate, she tried to take thegame away but John threw temper tantrums. His outbursts were so severe that shegave in, still rationalizing to herself over and over again that “it’s educational.”

虽然这些她都有所察觉，但是她认为她儿子也许仅仅是显得想象力比较活跃而已。当他的行为持续恶化，她尝试让儿子远离游戏，但是此时约翰就开始大发脾气。他的火气如此暴躁以至于她需要做出让步，并不断地安慰自己这是有教育意义的。

Then, one night,she realized that something was seriously wrong.

然后，直至一晚，她认识到这是一个非常严重的事情。

“I walked intohis room to check on him. He was supposed to be sleeping—and I was just so frightened..”

“我走到他的房间检查。他看起来睡着了—然后我发现了令我惊恐的事情。”

She found himsitting up his bed staring wide-eyed, his bloodshot eyes looking into thedistance as his glowing iPad lay next to him. He seemed to be in a trance.Beside herself with panic, Susan had to shake the boy repeatedly to snap himout of it. Distraught, she could not understand how her once-healthy and happylittle boy had become so addicted to the game that he would up in a catatonicstupor.

她发现他在床边睁着眼睛凝视熬夜，他充血的眼睛正看着不远处放着的放光的iPad上。他正看得入迷。她自己感觉到非常惊恐，苏珊摇起孩子不断厉声批评孩子要远离iPad。令人心烦的是，她无法理解她曾经健康快乐的小男孩怎就如此沉迷于游戏之中，以至于他都开始有些紧张性木讷。

There’s a reason that the most tech-cautious parents are tech designers and engineers.Steve Jobswas a notoriously low-tech parent.Silicon Valleytechexecutives and engineers enroll their kids in no-tech Waldorf Schools. GooglefoundersSergey BrinandLarry Pagewent to no-tech Montessori Schools, as did Amazon creatorJeff Bezosand Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.

这有一些事实是大多数对待科技谨慎的父母都是科技设计者或者工程师。史蒂芬乔布斯是众所周知的低科技使用的父亲。硅谷科技公司的高管和工程师都让孩子去没有科技的华德福教育学校。谷歌的创始人谢尔盖布林和拉里佩奇去了没有科技的蒙特梭利学校，同样这样做的还有亚马逊的创始人杰夫贝左斯和维基百科的创始人杰米威尔斯。

Many parentsintuitively understand that ubiquitous glowing screens are having a negativeeffect on kids. We see the aggressive temper tantrums when the devices aretaken away and the wandering attention spans when children are not perpetuallystimulated by their hyper-arousing devices. Worse, we see children who becomebored, apathetic, uninteresting and uninterested when not plugged in.

许多家长直观的理解电子产品的增长会给孩子带去负面的影响。我们看到当拿走孩子的这些产品他们就会发很大的具有攻击性的脾气，而且当孩子由这些吸引注意力的产品的持久的刺激也不会带来所希望的提高注意力的持久性。糟糕的是，我们看到孩子们变得烦躁，冷漠，无趣并对紧跟时代的事物毫无兴趣。

But it’s evenworse than we think.

但是我们想到的这些还不是最糟糕的。

We now know thatthose iPads, smartphones and Xboxes are a form of digital drug. Recent brainimaging research is showing that they affect the brain’s frontal cortex—whichcontrols executive functioning, including impulse control—in exactly the sameway that cocaine does. Technology is so hyper-arousing that it raises dopaminelevels—the feel-good neurotransmitter most involved in the addiction dynamic—asmuch as sex.

我们现在知道这些iPad,智能手机和Xbox都属于数字毒品。近代大脑成像研究表明这些会影响大脑前端皮层—大脑前端皮层是控制人们的执行能力的，包括脉冲信号的控制—也就是说它的原理和可卡因是一样的。技术带来强烈的吸引力可以提高多巴胺的水平—让人感觉良好的神经递质大部分就是上瘾的动力—就如同性爱一样。

This addictive

effect is why Dr. Peter Whybrow, director of neuroscience at UCLA，calls screens “electronic cocaine” andChinese researchers call them “digital herion.” In fact, Dr. Andrew Doan, thehead of addiction research for the Pentagon and the US Navy--who has beenresearching video game addiction—calls video games and screen technologies “digitalpharmakeia ”(Greek for drug).

