The Electrified Mind

Development, Psychopathology, and Treatment in the Era of Cell Phones and the Internet

Contributions by Monisha C. Akhtar, Jerome Blackman, Joanne Cantor, Frederick Fisher, Lana Fishkin, Ralph Fishkin, John Frank, Patricia L. Gibbs, Christine C. Kieffer, Kavita I. Nayar, Ann G. Smolen Edited by Salman Akhtar professor of psychiatry

Publication date:

24 February 2011

Length of book:

186 pages

Publisher

Jason Aronson, Inc.

Dimensions:

240x163mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780765708045

The Electrified Mind helps therapists understand and empathize with patients who rely heavily upon cell phones and the internet for the purposes of self-expression as well as for defensive avoidance of actual interpersonal contact. The chapters by distinguished mental health professionals delineate therapeutic strategies for dealing with the dilemmas that arise in working with children, adolescents, and adults excessively involved with cyberspace at the cost of meaningful human relationships.

Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 The Cell Phone-Internet Lexicon: Overview and Implications
Chapter 2 Minds on Media: Young People and Mental Health in the Internet Age
Chapter 3 The Epidemic of Information: Pros and Cons
Chapter 4 Cyberspace, Transitional Space and Adolescent Development
Chapter 5 Cyberplay: The Pros and Cons of a 'Macrosphere'
Chapter 6 Reality in Cyberspace: Patients' Use of the Internet and Ordinary Everyday Psychosis
Chapter 7 Preoedipal Paradise in the World of the Web
Chapter 8 The Electronic Couch: Some Observations About Skype Treatment
Chapter 9 Separation, Sex, Superego, and Skype
Chapter 10 Multiple Meanings of the 'Electrified Mind': A Concluding Commentary
References
About the Editor and Contributors

This timely volume addresses the impact of modern information technology on the human mind. The incessant company and/or intrusion of cell-phones, the addictive reliance on the internet, and the emergent uses of Skype are brought into consideration to unmask the positive and negative effects of communication technologies on personality development, interpersonal relations, and the conduct of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. The Electrified Mind is on the cutting edge not only of psychodynamic thinking but, more broadly, of our rapidly changing era. This book is informative, engaging,and well worth the read for all health care professionals, parents, teens, and persons interested in the interconnection between our brains, our minds, and our contemporary world..