网络深井，险象环生

By+Nicholas+Kardaras

“Im going to kill you while you are both asleep，” the wild-eyed 13-year-old girl said as she flailed1 and kicked her father before biting his arm. This was the second time in less than a week that Heidi had flown into a violent rage because her parents had taken away her Chromebook and her access to social media. It would also be the second time that she would have to be taken to the psychiatric2 emergency room.

When her parents， John and Melanie， first called me for help， they described Heidi as a sweet， happy， loving girl whose teachers had always declared their favorite student. With a tendency to gravitate toward overachievers，3 she loved playing soccer， hiking and taking mountain bike rides with her dad—the man she bit.

John and Melanie， supportive suburban New Jersey parents with college degrees and their own tech business， were blindsided4 by Heidis social media addiction. “It all started when she came home in seventh grade with a Chromebook that the school had given her，” they told me. Ostensibly given for school purposes， the Chromebook came loaded with Google Classroom5—which also， unfortunately， included Google Chat and various Google Chat communities.

Once this educational Trojan horse6 entered their home， John and Melanie found that Heidi was more and more preoccupied with its social media chat rooms， spending hours on them every night. Because the chat rooms were part of the Chromebook platform， they were not able to disable them. Then Heidi started becoming preoccupied with raunchy YouTube videos and also began playing an addictive progression game similar to Minecraft.7

Over the course of a year John and Melanie saw their daughter transform from a sweet， innocent girl who loved spending time with her parents into a sexualized， foulmouthed and violent terror. And sadly， she became a girl in need of psychiatric treatment.

Early adolescence is a time of dramatic change for most kids， and arguably， Heidi may have been headed for trouble with or without her Chromebook. It is also true that many kids use social media responsibly and without issue8. But a growing body of evidence shows that social media and immersion in the digital world can be contributing factors in the development of an array of psychological problems—from addiction to depression—and young people may be especially vulnerable.

Social connection is not only the most essential part of being human， it is also a key ingredient in happiness and health. Thanks to social media， we are the most connected society that has ever lived： each second people in the U.S. send more than 7，500 tweets， 1，394 Instagram photographs， and two million e-mails； they also view more than 119，000 YouTube videos.endprint

Predictably， the younger you are， the more you text. According to a 2011 Pew Research Center poll， cell-phone owners between the ages of 18 and 24 send or receive an average of 109.5 messages on a normal day， whereas all adults （18 and older） exchange a daily average of 41.5 messages.

For a species hardwired9 for social connection， that should be a wonderful thing. And yet the rise of social media and technology has coincided with an apparent decline in mental health. In 2014 psychologist Jean M. Twenge of San Diego State University analyzed data from nearly seven million teenagers and adults across the U.S. and found that more people reported symptoms of depression in recent years than they did in the 1980s. Teens， in particular， are now 74 percent more likely to have trouble sleeping and twice as likely to see a professional for mental health issues. According to a 2016 fact sheet from the World Health Organization， depression is now the leading cause of disability globally， affecting 350 million people worldwide.

There are certainly many intervening factors that may be driving this global trend， but we do have preliminary research linking depression with social media usage. In a 2014 study， social psychologists found another reason why people can feel down after Facebook sessions： they feel that the time spent is not meaningful.

As social creatures， we find purpose and meaning and bolster10 our emotional states largely through the social and cultural context created by contact with others. Not getting the right kind of human contact at key developmental periods in childhood can lead to profound emotional and psychological problems.

Social media has an impact on other basic psychological needs—including our need for novelty， called neophilia.11 Human brain is biologically primed for novelty， which， in turn， has helped us to survive cataclysmic environmental change.12 Unfortunately， this hardwired thirst can be overwhelming in the information age， in which every hyperlink， tweet， text， e-mail and Instagram photograph can be an opportunity to experience something new. As with an alcoholic in a liquor store or a chocolate lover at Willy Wonkas， the multitude of opportunities for novelty can be exhaustingly hyperstimulating.13

And what about the human need to experience reward？ We know that humans like activities that release the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain—a lot.14 Evolution has given us incentives via a “dopamine tickle” to pursue certain lifesustaining activities，15 because dopamine made us feel good. But we have discovered that digital stimulation feels pretty good， too， and similarly lights up our dopamine-reward pathways.endprint

So then where does modern digital technology， which plays off these intersecting human needs for connection，16 reward and novelty， leave us？ Short answer： addicted or， at the very least， potentially vulnerable to screen addiction. Many adults and kids have developed compulsive texting and social media habits precisely because such predilections quench our thirst for novelty while tickling our dopamine-reward pathways.17 And like addicts， they can go into withdrawal18 without it.

