Internet addiction

One of the definitions of addictions says that an addiction is a condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something. Addictions can be healthy, unhealthy, or a mixture of both. If you are fascinated by a hobby, feel devoted to it, would like to spend as much time as possible pursuing it - this could be an outlet for learning, creativity, and self-expression. Even in some unhealthy addictions you can find these positive features. But in truly pathological addictions, the bad outweighs the good, resulting in serious disturbances in one's ability to function in the "real" world. Almost anything could be the target of a pathological addiction - drugs, eating, exercising, gambling, sex, spending, working, etc.
Over the last decades, psychiatrists and psychologists have discovered new addictions which are connected with modern technologies, such as computer, TV, internet, communication technologies. A tendency to spend too much time by using them can turn to a specific kind of addiction. Now, we will talk about four of them, which are perhaps most discussed – internet addiction, mobile phone addiction, TV addiction and computer game addiction.

The World Wide Web is informative, convenient, resourceful, and fun. For some people these benefits are becoming detriments. The most significant factor, which makes Internet so attractive, is socialization – people are talking with each other via e-mail, a discussion forum, chat, playing online games, spending this time exchanging information.

There are to basic attitudes to the question, whether the Internet can become addictive. According to the first one that there is no such thing as internet addiction - getting pleasure out of a computer is not the same as getting pleasure from cocaine or any other drug. According to this opinion people spending too much time online don’t suffer from the Internet addiction but from desire to not want to deal with other problems in their lives. Those problems may be a mental disorder (depression, anxiety), a serious health problem or disability, or relationship problems. Some people also spend too much time reading, and working, and ignore family, friendships, and social activities, but no one says they are addictive.

The second opinion is that the Internet can be addicting. The internet addiction is usually described as an impulse control disorder which does not involve use of an intoxicating drug and is very similar to pathological gambling. Researchers, who represent this approach, speak about phenomenon known as Internet Addiction Disorder – IDA, which could be defined as a psychophysiological disorder involving tolerance; withdrawal symptoms; affective disturbances; and interruption of social relationships.

To be diagnosed as having Internet Addiction Disorder, a person must meet certain criteria as prescribed by the American Psychiatric Association.


Three or more of these criteria must be present at any time during a twelve month period:
1. Tolerance: this refers to the need for increasing amounts of time on the Internet to achieve satisfaction;

2. Withdrawal symptoms: two or more withdrawal symptoms are developing within days to one month after reduction, these include psychomotor agitation (trembling, anxiety; obsessive thinking about what is happening on the Internet; fantasies or dreams about the Internet; voluntary or involuntary typing movements of the fingers);

3. The Internet is often accessed more often, or for longer periods of time than was intended;

4. A significant amount of time is spent in activities related to Internet use ( e.g., Internet books, trying out new web browsers, researching Internet vendors);

5. Important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of Internet use;

6. The individual risks the loss of a significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of excessive use of the Internet.


Other symptoms of internet addiction are:
voluntarily or involuntarily move the fingers as if typing; criticizing by friends, bosses, students, and family members for ignoring social, job, academic, and family duties; using the Internet for longer than they intended; trying to stop or reduce Internet use unsuccessfully because of agitation, anxiety, obsessive thoughts about what they're missing while they're not online; and continuing surfing the Internet despite the problems it fuels, like loss of sleep, relationship conflicts, poor academic or work performance and loss of significant friends and relationships; feelings of restlessness or irritability when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use; and using Internet as a way of escaping problems or relieving feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety or depression.
In the early 1990s, when the growing popularity of commercial providers made the Internet affordable and accessible to anyone with a personal computer and modem, real stories about computer addiction became increasingly common.

Take Judy and Bob, a Seattle couple who were saving to buy their first house--until monthly credit card bills started arriving with $350 charges for online services. Bob was "pissing away all our money on the Internet," says Judy. And soon he was doing likewise to their marriage. Every evening Bob came home from work and headed straight for the computer, he stopped joining Judy for dinner or helping with household chores. At 10 P.M. each night Judy hit the sack, while Bob stumbled to bed some five hours later. Before long he was sucked into cyberspace 40 or 50 hours a week. When it became clear after six months that Bob had chosen his on-line world over his real one, Judy left.

Other example is a story of one woman in who was divorced by her husband because of the enormous amount of time she spent in front of her computer. Her fixation with the Internet apparently caused her to forget to buy food for her children, to take them to their doctor appointments.



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