“This is me again in summer, new Afo”
When the Internet became available almost to everybody the first concerns were voiced by the parents complaining that their children had been spending all their free time in front of computers and that they preferred the virtual life to the real one. This is an undeniable truth, which has the necessity of supplement. Even the most secret posts and photographs, which weren’t supposed to be shown to the public, appear on Facebook. Now even the parents have become addicted to social networks. People post all the events of their lives on the Internet through statuses and photographs. Even the condolences on death and other grieves appear on Facebook. This is not as much sad but funny. If I am mistaken I will be corrected by a psychologist of Yerevan State Medical University after Heratsi, chief therapist of Intra center Khachatur Gasparyan.
-The person has the need to involve his friends and relatives in his sad and happy emotions. With all due respect to people’s preferences and likings I was just wondering whether it is write to people the public aware of all the events of your life?
-During the past year the experts of psychology are discussing whether the computer addiction should be included in the list of psychiatric addictions as a separate disease as for example gambling, stealing, etc. The problem is that if we include this on the list of addictions then we should think about healing process. Can you imagine someone addicted to computers comes to us and we prescribe him/her medication? I can’t imagine this. But let me say in the case of this kind of addiction only verbal consultations won’t be enough.
-When we are talking about teenagers, this addiction becomes for explicable. But when the addiction exists among adults, officials and other high-rank people…
-There are cases when we are having complications during the actual communication. We feel certain kind of discomfort or on that day our outfit is a little uncomfortable and unfit. In the virtual life we can speak in the sense of ideal “I”. There is another important circumstance. When we wish we can press the button and go offline. In the real life there are many conscious and unconscious factors. 15-20% is the speech; the rest is our body language, which is imperceptible during the virtual communication. On the Internet we filter our words and send the messages, which show us in the positive light.
-Social networks have the effect of masquerades. People are wearing the preferred and that way it becomes easier to say what you wish to say. Perhaps this is one of the ways of therapy of getting rid of negative impulses.
-When working on the computer, a person may get away from the personal reality. Some are playing computer games, where they feel good in the role of a policeman or an invincible hero. In some other games they may play a few lives, make wealth, etc. This makes them temporarily forget the complications of their actual lives. And it certainly has positive impact.
-What’s wrong with the real life that makes the people find shelter in the virtual life?
-Everybody comes to the virtual world with their own thoughts and motives. Some are trying to stay away from reality and others are seeking adventures. But the most important thing is that when you wish you can refuse the virtual life and live the actual life. But in the real life you cannot cease your communication at any time. In the intersection of social relationships not always do we see the green light. In the intersections of Facebook the light is always green.
-It only seems at the first sight that the person went offline. Minutes later he appears in the front of the computer and doing the same thing.
-It is evident that 21st century is an isolation era. There is an interesting incentive. There was an exhibition of new cars in England and they are already planning to design a one-person car knowing there two and more might be spare. The problem is tolerating each other gradually becomes tenser.
-Please, explain to me the aspirations of people to publicize their activities on Facebook. People even talk about their emotions on Facebook. I wonder what happened to keeping things covert and confidential. They even do it minutes after they lose their relatives.
-It may be connected with our ideas about mourning and tragedy. We often tend to show our grief and sadness. The display of such grief has its therapeutic meaning. The majority of people prefer to receive responses on what had happened. A man is a very strange creature. He may enjoy from other’s trauma.
-How much does the thought that it didn’t only happen to him cost?
-It is a paradoxical pleasure. A person who posts the news of the loss of his loved one on Facebook expects some kind of compassion from his friends.
-Not only the grief but also joy is tossed on Facebook – weddings, birthdays, travels, etc.
-This is also showoff. Coming back to the theme of computer addiction, I’d like to mention that in some cases people who are too addicted to computers become aggressive and alert when they don’t have access to the Internet.
-And when can you confess to yourself that you have addiction to the computer?
-You should ask yourself how often you use the computer, how often you feel empty without a computer, whether you often avoid friends and family because of the computer. Ask yourselves this question and you will understand whether you are addicted or not. But be sincere to yourself.
By Lilit Avagyan
