“As a virtual-meetings facilitator, virtual facilitation trainer, and maker of digital graphic movies, I spend a lot of time in the Despondent Pit of Techno Despair. This sometimes surprises people because I generally seem to have a handle on technology. But think about it: I do a lot more walking along the edge of the Pit than most people do. It stands to reason that I’ll fall in fairly often.”   Rachel Smith

“Do you have Digiphrenia? Techno-Despair? Now there’s a word for it – I used to call it Techno-Despair – but Digiphrenia is all about coping with information overload. Is this in the DSM V? Not sure yet.”   Lisa Wessan

“I’ve found that when I’m very upset, it’s as if I’ve become a poltergeist. Everything around me seems to break. Answering machine. Printer. Clocks. Lightbulbs. Toaster. Garbage disposal. One by one they go down; my angst seems to jam their circuits. Your emotional energy, especially anger and frustration, may also disrupt appliances and technology. If so, pinpointing the link lets you contain potential mayhem.”   Judith Orloff, M.D.

Many people in the world are confused and in the midst of an emotional meltdown says well-known Energy Psychiatrist Judith Orloff. We are conscious of the fact that many of us are addicted to the adrenaline rush of anxiety known as the “fight or flight response.” Some of us have learned numerous techniques to diffuse it; however, there are still some of us who are suffering.

Judith was the one who coined the term techno-despair. Yes, it’s a thing. “It’s a state of high anxiety that results from information overload and internet addiction. It’s also related to our super-dependence on smart phones, and the panic of feeling disconnected if technology breaks down and we can’t access emails or other communications — a new version of what’s psychiatrically known as an ‘attachment disorder.’ ” (POSITIVE ENERGY) Judith has helped many of her patients address the adverse effects of techno-despair such as insomnia, ongoing angst and restless sleep. She has found that it is possible to break the addiction to anxiety and to lead a more peaceful life.

In “Psychology Today” magazine (2011) Judith gives us a helpful quiz we can use to help determine our level of addiction to anxiety. Ask yourself:

(1) Do I worry about many things every day?

(2) Is it difficult to stop watching anxiety provoking news on TV or the internet, though I try?

(3) Do I experience separation anxiety when I can’t access my smart phone or computer?

(4) Do I make problems larger, not smaller?

(5) Do I worry about things that no one around me worries about?

(6) When one anxiety is solved, do I immediately focus on another?

If you answered yes to all 6 questions then worry plays a very large, addictive role in your life. Four to five yeses indicates a large role. Two to three yeses indicates a moderate role. One yes indicates a low level. Zero yeses indicates that you are more “warrior” than “worrier.”

If you are a worrier, Judith offers you 7 strategies to help you attain emotional freedom.

(1) Eliminate caffeine and sugar and other stimulants that feed the fight or flight response.

(2) Avoid people who reinforce your fear. These are the “emotional vampires.”

(3) Stay away from violent newscasts, arguments, the internet, paying bills and any other stress inducers, especially before sleep.

(4) Set healthy limits and boundaries. To combat stress, it’s important to know that “no” is a complete sentence.

(5) Pause when agitated. Make this vow. “I will never have a conversation with someone, send an email, or make a decision when gripped by anxiety.” Do not act until you have gained calm and composure.

(6) Use the progressive relaxation technique of tensing and then relaxing your various muscles throughout your body. Start with   your toes and then move slowly through your entire body: calves, legs, stomach, back, neck, jaw, face. Contract, hold to count of ten… relax.

(7) Stay in the NOW. Try not to project negative scenarios about your future. Stay solution-oriented in the present moment and focus on what you are grateful for.

Unfortunately, it has become reality for many that “the quicksand of technology – the reality of how it really works and how we respond to it – is rewiring our brain and our hearts.” (CHILDREN OF THE FIFTH WORLD) P.M.H. Atwater discusses the challenges and the solutions. For kids she suggests we “model down. Don’t expose infants and toddlers to technology, and from ages three to six, limit exposure to less than two hours per day. Increase slowly after that until puberty.”

