Coming to Terms with Internet
Addiction
Today’s generation has advanced in
its extent of technological achievements bringing the internet into the hands
of almost everyone. Easily accessible via laptops, tablets, smart phones, and
even television, the Internet is a powerful and almost necessary part of daily
life. However there is a growing and alarming rate of people developing
unhealthy addictions toward daily internet usage. Even with all the glamor and
usefulness of the World Wide Web, the internet can still be a dangerous tool if
not handled correctly and moderately.
Internet addiction is a growing
problem which has been the cause of many social and personal problems. Mustafa
Koc in his research essay, "Internet Addiction And Psychopathology,”
states, “Internet addiction, also described as pathological internet use, is
defined as an individual’s inability to control his or her use of the internet,
which eventually causes psychological, social, school and/or work difficulties
in a person’s life.” (Koc 143) Those who have become addicted to internet
access have gone from controlling their use of the internet to being controlled
by their use. Users are no longer in control and it causes psychological,
social, school and/or work difficulties in a person’s life. Net addiction is
much like other forms of addiction only without the toxin in the blood stream;
it is purely mental. Several types of internet addiction include: sexual addiction
to adult chat rooms or cyber pornography; relationship addiction to online
friendships or affairs that replace real-life situations; extreme compulsions
to online gambling, auctions, or obsessive trading; increasing excess to habitual
web surfing or databases searches; and computer addiction to game playing or
programming. Further problems result from internet addiction such as little
sleep, poor eating habits, limited physical activity, and the disruption of
daily study and the life of the individual (Koc paraphrase). All such problems
come from the overuse of one of the world’s greatest inventions. It is
important to understand the possible problems the internet can bring in order
to avoid them in the future.
Like any habit, the internet can useful but it can also
be overwhelming and easily abused. What may seem like a harmless amount of time
on the internet via smart phone or laptop, can carry on to extended periods of
time locked in an imaginary social environment. Many research studies have gone
into understanding the significance of overusing the internet for personal
pleasure and gain. Internet addiction has been compared to other forms of
addiction. Chou, in his article on the subject explains several results of
spending too much time on the internet, “Tension, anxiety, depression,
withdrawal, guilt, mood swings, etc. or psychic and physical dependence such as
dishonestly, manipulation, irresponsibility, etc. may occur because of Internet
addiction” (4). The internet provides a
certain amount of personal fulfillment and enjoyment. Chou points out that, the
pleasure experience makes people feel happy, content, delighted, and certain
degree of enhancement of self-existence” (6). While there is nothing wrong with
looking for satisfaction and happiness it is important to not over indulge in
the internet any more than the many other habits popular for pleasing the mind.
Time management is a good solution toward the problem of
over extending use of the internet. Since one of the many issues connected with
net addiction is involved with the user’s lack of getting important things
done, it is an indication that the tweaking of priorities is a good solution.
Chien Chou, in his research article, "An Exploratory Study Of Internet
Addiction, Usage And Communication Pleasure,” explains. “Eighty percent of the
respondents indicated at least problems such as failure to manage time, missed
sleep, missed meals. etc., suggesting that such patterns are in fact the norm.
Some respondents reported more serious problems because of Internet use:
trouble with employers or social isolation except for Internet friends; such
troubles are similar to those found in other addictions” (Chou 5).
Psychologists are concerned about the effect of the internet on the mind and
the mental capacity of those given over too much to the computer. The addictions
are powerful and consuming:
“Between
5% and 10% of Web surfers suffer a Web dependency, according to experts like
Maressa Hecht Orzack, director of the Computer Addiction Study Center at
Harvard's McLean Hospital. They experience the same cravings and withdrawal
symptoms as, say, a compulsive gambler waylaid en route to Vegas. She refers
most of her Net-addicted patients to psychiatrists for prescriptions for
antidepressants and anti- anxiety meds.” (Goldman 54)
Understanding the reality
of internet addiction allows people to come to grips with ways of not being
deeply hooked.
Nothing is inherently wrong with getting on the computer
daily to get a task accomplished, whether it be shopping, paying bills, or
simply checking the news. Internet groups full of non-addicted members are just
as frequent as those addicted to the internet. The difference in the amount of
time spent by addicted internet users is vastly outweighs the non-addicted. Mustafa
Koc’s research on social networking yields some information on internet
communities, “Because addicted internet group; preoccupation with internet,
need for longer amounts of time online, repeated attempts to reduce internet
use, withdrawal when reducing internet use, time management issues,
environmental distress (family, school, work, friends) and deception around
time spent online mood modification through Internet use.” (Koc 148)
“The strong influences of computer technology and the
emergence of new varieties of domestic hazards are likely to continue as
computing technology makes further inroads into households.” (Oravec 320) There
is a growing number of computer related technological advances coming out every
year. Everything from the dashboard in the car, to the cell phone and computer
access available through a cable company, provides the internet more readily
than ever before. As the last decade would show to be true, there is much ahead
in regards to internet accessibility. Families become the number one area where
the internet is driving wedges in the home.
