I agree that there are addictive personality types ( I always think of a friend of mine who got addicted to carrot juice...) I also suspect its related to gut health, (schizophrenia has links to gut health, as do spectrum disorders, depression and many other psychologically manifested conditions). I also agree that because of this, anything can be addictive, for some worse than others, and that older technology was designed to be addictive in the same way as current technology (I noticed the insidious effect of 'waiting for the next episode' television had on me and others, to which i find binge watching the perfect antidote-for this reason I am particularly grateful for the ability to binge watch nowadays. Instead of devoting an entire two years to 'waiting for the next episode', i get it out of my system in 2-3 weeks ) Celebrities also function as a kind of drug, and peoples' obsessions with the lives of celebrities never ceases to amaze me. I also agree that a life that is imbalanced in any number of ways will incline a person to destructive addiction more so than others -the daily school grind comes to mind...not to mention unsatisfying work, or basically anything that disempowers a person.
But the difference with today's technology, versus any other kind of addictive substance/behavior its sheer availability, and our sheer dependency because of its manifold uses.
Thats why I think it needs a new category, and a new analytical tools.
In the meantime, Im constantly caught on how to act when it comes to my kids' use. Im caught wondering whether their 'excessive' use (how is 'excessive' defined?) is damaging their eyes or brains in any way, although I'm impressed with how much they learn from their devices. (My son has learned some Russian and Finnish, and his accent is great! He knows a few national anthems of different countries...etc. Stuff I would never have known at his age. He's got a good knowledge of history from binge watching youtube...)
Here's an example of what I suspect, but have no proof, is the impact of screen use on my oldest son's brain-he has trouble following detailed verbal information...yet his visual processing abilities are off the charts-he knows the world map in great detail-when not on a screen he studies his atlas, knows almost every flag of a 'country recognized by the UN',...in short, the visual processing that screens require has been strengthened, whilst his auditory processing, not required by screens, significantly weakened.
Was he born that way? Or is he a child of his times?