We all know that there are many miraculous positive benefits to our ‘new’ technology. However, we need to be cognizant that we each have the power of choice as to if and how much we employ it. This awareness of choice is how we can empower ourselves to avoid or decrease our episodes of techno-despair.

Scientists have discovered the way that the brain reacts to the radiant light from television and computer monitors. After only a few minutes of exposure the brain nods off. The entertainment industry (says Atwater) counters this with “startle effects” (unexpected sounds and actions) to ‘trick’ the brain into paying attention; however, the brain then zones past false alarms into a hypnotic state and that makes bigger and bigger startles necessary. Atwater reports that even kid’s cartoons and family shows average 16 startles per 30 minutes. Since, as we all know, the most employed startle is violence which initiates the fight or flight response, the heart and emotions are thrown into overdrive and the body is flooded with the stress hormone cortisol.

Sadly, research shows that most children have watched between 5-6,000 hours of television by the age of 5 or 6. Atwater warns us that this type of massive, no let-up, overstimulus is causing maladaption of the brain. A German study (over 20 years and with 4,000 kids) found that two-thirds of these kids lost the ability to detect shadings of colour, 20% had a reduction of awareness of the natural world and also showed a tendency toward anxiety/boredom/violence when deprived of their high-density stimuli. Disney no longer makes traditional films (they announced that in 2010) and goes instead for maximum startles warns Atwater. (page 53)

Atwater (distinguished researcher) shows us that from 2009 onwards the type of entertainment most people prefer is violence. Seventy per cent favour violence. “If you don’t believe me note that Piranha 3D, a bloody summer 2010 thriller, raked in megabucks… and not because it was clever and funny.” Obviously there are lightworkers around the world (some in my own family!) who are working to counter this by writing comedies and clever, witty and intelligent scripts and books and I am writing positive message books for children, so please send us some good vibes to help us along. We need support! We require an audience for non-violent material.

What is going on, in a general sense, regarding techno-despair? Children are being exposed too early. “Too much too soon often results in shorter attention spans, less exercise, superficial relationships, less of self-control and sustained thought, hearing loss (from volume and duration of sounds delivered via earbuds and headphones), fried brain cells from cell phones held too close to the head, isolation, sleep disorders, shallowness, plagiarism, disrupted hormones, obesity, and a fear of silence.” One of the effects is decreasing empathy and we cannot move into 5D without empathy!

In my practice at Awakening Spirit I often assist clients many decades younger than myself. Each of these young lightworkers are amazing people with great intelligence, innate empathy, healing skills and artistic gifts and quantum powers (sometimes undeveloped, but always there). However, I have observed with a few of them that they really struggle to focus. I believe this is due to what we have been discussing above. They have become experts at multitasking and have difficulty focusing on one thing at a time. I work with these young people ( assisted by my Angels & guides & ascended masters) to slow down, get over their fear of silence and solitude so they can safely and consciously enter the doorway into the various realms of Spirit (which is their goal) in a way that is chosen by them and not thrust upon them by energies that are negative or trickster. My Angels and I consciously offer a spiritual healing balm for the addictive qualities of our electronic world.

Those of us who are waking up in 5D are conscious of the need to help children attain balance so they are able to make choices regarding how much or how little technology they wish to employ in their own lives. Obviously, getting off the electronic grid is unrealistic for most of us who need to be part of it to make our living. However, we can encourage children and adults to mitigate the adverse effects of techno-despair and digiphrenia by encouraging more time outdoors in the natural world. Long walks in nature, caring for an animal companion, learning to meditate, signing up for things such as Tai Chi, Yoga, Qi Gong and putting away electronics at dinner and substituting conversation and plenty of free, unscheduled time to play and daydream goes a long way towards eliminating or decreasing the symptoms of overload and overstimulus. While the new 5D way of life does emphasize “we” over “I”, this does not need to mean being swept up to the degree that we hand over our destiny to others. We seek emotional health and freedom. Freedom from a group mentality that has crippled so many intuitive and creative people in ages past.

Love & Light,   Monica    www.monicahemstock.ca