A
new form of counseling is forming around the notion of helping those families
having social dysfunctions based on their internet usage. Computers enter the
lives of the family unit and everyone can retreat into their own virtual world
without being forced to interact. JoAnn Oravec, in her article, "Internet
And Computer Technology Hazards: Perspectives For Family Counselling."
States:
“Parents
who bring Internet access into their homes today are encountering a wide range
of problems that the parents of the previous generation did not have to face.
Often, the problems are only partly defined and solutions to the problems are
seemingly unavailable…. In the course of counselling, families as a unit can
gain a better sense of their situations in the context of the large-scale
cultural and economic changes that they and other households are facing, as
well as explore potential solutions.” (320)
Families have the important choices to make in how the
internet will be allowed into the home and into their lives. The more society
begins to box itself into the internet social sphere, the less it tends to
interact in the physical reality. As Jo Ann Orvec points out in her article, “Families
that restrict their definition of neighbor to those with whom they can interact
face-to-face may thus deprive themselves of vital interpersonal resources.
Families are also receiving more of the assistance they need for their healthy
functioning through the Internet, either through websites, support, or on-line
counselling.” (311) When it comes to needing a helpful hand from a neighbor, it
is more common to post for the need on a message board than to walk down the
road and ask. The internet makes getting out and getting to know people in
person much more uncommon.
Social networking is not really as new a term as it
sounds when it is used in the context of the internet. Groups of people have
been networking socially since their beginning. Interactions may have included
written notes back and forth between parties as writing became popular, but in
the modern era everything is digitally typed and electronically mailed. Emre
Cam, and Isbulan Onur in their paper, "A New Addiction For Teacher
Candidates: Social Networks" explain, “Social network applications now
provide communication only and intend to meet almost all the requirements of
the users by use of many branches such as games, knowledge acquisition and
searching. Thus, people who can find almost everything they look for on a social
network will not need another tool” (14). Finding information online has become
so much easier than going out and looking for that information personally.
Attaining knowledge firsthand becomes a great deal more difficult.
Studies over internet social networking sites and
personal excitement levels have shown how much mental pleasure the internet
brings. There is a direct link to how being noticed online makes the person
feel good and important. Often the simple acknowledgement of a post on a social
site is enough to make the author feel excitement. “Users, even though they
think that they will socialize by sharing notifications, become unsocial and
prone to avoiding real social relations because they are prevented from the
time that the brain has made for socialization.” (Cam 15) Mentally the mind is
so wrapped up around the idea of virtual satisfaction and acceptance it clings
toward the internet sphere as a place of connection and rest. “The fact that an
addict who does not keep in touch with his own relatives says “hello” to those
on his friend-list every morning and converses with them, trying to solve their
problems points to a serious contradiction.”
(Cam 15) Serious reflection should be done for everyone taking the use
of the internet social networking world to find friends and keep up with the
latest news and gossip. By itself as a tool these things are fine and useful
but without moderate use the internet can be dangerous.
Resolving the issues of internet addiction are often
based on simply acknowledging the existence of the problem and coming to terms
with ways of avoiding over consumption. “For example, creating and reviewing
time logs of family members’ computer usage is a beginning step in
understanding and resolving problems such as computer addiction and information
overload; these logs expose many patterns and trends that may not immediately
be apparent.” (Oravec 318). Internet use is a vital tool in society all over
the world, and it will only continue to advance in relevance and importance. “The
internet has positive aspects including informative, convenient, resourceful
and fun, but for the excessive internet users, these benefits turn out to be
useless. Most individuals use the internet without negative consequences and
even benefit from it, but some individuals do suffer from negative impacts.”
(Koc)
Internet addiction is a scientifically proven mental
problem which can easily affect anyone who uses a computer daily. It is vital
to the health of every individual to be aware of such a danger as overuse of
social networking, online shopping, and other forms of communication. Making
use of the internet to better the world and one’s own individual life is the
overall goal. Seek the resources of both the virtual and physical worlds
without allowing an over dependence to be built on for either.
Works Cited
Cam,
Emre, and Onur Isbulan. "A New Addiction For Teacher Candidates: Social
Networks." Turkish Online
Journal Of Educational Technology - TOJET 11.3 (2012): 14-19. ERIC. Web. 13 July 2014.
Chou,
Chien, Jung Chou, and Nay-Ching Nancy Tyan. "An Exploratory Study Of
Internet Addiction, Usage And
Communication Pleasure." (1998): ERIC. Web. 13 July 2014.
Goldman,
Lea. "This Is Your Brain On Clicks." Forbes 175.10 (2005): 54.
TOPICsearch. Web. 13 July 2014.
Koc,
Mustafa. "Internet Addiction And Psychopathology." Turkish Online
Journal Of Educational Technology -
TOJET 10.1 (2011): 143-148. ERIC. Web. 13 July 2014.
Oravec, Jo Ann. "Internet And Computer
Technology Hazards: Perspectives For Family Counselling." British
Journal Of Guidance & Counselling 28.3 (2000): 309-24. ERIC.
Web. 13 July 2014.
