Are You an Internet Addict?

Fri Nov 3, 2006 7:58AM EST

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I was reading through an AFP report on Yahoo! News that says Serbia is now treating people with Internet addictions. This counseling center considers anyone who is not interested in daily activities with family and friends as a potential Internet addict and looks for other signs such as spending prolonged hours online, turning to virtual friends, and isolation. I'm not sure exactly how they treat Internet addiction, but they say treatment usually lasts one year.

After reading this, I headed over to Net Addiction and took an Internet Addiction Test (IAT) that told me my Internet usage is causing occasional problems in my life. I won't take that test too seriously because my occupation requires me to be online a lot of the time. However, I will keep that in mind next time I choose surfing the web over, er, household chores. Can you blame me?

Internet addiction can be harmful for those who delve into the darker side of the web, such as online gambling, cybersex, online affairs, and online gaming. But how do you know when you or someone you love is addicted to the Internet? When is it time to pull the plug and seek treatment?

Here's a list of common symptoms to watch out for:

1. Lying about how much time is spent online.
2. General decrease of physical activity and social life.
3. Neglecting obligations at home, work, or school to spend time online.
4. Spending too much money on computer equipment or Internet activities.
5. Feeling a constant desire to be online when they're away from the computer.
6. Going online to escape real world problems.
7. Disregarding the emotional or physical consequences of being in front of a computer all day.
8. Denial of the problem.

There is much debate about the reality of Internet addiction. The bottom line is that anything can be harmful when abused. If you find yourself spending more time online than with real people, then plan for some quality time with the family or friends every other day. Find an activity the whole family enjoys and make a date with them.

I personally disconnect completely every weekend and get out of the house so I'm not tempted to check email. I also have movie nights and "Lost" nights during the week, which are a great excuse to turn off the computer. Different things work for different people, so just find something you enjoy and don't hesitate to shut the computer off.

What do you do to escape cyberspace?

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Comments on Are You an Internet Addict?

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  • 1129 Posted by century24ltd on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:21PM EDT Report Abuse

    I AM 15 years on the net now humm and still love it but ITS true i lost many contcts in real life

  • 1130 Posted by lanigelbert on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:56PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have been spending this three months of intensive internet surfing and even chatting. I think I am near to become addicted. Right now, I realise that there are such a lot of worlds to see, such a lot of money to make. And I need sunrise, to be more outdoor, be active, be productive. I miss the summer, I am tired of my computer. Never would I be a slave of cybernet stimulations. Thank you, thank you so much for sharing this article.

  • 1131 Posted by commonrevolution on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:28PM EDT Report Abuse

    Wow. What fear-mongering hype and crap. While a few do actually get addicted to the internet, by and large, most people who spend dramatic ammounts of time on the internet are merely bored in real life, or are anti-social or afraid of being social. This is a problem I have had to deal with my entire adult life, so I know. I also know that if you invite an "internet addict" out for some fun, they will as soon as they finish up what they are doing. Try reading "The Culture of Fear" by Bary Glassner for more info on useless scares, and who benifits from scaring our society. While the book is baiased against guns, it also has some great info on the real roots of nonsense scares like this, or road rage, or of middle class heroin use.

  • 1132 Posted by called_but_chosen on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:16PM EDT Report Abuse

    I KNOW IM ADDICTED. LIKE RIGHT NOW. IM OFF OF WORK. WHY ON EARTH AM I STILL HERE BROWSING THE INTERNET. SO HAPPENED I STUMBLED ACROSS THIS ARTICLE. I WISH I COULD FIND BETTER WAYS TO HELP ME GET OUT OF THIS ADDICTION..I KNOW MOST OF MY ISSUES IS THAT I HAVE NO SOCIAL LIFE. I HAVE NO MAN. LOL. IM PRETTY CONFIDENT IF I HAD MORE OF A SOCIAL LIFE I WOULDNT BE ONLINE AS MUCH. I LOVE GOING OUT I JUST LACK QUALITY FRIENDS. THANKS FOR THE ARTICLE.

  • 1133 Posted by sy_bill on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:52PM EDT Report Abuse

    Obviously I'm addicted...LOL...I responded to this Comment link didn't I?!!! I realized a LONG time ago I'm a "computer addict"; however, if I never have a worse addiction, I'll be fine!!!

  • 1134 Posted by daddyherold on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    !&*@$& YEah I'm addicted....Beats the real world anyday. Porn,Hacking,Torrents,Girls,WebCams,Research, More Porn...Not to Mention Music, Movies, Apps...Ohhh, and don't forget Games galore,Gambling, and Much more for free. And if you don't like it, arrest me and throw me in jail so I can spend 24/7 online in my cell. Hahahaha....20 years from now, everyone will be online...Doing what we think is an addiction....and not by choice. It will be away of Life.....So get use to It...The Addicted one's now will be the Corporate Guru's of the Future.

