Technology overload? Experts offer advice on coping

The sun's out. You decide to log off and go to the park. Upon arrival, you subconsciously check for the smart phone that’s always in your pocket. It's not there. Now what?

According to a recent report, 68 percent of us would feel disoriented and nervous, a phenomenon labeled “disconnect anxiety.” Instead of relishing the break, we freak out.

What if my BFF texts me? What if my boss e-mails a new job opportunity? What if my mother calls to finally share her brownie recipe?

"It's not even rational, but that's the way things are when you're so used to having something with you," says Kaan Yigit, a senior researcher with Solutions Research Group in Toronto. The research consulting firm prepared the report on disconnect anxiety after repeatedly hearing people describe panic attacks upon forgetting their cell phones or losing their Internet connection.

Medical professionals and technology researchers say the phenomenon is one of several red flags that our always-connected culture has potentially adverse side effects.

Is it a psychiatric disorder?

Dr. Jerald Block is a psychiatrist at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland who is advocating that technology-related compulsions be included in an updated manual of psychiatric disorders. He says anxiety and moodiness when deprived of access to technology is one of four key symptoms of a tech-related compulsive behavior. Other symptoms include excessive use, a rising tolerance and thus a need for more or newer gadgets and software, and serious repercussions with school, work, family, friends or health.

"There has to be something that's strong enough that drives them into treatment," Block says.

Almost all cases, he adds, are associated with another disorder such as depression or social anxiety. The excessive use of technology could be a form of self-treatment.

John O'Neill is director of addiction services at the Menninger Clinic in Houston. He says researchers are uncertain whether technology obsession is a sign of addiction or something less serious. But, he adds, technology is creeping into every aspect of our daily lives and distorting our relationships with family, friends, and colleagues in similar ways to drug and alcohol addictions.

"We want to look at that and say what's going on, what's happening that makes it so difficult for us to put something down?" he says."Why is it we're driving down the road and everybody is on their cell phones? Why is it so tough to not answer e-mails in the middle of a movie or check the BlackBerry repeatedly throughout meetings?"