“等你们俩都睡了我要杀了你们，”说这话的时候，这个13岁的女孩愤怒地瞪着眼睛，对她爸爸拳打脚踢，之后还咬了他的胳膊。在不到一个星期的时间里，这已经是海蒂第二次因为父母没收了她的谷歌笔记本电脑并且不让她使用社交软件而暴怒了。她也不得不将被第二次送进精神疾病急诊室。

当海蒂的父母约翰和梅勒妮第一次来寻求我帮助的时候，他们说海蒂是一个可爱、快乐、充满爱心的小女孩，而且也总是老师们最喜欢的学生。以前的海蒂一直朝着优等生的目标努力，她热爱踢足球、徒步旅行以及和爸爸一起在山中骑行——而现在，海蒂却会咬她的爸爸。

约翰和梅勒妮住在新泽西的郊区，夫妇二人都有大学文凭，并经营着自己的科技公司。他们一直都非常支持海蒂，但海蒂沉溺于社交媒体这件事却让他们感到措手不及。他们告诉我，“这一切都是从海蒂七年级时带回了学校发的谷歌笔记本电脑开始的。”借着教学的名义，电脑里安装了谷歌课堂——但很不幸的是，里面还有谷歌聊天工具和各种谷歌聊天社区。

自从这个名义上为了教学活动的“特洛伊木马”来到他们家，约翰和梅勒妮就发现海蒂越来越沉溺于社交媒体上的聊天室中，并且每晚她都要花上好几个小时来聊天。因为这些聊天室是谷歌笔记本运行平台的一部分，所以约翰和梅勒妮无法禁用它们。后来，海蒂开始迷恋观看YouTube视频网站上的低俗视频，还开始玩一种能够使人上瘾的类似于《我的世界》的升级类游戏。

在一年的时间里，约翰和梅勒妮眼看著自己的女儿从一个喜欢陪伴父母、天真可爱的小女孩变成了一个崇尚色情、满嘴脏话、有暴力倾向的“恐怖分子”。而令人伤心的是，她变成了一个需要精神治疗的女孩。

对于大多数孩子来说，青春期早期是充满剧变的一段时间，可以说，不管海蒂用不用谷歌笔记本电脑，她都可能会在这段时期面临一些烦恼。当然，也有许多孩子在使用社交媒体时是理智的，并且不会出现什么问题。但是越来越多的证据表明，使用社交媒体以及沉溺于虚拟世界会诱发一系列的心理问题——包括成瘾和抑郁，并且年轻人可能会尤其容易受到影响。

社交不仅仅是人类生活中最不可或缺的部分，它还是影响人幸福和健康的关键因素。社交媒体使得我们生活在人类历史上联系程度最高的社会当中：在美国，人们每秒钟会发出7，500多条推特，1，394张Instagram照片，以及两百万封电子邮件；而且每秒钟会观看超过11.9万个YouTube视频。

可以预见的是，社交媒体用户越是年轻，发送的短信数就会越多。皮尤研究中心在2011年所做的一项调查显示，18到24岁之间的手机用户平均每天会发送或接收109.5条信息，而成年人（18岁及以上）用户平均每天发送或接收的信息数是41.5条。

对于一个为社交而生的物种来说，这理应是件好事。但是伴随着社交媒体和科技的发展，人们的心理健康状况也在明显下降。2014年，圣地亚哥州立大学的心理学家让·M. 特温格通过对美国各地近七百万青少年和成年人的相关数据进行分析后发现，近年来有抑郁症状的人数要比上世纪80年代多。特别是青少年人群，他们现在患有睡眠问题的几率要比以前高74%，而青少年去咨询心理健康问题专家的几率是之前的两倍。2016年世界卫生组织发布的一份资料简报显示，抑郁症已经是目前全球范围内导致身心障碍的主要因素，并影响着全世界3.5亿人的生活。

