Technology can leave young adults ‘stuck’

Every second Monday I get tense because I must deliver the topic of next week’s column to my editor at The Vancouver Sun. I check out all the latest psychological literature. I float ideas past my partner. By Tuesday morning I have rejected a dozen ideas and will be left holding a handful. But which to choose? I am deep in ambivalence and I am not alone. I suspect that ambivalence and indecision are increasing in humans and something about life in the 21st century exacerbates it. Ambivalence is a natural state for mentally healthy people. Extreme ambivalence can be a symptom of mental illness such as depression and anxiety. The increase in ambivalence is explained perfectly by Daniel Levitin in his new book, The Organized Mind. His theory is that technology forces us into multitasking — and although we don’t realize it, every aspect of multitasking requires making a decision that we are not aware we are making, but that deplete brain resources. “Do I answer this text message or ignore it? How do I respond to this? How do I file this email? It turns out that decisionmaking is also very hard on your neural resources and that little decisions appear to take up as much energy as big ones. One of the first things we lose is impulse control. This rapidly spirals into a depleted state in which, after making lots of insignificant decisions, we can end up making truly bad decisions about something important,” writes Levitin. To Dr. Carl E. Pickhardt, decision-making is even worse in adolescence, which means teens — who are typically more technologically connected than we are — struggle even more with ambivalence. “All decisions reduce more freedom than they create” and we are forced to live with the consequences, says Pickhardt. What concerns me today is the number of young adults who are “stuck” in this stage, through no fault of their own. Modern life seems to offer fewer good choices to young people. Not enough good jobs. Go to college or university? Still no guarantee you’ll land a good job. Work for a few years as a barista? What happens when I’m 30 and have nothing to put on a CV? Move out? Can’t afford it. Reluctance to make a tough decision may mean missing out on something great — and then we are bedevilled by regret. So what’s the answer? The Center for Motivation and Change in New York City suggests something counter-intuitive: embrace ambivalence, rather than fight it. “When ambivalence is viewed as a natural part of the change process, one to learn from and investigate with curiosity rather than exasperation, the parts of your brain that do best with planning and execution stay more accessible,” says the centre’s Dr. Nicole Kosanke. “Recall the saying about being so mad you see red? The same concept applies to demoralized, hopeless feelings, which make it difficult to think clearly and plan effectively for next steps.”