My boss recently commented
that I am often on social media and warned me about being influenced by
online trends, but also added that I should always put work first while
in the office. However, he does not have a problem with my work in
general. I really feel out of touch if I don’t get into social media
once every hour. Should I worry about this?
Your question raises a number of issues that, on close examination, seem contradictory or confusing.
On
the one hand you tell us that your boss has no problem with your work
and on the other you tell us of his warning you about being influenced
by online trends.
One of the questions crying out for
answers relates to the fact that your boss has expressed concerns about
you being influenced. Because this comes by way of a warning, it is
possible that the boss is not telling you all that is in his mind and
there could well be more in his concern than you are able to perceive at
this stage. Are you sure you understand him?
If for no
other reason, it would be wise not only to take note of the expressed
concerns but to look deeper firstly into yourself but also into the
general relationships you might have at the work place.
Starting
with you, have you considered the possibility that you are indeed
addicted to social media and that your boss is worried about you and
your health in general? Do you have other behavioural problems?
To help you understand, let us look at some common
features of addiction, which apply, whether one is thinking about
addiction to alcohol, heroin, sex or even bhang.
In
addiction medicine, we first of all look at the compulsive nature of the
act of addiction. The person addicted to alcohol for example loses
control over its use. His consumption of alcohol is no longer under his
control, and he has no power to decide whether to drink or not. The
totality of his being and existence is taken over by the alcohol. It is
for this reason that lectures by well meaning parents, spouses, priests
and doctors fall on deaf ears. In this sense, addiction is a true
disease and not a fact of loss of will power. How much control do you
have over your use of social media? Do you even feel compelled by an
inner force to sign up?
The other component of
addiction is the fact of dependence to the substance of abuse. A person
addicted to heroin for example feels “normal” only when he has taken it.
In a sense, his body has changed fundamentally and he feels well only
when he is full of drugs.
Without heroin, the person
feels abnormal and gets withdrawal symptoms. When he gets symptoms of
withdrawal, he must get a “fix” to feel normal. For the heroin addict,
the features of withdrawal are self treated by either injecting or
taking a sniff of heroin.
For the removal of doubt (and
to be strictly correct), let me state that the only addictions
recognised by specialists are drugs and gambling. There is, however,
extensive use of the term in lay language and addiction to social media
is a commonly applied term.
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