Parents need to be good role models and be consistent in setting rules, he said. For example, it is not good for parents to declare that dinner time is a “cell phone free” time and then proceed to check emails during meals. If parents take technology out of their children’s bedrooms to promote good sleep hygiene, they should abide by these rules as well. 

Companies research to find the “flow zone” sweet spot where "the challenge matches the skill level of the player and exceeded by a little to drive the player to keep playing on and on and on," he said.

In May 2019, the World Health Organization made video game addiction an official mental health disorder but only a year later, "they launched a major campaign called #PlayApartTogether, promoting gaming as one of the ways of combating COVID-19," said Lavounis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this issue. As the majority of activities have moved from in-person to virtual, this opens the door to those susceptible to technology addiction, explained Levounis.

Soon, the focus shifts from generating feelings of pleasure and reward to being an activity they do to avoid feeling anxious, irritable or miserable.  

"There are quite a lot of situations where somebody will suffer from both a technological addiction and some other psychiatric disorder, like depression or anxiety," said Levounis.

China recently banned children from playing online games for more than three hours a week, internet addiction centers have been opening in the United States and Facebook has come under fire for teenagers’ obsessive use of its Instagram app.

According to the Pew Research Center, about 30% of Americans are almost constantly online, which is an increase of 10% from 2015. Health officials are growing concerned about the amount of time children and adults spend with technology.