加州大学洛杉矶分校神经系统科学的主管Peter WhyBrow教授，他对为什么会有这种上瘾效果称之为“电子可卡因”，而中国研究者将其称之为“数字海洛因”。实际上，Andrew Doan教授，他是为五角大楼和美国海军早期做上瘾研究—他过去一直研究视频游戏上瘾—他说视频游戏和屏幕技术是“数字法玛西亚”（希腊的毒品）

That’s right—yourkid’s brain on Minecraft looks like a brain on drugs. No wonder we have a hardtime peeling kids from their screens and find our little ones agitated whentheir screen time is interrupted. In addition, hundreds of clinical studiesshow that screen increase depression, anxiety and aggression and can even leadto psychotic-like features where the video gamer loses touch with reality.

没有错—你家孩子的大脑在游戏我的世界中就如同染上了毒瘾。这也难怪我们要想让孩子离开屏幕会非常困难或当他们在屏幕面前被打断的时候会有所焦虑。另外，大量的临床研究表明屏幕世界会增加沮丧，焦虑和攻击性并且甚至会造成精神病—表现特征就如视频游戏会让人在现实中迷失。

In my clinicalwork with over 1,000 teens over the past 15 years, I have found the old axiomof “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” to be especially true whenit comes to tech addiction. Once a kid has crossed the line into true techaddiction, treatment can be very difficult. Indeed, I have found it easier totreat heroin and crystal meth addicts than lost-in-the-matrix video gamers orFacebook-dependent social media addicts.

在过去15年中有超过1000个青少年参与了我的临床工作，当我进入技术性上瘾领域，我发现了一句老话“一盎司的预防价值要远大于一磅的治疗”是无比的正确。一旦一个孩子跨越底线真正陷入技术上瘾，治疗会变得非常困难。的确，我发现治疗海洛因和对水晶甲胺非他名上瘾着要比迷失在黑客帝国视频游戏或者Facebook社交媒体依赖症的人要容易的多。

According to a2013 Policy Statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics, 8-to 10 year-oldsspend 8 hours a day with various digital media while teenagers spend 11 hoursin front of screens. One in three kids are using tables or smartphones beforethey can talk. Meanwhile, the handbook of “ Internet Addiction” by Dr. KimberlyYoung states that 18 percent of college-age internet users in the US sufferfrom tech addiction.

根据2013年来自美国儿科学院的一份政治声明，8到10岁的儿童每天花8小时时间在数字媒体当中，然而这些年轻人会花11个小时在屏幕面前。三分之一的孩子在会说话前使用台式机或智能手机。与此同时，Kunberly Young教授在网络成瘾指南中声明在美国百分之十八的大学生网络使用者正在忍受技术成瘾症。

Once a personcrosses over the line into full-blown addiction—drug, digital or otherwise—theyneed to detox before any other kind of therapy can have any chance of beingeffective. With tech, that means a full digital detox—no computers, nosmartphones, no tablets. The extreme digital detox even eliminates television.The prescribed amount of time is four to six weeks; that’s the amount of timethat is usually required for a hype-aroused nervous system to reset itself. Butthat’s no easy task in our current tech-filled society where screens areubiquitous. A person can live without drugs or alcohol; with tech addiction,digital temptations are everywhere.

一旦一个人跨越底线完全上瘾—毒品，数字或者其他—他们在其他各种治疗之前都需要先戒掉瘾才有可能达到治疗效果。通过技术，也就是说一个充满无数码的戒除环境—没有电脑，没有智能手机，没有平板电脑。这种极端的数字上瘾戒除甚至需要排除电视的干扰。这种治疗方式规定时间需要四到六周；这段时间通常是神经系统需要重新建立的阶段。但是这在我们这个充满数码技术的社会不是一件简单的任务，这个社会屏幕无处不在。一个人可以生活在没有毒品或酒精的环境，但是技术上瘾，数字诱惑到处都有。

So how do wekeep our children from crossing this line? It’s not easy.

因此我们如何让我们的孩子在底线之内？这不是一件简单的事情。

The key is toprevent your 4-5 or 8-year old from getting hooked on screens to begin with.That means Lego instead of Minecraft; books instead of iPads; nature and sportsinstead of TV. If you have to, demand that your children’s school not give thema tablet or Chromebook until they are at least 10 years old (others recommend12).

方法是让4-5岁或8岁的孩子不要接触屏幕以防上钩。也就意味着用乐高积木代替我的世界；用书本代替iPad;让大自然和运动代替电视。如果有必要的话，要求你孩子的学校不要给他们使用平板电脑或者chrome笔记本直到他们至少长到10岁（另外一些推荐到12岁）。

Have honestdiscussions with your child about why you are limiting their screen access. Eatdinner with you children without any electronic devices at the table—just asSteve Jobs used to have tech-free dinners with his kids. Don’t fall victim to “DistractedParent Syndrome” –as we know from Social Learning Theory, “ Monkey see, monkeydo.”