  • 1135 Posted by lsu_cutie12 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:58PM EDT Report Abuse

    welllllllll if you deny the problem that you really dont have, someone else is bound to think that it is just part of the "symptions". that would suck.

  • 1136 Posted by cyalatta on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:33PM EDT Report Abuse

    I put my family through heck in the height of my internet addiction. The kids were in Elementary school and they had to fend for themselves. I was in and out of chat rooms taking on different roles and personality's... the addiction providing me an unhealthy way to escape my ordinary life. Finally when Yahoo shut down their chat rooms I realized how I had wasted years in the unreal world I had created around me. I have asked my family to forgive me... some have and some haven't. The whole experience has been very difficult.

  • 1137 Posted by please_u_too on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    I am online less than I was previously, but I am handicapped and pretty much stuck at home almost all the time. The only time I get out is to grocery shop or go to the doctor's. I have greatly improved from last year, before I met my fiance. Now I spend more time with him but still tend to get on the computer in the eves, sometimes until the wee hours when he is asleep.

  • 1138 Posted by lsant666 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:58PM EDT Report Abuse

    The internet has become a way of life and...work. It's a wealth of information at cyberspeed. What's the difference between being online and chatting occasionally with friends and being in an office setting and saying the typical "hello's and good morning's" to co-workers or telling a joke to ease office tension? I do see that many people who have spent decades with computers don't appear to be able to deal with people in real life. Balance is key. I would agree that watching t.v. is just as bad, if not worse, because usually the brain is pretty well just soaking up and not participating, while the body is at rest. Exercise is necessary and so is face to face human interaction.

  • 1139 Posted by nuclearpop on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:42PM EDT Report Abuse

    "I also have movie nights and "Lost" nights during the week, which are a great excuse to turn off the computer. Different things work for different people, so just find something you enjoy and don't hesitate to shut the computer off." ORLY!? I watch TV shows online. I can literally watch ANYTHING I want from a number of different sites. I believe this is the future. Everything will be recorded and up for download. No more broadcasts. And you know what? I still go out to watch movies and buy books because of things I read about on internet. Also, one of my best friends met his girlfriend online. They've been together for 3 years now. As an artist, online I can keep up with all the new stuff happening in the artworld. Probably more so than I could going to galleries and interacting with ----- drunk, douchebags all night. Am I addicted because I like having a tool that encourages me to learn more, and want to do more? I work as much as any honest citizen, and do and manage most of my work online. Why is this wrong? All you old fossils, who fear the new: Do us all a favor and die already.

  • 1140 Posted by lesommiel on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    In the future, everything will deal heavily with being connected to the web. What you call an addicition now will be nothing later. You watch TV? Go to movies? Read books? etc? These can all be considered escapes as well. And every person is prone to them. Yet with the internet you actually have choice and control. Watch shows and commercials on TV you dont want or go on the internet and find what you want? Offline I am lucky if I can find others of like interests in art, in science, in philosophy etc. With most its all small talk. Online however I can find A LOT of people with similiar, if not exact interests. darn, offline Im lucky if I can get a stranger to say hello while walking in town. I go to bars, malls, etc. to do life art studies and I just sit and watch people. People dont want to socialize as much they want to find what they want and live off of it. Now please dont missunderstand me either. I dont encourage people to live and sit on the computer all the time. But aside from extreme cases of escapism via internet, I dont think we have a serious problem at hand. I think what most have is a new tool that is rapidly changing our cultures and socities, and since were so new to this tool thats growing and changing itself as we do with it, it scares people when others become attached to it as much as others already do to TVs. Escapism? TV and videogames (for this current and new gen) are the biggest enemies in that department. Then that will shift to the internet. But we are not at that point yet. The internet has become an extension of oursleves. and it is no wonder people are becoming attached. Where as TV, movies, magazines are already formed and fed to us. and act as the biggest forms of escapes. Write blogs about those. Finally. Society of the years has more and more become isolated and less social. Havent you noticed?

  • 1141 Posted by reed_gillette on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:35PM EDT Report Abuse

    I like how the internet addiction article was in the same location as the article about watching too much TV. Maybe if I watch too much TV I could turn to the internet for a break.. Or when on the internet, I could take a break and watch LOST. Often times when I am at a bar, I take a break from drinking by smoking...

  • 1143 Posted by c.day22 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:16PM EDT Report Abuse

    we need the laptop so if you do not have one get one it the best do what you do you live one time.so live

  • 1144 Posted by barbarabbailey on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:02PM EDT Report Abuse

    For some individuals, it keeps them in touch with the world, not out of touch. It may be the last way we can socialize with the demands of work to include longer hours and less free time. Many people are meeting who would otherwise never get the opportunity to know each other. Here we go again, expressing ways to communicate as another "evil" like cell phones give us cancer....give me a break.

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