Internet started way back 3 to 4 decades, but it really took the world by storm through the 90's and till now it has become one of the main assets of modern day computer user. More people get the information through Internet, especially those who use it than by any other means. The world has become a cyber village where simply anyone from anywhere can communicate with other person living absolutely thousands of miles away either through voice communication, chat, email. People can buy online from the different portals, web sites through their cards because of Internet. All in all, Internet has for sure changed the lives of millions if not billions. Life without it would be chaotic for those who use it and take if for granted.
Even though life without would be unthinkable without the Internet, there are some ingredients because of which it has stigmatized itself. Most of the time, you will find people wasting there time on the Internet, just for the sake of killing time or having fun. For example, chatting is an activity on the net; once you get hooked to it then the chances are that you will spend hours on it and this will become a daily routine.
Internet Addiction
Internet addiction (also known as 'pathological Internet
use')1 is a disorder that affects millions of Internet users throughout the world. Often, people joke about being addicted to the Net, but most people don't realize that there are people out there who are essentially slaves to their computers. Often times they miss work or school, spend hours and hours online, carry on extramarital cyber sex affairs, and participate in various online activities that end
Internet Addiction 2
up affecting their own offline worlds. Make no mistake about it, Internet addiction is real, and chances are good that someone you know has it.
What is Internet Addiction?
In the mid- 1990's people became fascinated with the Internet (What is Internet Addiction? Davis A.
Richard) 2. All of the sudden, information was available on any topic imaginable. It was as if someone collected all of the world's knowledge, put it together on an easy-to-use interface, and handed it to anyone who wanted it. With so much information at our fingertips, it is no astonishing phenomenon that some users couldn't seem to get enough.
For hours on end, these people would sit at their computers and breathe in the entire universe of knowledge. This behavior has even been called Information Masturbation.
As the content increased and the number of things one could actually do increased dramatically, people began to display symptoms of is now called "Internet addiction." The term was actually coined by Psychiatrist
Ivan Goldberg in 1996 as a joke on an e-mail listserv. He adapted the criteria for alcohol dependence to fit behaviors associated with the Internet. Some psychologists recognized that there were patients that actually displayed these symptoms, and began to study the condition in terms of a real psychiatric disorder. Over the next five years, the number of Internet users grew exponentially, and so did the number of people who had symptoms of Internet addiction.
While there is still controversy about whether Internet
addiction is real or not, experts have successfully argued
Internet Addiction 3
that since the behavior exists, it must be recognized and treated accordingly.
What are the symptoms of Internet addiction?
Internet addiction (What is Internet Addiction?
Davis A. Richard) 2, also known as pathological Internet use, is a psychiatric condition that involves both pathological behaviors and maladaptive cognitions. The symptomatic behaviors include: academic/work or interpersonal problems, neglecting friends, family, and job or personal responsibilities, withdrawal when away from the Internet, irritability when attempting to stop using the Internet, staying online more than originally intended, lying or concealing how much time you spend online, drastic lifestyle changes in order to spend more time online, a general decrease in physical activity, disregard for one's health as a result of Internet activity, and sleep deprivation or a change in sleep patterns in order to spend time on the net.
Cognitions are essentially (What is Internet
Addiction? Davis A. Richard) 2 thought patterns. In Internet
addiction, people not only behave differently than what
society would consider 'normal,' they also think differently from the average individual. They have obsessive thoughts about the Internet, diminished impulse control, and feel as though the Internet is their only friend. There is the feeling that the Internet is the only place where they feel good about themselves and the world around them. Other symptoms include thinking about the Internet while offline, anticipating future time online, and spending large of Internet Addiction 4
amounts of money on Internet time and other such expenses. The person spends less time doing otherwise pleasurable...
Internet Addiction It is thought that nearly five million people today are addicted to the Internet. With that many people experiencing addiction symptoms, it is important for the mental health community to develop methods of treatment. In an article in the March-April 1998 issue of Psychology Today, author Carol Potera explores the questions and realities of online use and addictions. Although use of the Internet became common in the early 1990s, it
Paradoxical as it might seem the Internet, which is being touted as a broad socializing medium is silently causing social isolation among some of the users. In some countries like Korea and China, increasing number of adolescents are addicted to online gaming portals seriously damaging their personal and social lives. Internet addiction related deaths in these countries has forced the governments to take a new regulatory approach to managing
How often do you lose sleep due to late-night log-ins? 15. How often do you feel preoccupied with the Internet when off-line, or fantasize about being online? 16. How often do you find yourself saying "just a few more minutes" when on- line? 17. How often do you try to cut down the amount of time you spend online and fail? 18. How often do you try to hide how long you've been online? 19.
At the same time, irrespective of age, race, and gender, a group of people become overly aggressive and obsessive in making frequent use of the Internet, who tend to relegate other activities in order to browse the Internet. Traditionally, television consumed a much bigger portion of people's time than newspapers; however, with the use of the Internet, there has been a massive change. Not only television use has become down,
4. Solutions From the above discussion we can deduce that Internet addiction is not just another popular from of 'hype' but is a serious condition that is need of solutions. As awareness of the disorder becomes more prevalent so do the number of proposed solution and techniques to combat this problem. One possible solution suggested by medical practitioners begins with the realization of the addiction; in other words, the first step is
IAD on today's society, and attempt to outline how an individual with IAD can help overcome the limitations of the disorder. First, IAD is defined, and its impact on society, as a whole, is discussed. The warning signs and symptoms of IAD are then outlined. Second, the methodology of a survey designed to study Internet usage patterns is outlined. A thorough review of the relevant literature on IAD is summarized,
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