与你的孩子开诚布公的去谈为什么你会限制他们的屏幕使用权。与孩子一起吃饭的时候不要在饭桌上使用任何电子设施—就像史蒂夫乔布斯过去经常和孩子一起吃无电子产品晚餐一样。不要陷入“注意力分散综合症的父母”成为受害人—就像我们知道的一条社会学习理论一样“猴子看到，猴子就会去做。”

When I speak tomy 9-year-old twin boys, I have honest conversations with them about why we don’twant them having tablets or playing video games. I explain to them that somekids like playing with their devices so much, they have a hard time stopping orcontrolling how much they play. I’ve helped them to understand that if they getcaught up with screens and Minecraft like some of their friends have, otherparts of their lives may suffer: They may not want to play baseball as much;not read books as often; be less interested in science and nature projects;become more disconnected from their real-world friends. Amazingly, they don’tneed much convincing as they’ve seen first-hand the changes that some of theirlittle friends have undergone as a result of their excessive screen time.

当我和我9岁的双胞胎男孩们说起时，我会诚实的在对话中告诉他们为什么我不想让他们拥有平板电脑或者玩视频游戏。我解释说一些孩子非常喜欢玩这些产品，他们很难停止下来或者控制他们玩耍的时间。我协助他们懂得了如果他们像他们的一些朋友一样沉迷于屏幕或者我的世界游戏中，他们生活中的其他部分都会遭到伤害。他们可能不会再想要去玩棒球；不会经常读书；会减少对科学和自然事物的兴趣；变得更加脱离现实生活中的朋友。神奇的是，他们不需要过多的说教就好像已经直接看到他们中一些小朋友由于过多沉迷于屏幕当中发生的变化。

Developmentalpsychologists understand that children’s healthy development involves socialinteraction, creative imaginative play and an engagement with the real, naturalworld. Unfortunately, the immersive and addictive world of screens dampens andstunts those developmental processes.

发展心理学认为孩子们的健康发展包括社会互动，创造性想象游戏和参与真实，自然的世界。不幸的是，虚拟和上瘾的屏幕世界抑制和阻碍了这些发展历程。

We also know that kids are more prone to addictive escape if they feelalone,alienated,purposeless and bored. Thus the solution is often to help kids to connect to meaningful real-life experiences and flesh-and-blood relationships. The engaged child tethered to creative activities and connected to his or her family is less likely to escape into the diglital fantasy world. Yet even if a child has the best and most loving support, he or she could fall into the Matrix once they engage with hypnotic screens and experience their addicting effect. After all,about one in 10people are predisposed towards addictive tendencies.

我们也知道当孩子们感到孤独，被疏远，没有目标或者无聊的时候，他们会更倾向于通过这种上瘾来逃避生活。因而解决问题的方法通常是帮助孩子们去和真实的生活建立连接，和有血有肉的人们建立关系。保证将孩子拴在创造性的活动当中并经常和其父母建立沟通就会减少孩子们逃向数字幻想的世界当中。但是即使一个孩子拥有最好的环境和爱的支持，一旦他们被屏幕吸引或者体验过了上瘾的感觉，他们还是有可能跌入黑客帝国不能自拔。毕竟，大约有十分之一的人已经提前体验过这种上瘾的感受。

In the end, myclient Susan removed John’s tablet, but recovery was an uphill battle with manybumps and setbacks along the way.

最终，我的客户苏珊拿走了约翰的平板电脑，但是恢复期如逆水行舟，不进则退。

Four years later, after much support and reinforcement, John is doing much better today. He has learned to use a desktop computer in a healthier way, and has gotten some sense of balance back in his life: He’s playing on a baseball team and has several close friends in his middle school. But his mother is still vigilant and remains a positive and proactiveforcewith his tech usage because, as with any addiction,relapse can sneak up in moments of weakness. Making sure that he has healthyoutlets, no computer in his bedroom and a nightly tech-free dinner at thedinner table are all part of the solution.

四年后，在大量支持和强化下，约翰现在已经好多了。他已经可以以健康的方式使用台式电脑了，并且回到生活中找到了平衡的感觉：他参加了一支棒球队，在中学有一些亲密的朋友。但是他的母亲仍然警惕并保持一种积极向上并有前瞻性的力量在约翰的技术使用当中，因为对于任何一个上瘾者来说，在意志力薄弱的任何时候这种瘾都会悄悄袭来。要保证他在外面生活健康，没有电脑在他的卧室，每夜都有无电子产品的晚餐，这些都是解决问题的一部分。