Discomgoogolation is a new kind of malady suffered by internet addicts. High level stress caused by internet dependency is discomgoogolation. Electronic addiction has created a new phobia called discomgoogolation, which means stress experienced at being unable to access the Internet. According to psychologists, "discomgoogolation" is a feeling of distress or anxiety when unable to gain immediate information access. Discomgoogolation is a feeling of anxiety when you are used to immediate information access as by Googling to look up some information, and are unable to 'google.'
British psychologists found that their brain activity and blood pressure increased markedly when they were disconnected. They decided to name this phenomenon, "discomgoogolation." Scientists looking to explain how the advent of the internet has changed how humans store information coined another term called Google Effect. According to them, people may not retain information that they know they can easily find on the internet, and they’re more likely to remember where they found the information, such as an internet site where they can access the information again if needed.
Discomgoogolation is also called 'Doogled' for short, for this condition affecting internet users. It is very similar to technophobia. Psychologists studying the high stress levels caused by internet dependency have also dubbed the phenomenon discomgoogolation. Nomophobe is someone who fears being without a smartphone, emailaholic suffers from anxiety when unable to access the emails and now we have discomgoogolation.
A galaxy of information is just a mouse click away and we have become addicted to the web leading to maladies such as discomgoogolation. When you feel hopeless, miserable or stressed when you are unable to get online, then you could be very well suffering from a malady known now as discomgoogolation.
In a discomgoogolation study the stress of being disconnected is equivalent to that of running half-an-hour late for a key meeting, being about to sit for an important exam, or being sacked. It was surprising to see the stress this led to in brain activity and blood pressure in participants. When stress levels of the participants suffering from discomgoogolation were measured with heart and brain monitors, men were found to suffer most when denied access to the net in the evenings while women were found to be discomgoogolated when they cannot get online during the day.
Psychologist Dr David Lewis, working with a YouGov study of more than 2000 British Internet users, discovered that some 76 percent of them readily admitted that they could not live without the Internet. Dr Lewis wraps this all up within his newly identified phenomena of discomgoogolation. He defines this as being the "feeling of distress or anxiety when unable to gain immediate information access." Friday emerged as the most stressful day to suffer discomgoogolation as it prevents people planning their weekends using the search engine Google, the study found. 44 per cent of Britons suffer from discomgoogolation, according to a survey, with 27 percent of them admitting to rising stress levels when they are unable to go online.
Discomgoogolation, Dr Lewis contends, is impacting upon even casual British users who have become entirely dependent upon the Internet as their primary source of information. "The proliferation of Broadband has meant for the first time in history we have entered a culture of instant answers" Dr Lewis explains, adding "when unable to get online, Discomgoogolation takes over." The Google effect is also referred to as digital amnesia, which refers not only to pieces of information that can be found on the internet but also information that is accessible on digital gadgets. For example, fewer people retain the memory of phone numbers of friends and family now that they can be easily accessed on cellphones.