当然还有很多干扰因素推动着这个全球性的趋势，但的确有初步研究将抑郁症和社交媒体的使用联系起来。在2014年的一项研究中，社会心理学家发现人们在使用脸书后会感到精神低落的另外一个原因：他们觉得之前花在脸书上的时间是没有意义的。

作为社会性的动物，我们在很大程度上是通过人际交往所创造的社会与文化环境来找到自身存在的目的和意义并改善我们的情感状态的。在童年时期的关键发展阶段中，缺乏恰当的人际交往会导致严重的情感与心理问题。

社交媒体对其他基本的心理需求也会产生影响——包括我们对于新奇事物的需求。从生物学的角度来说，大脑使我们生来就渴望新奇的事物，而这一特征也帮助人类在灾难性的环境变化中存活了下来。不幸的是，这种天生的渴望在信息时代可能会变得难以控制，因为在当下，每一个超链接，每一条推特、信息，每一封邮件，每一张Instagram照片都会成为我们体验新鲜事物的机会。这种状态就好像一个酒鬼生活在一家酒馆，或者一个巧克力爱好者生活在威利·旺卡的巧克力工厂一样。大量体验新奇事物的机会在让我们感到极度刺激的同时也让我们十分疲惫。

那么人类想要体验奖励的需求又发挥着怎样的作用呢？我们知道人类喜欢——或者说是非常喜欢——能够让大脑分泌神经递质多巴胺的活动。人类进化鼓励我们通过刺激多巴胺来进行延续物种的活动，因为多巴胺让我们感到快乐。但是我们也发现，数字刺激同样可以让我们感到非常愉悦，并且它与刺激多巴胺奖励通道的原理是相似的。endprint

所以，现代数字技术暴露了人类对社交、奖励和新奇事物这些相互渗透的需求的弱点，它将会把我们带到何方呢？简单来说，它会使我们上瘾，或者至少可能会让我们变得容易沉迷于电子设备。很多成年人和孩子已经养成了强迫性发短信和刷社交媒体的习惯，因为这样的行为能够满足我们对于新奇事物的渴望，并且可以刺激我们的多巴胺奖励通道。而且像瘾君子一样，这些人如果远离了电子设备，就会像进入戒毒期一样（难受）。

1. flail： 猛击，猛打。

2. psychiatric： 精神病的，精神病治疗的。

3. gravitate toward： 受吸引，移向；overachiever： / 超等优秀生。

4. blindside： 出其不意地打击。

5. ostensibly： 表面上地；Google Classroom：谷歌教室，一种可以帮助老师快速布置任务和接受反馈的程序。

6. Trojan horse：“特洛伊木马”，来自希腊典故。希腊联军久攻特洛伊未果，因而假装撤退，只留下一具巨大的中空木马，特洛伊的守军将木马作为战利品运回城里。到了夜晚，木马腹中暗藏的希腊士兵打开城门，最终特洛伊沦陷。后人用“特洛伊木马”这一典故比喻潜藏内部的颠覆分子，也被引申用来比喻“害人的礼物”。

7. raunchy： 淫秽的，下流的；Minecraft：《我的世界》，一款高自由度沙盒游戏，玩家可以在单人或多人模式中通过摧毁或创造方块以创造各种各样的建筑物。

8. without issue： 原指无子女，这里指没有后续问题。

9. hardwired： 天生的，（能力、方法、活动类型等）基本固定的。

10. bolster： 增强，改善。

11. novelty： 新奇事物；neophilia： // 對新奇事物的喜爱，喜新癖。

12. be primed for： 为……预先准备好的；cataclysmic： // 灾难性的。

13. Willy Wonka： 威利·旺卡，是电影《查理和巧克力工厂》的主人公，此处Willy Wonkas指他的巧克力工厂；hyperstimulating： 过度刺激的。

14. neurotransmitter： 神经递质，在神经细胞间或向肌肉传递信息的化学物质；dopamine： // 多巴胺，一种传递兴奋及开心信息的神经递质，和人的情欲、感觉有关。

15. incentive： 动机，刺激；tickle： n. 使人发痒、感到愉悦的东西，下段中则作动词解。

16. play off： 使……暴露弱点；intersecting： 相互交叉的。

17. compulsive： 难以控制的，禁不住的；predilection：// 喜好，嗜好；quench： 解（渴）。

18. withdrawal： 戒毒（或脱瘾）期。endprint