Electrified Mind

Salman Akhtar, MD, is professor of psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College and training and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia.

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..

• AcknowledgmentsChapter 1 The Cell Phone-Internet Lexicon: Overview and ImplicationsChapter 2 Minds on Media: Young People and Mental Health in the Internet AgeChapter 3 The Epidemic of Information: Pros and ConsChapter 4 Cyberspace, Transitional Space and Adolescent DevelopmentChapter 5 Cyberplay: The Pros and Cons of a 'Macrosphere'Chapter 6 Reality in Cyberspace: Patients' Use of the Internet and Ordinary Everyday PsychosisChapter 7 Preoedipal Paradise in the World of the WebChapter 8 The Electronic Couch: Some Observations About Skype TreatmentChapter 9 Separation, Sex, Superego, and SkypeChapter 10 Multiple Meanings of the 'Electrified Mind': A Concluding CommentaryReferencesAbout the Editor and Contributors