Monday, April 4, 2011

Virtually You

Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality by Elias Aboujaoude


Aboujaoude, a California psychiatrist who specializes in obsessive-compulsive disorder, presents perhaps one of the best written books (one of the only?) on the dangers of society's Internet dependence. Although he presents studies and uses some medical terminology, this book is very readable and even enjoyable. He gives real-life examples of the ways in which Internet addiction has affected people--breaking up relationships and pulling people away from reality. He touches on the differences in people's actions online versus offline (the "e-personality" really can be quite different from the offline personality in some cases), and really gives the reader pause to think about how dangerous the Internet can be for our mental health.

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