Are You Suffering From Internet Addiction?
November 16th, 2008Do you spend your entire day surfing the internet and have withdrawl symptoms when offline? Chinese doctors took the first step to give a diagnostic definition of Internet addiction to address medical concerns over psychological problems from Internet overuse.
Symptoms of addiction included yearning to get back online, mental or physical distress, irritation and difficulty concentrating or sleeping. The definition, based on a study of more than 1,300 problematic computer users, classifies as addicts those who spend at least six hours online a day and have shown at least one symptom in the past three months.
They say such persons can seek medical help and counselling and now psychiatrists can easily treat such cases. I am sure a large population is surfing the web over 6 hours daily and showing one of those symptoms. I am sure many of my bloggers friends show these signs of addiction too. Maybe I am also getting addicted to the web, sitting and writing this post on a Sunday evening, though I still try to avoid my blogging time wasting habits.
Wikipedia defines Internet addiction disorder (IAD) into subtypes by activity, such as pornography, overwhelming and immoderate gaming, inappropriate involvement in online social networking sites or blogging, and Internet shopping addiction. They define net compulsions as activities which, if done in person, would normally be considered troublesome, such as compulsive gambling or shopping. Problematic computer use or pathological computer use are accepted descriptions for excessive computer use that interferes with daily life.
Here are some web addiction videos to look out for -
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Comments
Interesting article and videos. Sometimes I wonder if pro bloggers and web developers fit in that scheme, too when they make money online. At least it’s a job but it’s hard to set boundaries when to stop working / reading feeds / watching news.
Best,
Markus
If you ask my wife, yes, I’m addicted. But, I see it as a new way of interacting with media other than just sitting down in front of the TV like most other people do. If you leave your kids dying of hunger while you are just in the computer, then yes is an addiction as bad as any other one, if you rather spend time on the web, than watching TV then it’s just smart.
Interesting videos. now you got me thinking.
Thank goodness I thought it was only me. I try to wean myself off it once in a while but always go back….
This is a good question for many parents to ask of their teen children who spend a lot of time online. The Internet offers an “escape” for many, and I can see how you could get sucked into this addiction.
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