The Addiction Concept and Technology: Diagnosis,Metaphor, or Something Else? A Psychodynamic Point of View

Many today suffer from an imbalance between life and life on the screen. When extreme, such as excessive gaming, clinicians retreat to familiar explanations, such as “Internet addiction.” But the addiction concept is of limited value, limiting both research and treatment options. This article discusses an alternative. Pathological overuse is seen as a failed solution in which people become entrapped by technology's promise of delivering that which only life can offer, such as the grand adventure simulated in World of Warcraft. A two‐part treatment approach of such “simulation entrapment” is described in which both the original problem and the entrapment are treated, the former by traditional psychodynamic psychotherapy and the later by highlighting differences between the technologically mediated experience and traditional experiences of being bodies together. The case of a college student suffering from pathological shame with excessive gaming as the failed solution is offered as an illustration.     

Internet Information on Heart Disease in Men

Summary

Finding information on heart disease in men might seem as easy as logging on to a favorite search engine, finding the right category, and perusing the available links. However, in trying several prominent search engines, this turned out not to be the case. One important reason for the lack of information is that heart disease has declined 60% since 1950. Nevertheless, heart disease is still the leading killer among men. An advanced search on a search engine (heart disease as a phrase and man or men) still yields an unwieldy number of pages, about 90,000. In an effort to bridge this gap, the author examines a number of governmental, organizational, and consumer Web sites containing high-quality information on heart disease.     

Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Internet

Abstract

Access to quality information on the Internet for health care situations can be problematic. Currently there is a tremendous wealth of practice guidelines available over the Internet. The Institute of Medicine defines practice guidelines as systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances. This article discusses the role of practice guidelines in health care decision making, and highlights some of the practice guidelines that are available over the Internet.     

A systematic review of IT for diabetes self-management: Are we there yet?

BackgroundRecent advances in information technology (IT) coupled with the increased ubiquitous nature of information technology (IT) present unique opportunities for improving diabetes self-management. The objective of this paper is to determine, in a systematic review, how IT has been used to improve self-management for adults with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.MethodsThe review covers articles extracted from relevant databases using search terms related information technology and diabetes self-management published after 1970 until August 2012. Additional articles were extracted using the citation map in Web of Science. Articles representing original research describing the use of IT as an enabler for self-management tasks performed by the patient are included in the final analysis.ResultsOverall, 74% of studies showed some form of added benefit, 13% articles showed no-significant value provided by IT, and 13% of articles did not clearly define the added benefit due to IT. Information technologies used included the Internet (47%), cellular phones (32%), telemedicine (12%), and decision support techniques (9%). Limitations and research gaps identified include usability, real-time feedback, integration with provider electronic medical record (EMR), as well as analytics and decision support capabilities.ConclusionThere is a distinct need for more comprehensive interventions, in which several technologies are integrated in order to be able to manage chronic conditions such as diabetes. Such IT interventions should be theoretically founded and should rely on principles of user-centered and socio-technical design in its planning, design and implementation. Moreover, the effectiveness of self-management systems should be assessed along multiple dimensions: motivation for self-management, long-term adherence, cost, adoption, satisfaction and outcomes as a final result.     

Cybersecurity for Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices: What Should You Know?

Medical devices have been targets of hacking for over a decade, and this cybersecurity issue has affected many types of medical devices. Lately, the potential for hacking of cardiac devices (pacemakers and defibrillators) claimed the attention of the media, patients, and health care providers. This is a burgeoning problem that our newly electronically connected world faces. In this paper from the Electrophysiology Section Council, we briefly discuss various aspects of this relatively new threat in light of recent incidents involving the potential for hacking of cardiac devices. We explore the possible risks for the patients and the effect of device reconfiguration in an attempt to thwart cybersecurity threats. We provide an outline of what can be done to improve cybersecurity from the standpoint of the manufacturer, government, professional societies, physician, and patient.     

Friendship 2.0: Adolescents' experiences of belonging and self-disclosure online

This study explores the role that digital media technologies play in adolescents' experiences of friendship and identity. The author draws on findings from in-depth interviews with 32 adolescents (15 girls, 17 boys) ages 13–18 (M = 15.5 years) attending one of seven secondary schools in Bermuda. The adolescents were asked to describe the nature of their online exchanges with friends and the value they ascribe to these conversations. A thematic analysis of their responses revealed that online peer communications promote adolescents' sense of belonging and self-disclosure, two important peer processes that support identity development during adolescence. At the same time, the unique features of computer-mediated communication shape adolescents' experiences of these processes in distinct ways. Gender and age differences show that adolescents' online peer communications are not uniform; the characteristics that distinguish adolescents offline also shape their online activities.     

Web Resources for Information About Providers and Facilities

Abstract

Health care consumers often need information about the quality of health services provided by specific facilities and health professionals. A growing number of Web sites are meeting consumers' needs for quality-related information. These sites offer a wide array of information, ranging from traditional directory information to comparative data and records of personal experiences. This paper provides a selective review of Web sites that offer information on the quality of health services delivered by specific physicians and facilities in the United States.     

网络对大学生性行为影响研究

网络是现代科学技术的进步带来的一种新生活方式.网络的广泛普及和快速发展使人类生活发生了巨大的变化,并深刻的影响着当代人的心理和行为.当代大学生作为新生事物的引领者和追随者,已经成为网民的重要组成部分.网络对大学生的价值观、行为方式、身心健康与人格培养都带来了巨大的影响和冲击,而这其中就包括对大学生性行为的影响.本文对大学生的性行为现状作了归纳和总结,把网络对大学生的影响做了辩证、理性的分析,提出了应对网络对大学生性行为产生影响的对策.     

Ecological momentary interventions for depression and anxiety

Ecological momentary interventions (EMIs) are becoming more popular and more powerful resources for the treatment and prevention of depression and anxiety due to advances in technological capacity and analytic sophistication. Previous work has demonstrated that EMIs can be effective at reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as related outcomes of stress and at increasing positive psychological functioning. In this review, we highlight the differences between EMIs and other forms of treatment due to the nature of EMIs to be deeply integrated into the fabric of people's day-to-day lives. EMIs require unique considerations in their design, deployment, and evaluation. Furthermore, given that EMIs have been advanced by changes in technologies and that the use of behavioral intervention technologies for mental health has been increasing, we discuss how technologies and analytics might usher in a new era of EMIs. Future EMIs might reduce user burden and increase intervention personalization and sophistication by leveraging digital sensors and advances in natural language processing and machine learning. Thus, although current EMIs are effective, the EMIs of the future might be more engaging, responsive, and adaptable to different people and different contexts.