Is internet addiction real?
by
Do you spend more time than you think you should surfing the net?
Do you have trouble staying off the internet for prolonged periods of time?
Do you derive much of your pleasure from the net?
If you answered yes to these questions, you might be addicted to the internet.
That according to the internet addiction survey, which you yourself can take.
According to Kimberly Young, clinical director for the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery; 5 to 10 percent of Americans, 15 million to 30 million people, could be addicted to the internet.
Addicted to porn. Addicted to gambling. Addicted to EBAY. Addicted to chat rooms. Addicted to delving deeper into the interminable depths of cyber space.
Christian Grantham is one of these people.
“Do you think you spend more time than you think you should surfing the net?”
“Yes,” he answers without hesitation.
Grantham is an internet producer whose job requires him to surf the net all day long.
“Do you feel you are addicted to the net?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I am consumed with it. When I wake up I have the internet on. I fall asleep with the internet on.”
Grantham says he has an overwhelming, almost unstoppable desire to go on line. He wants to Google everything and ponder the questions of the universe.
“I have an insatiable curiosity. And the net provides answers to everything. Any question. Boom. There is your answer. I love that Google is God. Ask it a question. Boom.”
Grantham reads several of the poll questions aloud:
“Do you spend more time than you think you should surfing the net. Yes.”
“Do you have time limiting your time on the net. Yes.”
“Do you derive pleasure and satisfaction in life from being on the net?”
There is a long soul searching pause.
Finally.
“Hmmmmm, Yes.”
Grantham says his friends and family know he has a deep need to be connected to the net.
“If I have the opportunity to go somewhere, I think about whether there is internet access. When I moved here. The first thing about the property I wanted to know was does it have Comcast cable. Location? Schools? Property taxes? Who cares? Does it have Comcast cable?”
“So you could be on the internet?”
“That is right. That was my number one priority!”
“Is that a problem?”
“It is.”
Grantham’s honesty is eye opening.
“Anywhere I go, I would find access. If it was a vacation, it would annoy people I am on vacation with, but I have to have it.”
“Have friends or family complained about time you spend on your computer.”
“Yes.”
“What do they say?”
“You are spending too much time on your computer. Hey let’s go here. No they don’t have the internet. But you are coming anyway.”
“How does that make you feel?”
“Small. I feel like a pet on a leash, tagging along, but I am just thinking about the internet.”
“So you could be at the beach and you just want to surf the web?”
“I want to go on line and look at the news. I want everything. I want to see the world. Right then and there in the palm of my hand.”
Dr. Peter Martin is a professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He is also the director of the Division of Addiction Medicine and Addiction Psychiatry Training Program in the Vanderbilt Addiction Center.
I ask this expert about internet addiction.
“What we are seeing is more addiction related to an uncertain world.”
Martin is world renowned for his expertise on addiction, but even this giant in his field admits that internet addiction is a new frontier.
“The classic and most common is porn. Gambling is next,” he says. “In general, it is a pre-occupying, repeated, unpredictable set of stimuli that people view over and over and it captivates them and takes them out of the world. the best way to define a problem, when it interferes with your life, the balance of your life, that is, the time you spend time on the net, that takes you away from the life you live. When it comes to work. And Relationships, if they are compromised, then the net is a significant problem.”
When I tell him that some experts estimate the problems affects 10’s of millions across the globe, he says;
“We have no idea how many are involved. this is an area that is relatively new. And trying to understand how it affects society.”
So what should we do?
“IF you think you have a problem. Seek help. I would begin by seeing your doctor, who could refer you to a psychiatrist or psychologist or pastor or social worker, depending on whom is available. If a person spends much time on the net, they could be escaping from stuff in their life that is uncomfortable. I think Talking about it is good.”
If you want more information on internet addiction, the answers are just a Google click away. But if you want a push into the ether of recovery, try these:
http://www.kickporn.com/tools.html
http://psychcentral.com/netaddiction/
Спасибо