Essay The Addictive Nature of the Internet

Internet addiction has become a huge problem in today’s society. In Greg Beato’s article, he discusses the growing phenomena of internet addiction disorder. The writer explains that more and more people are becoming addicted to the internet. For example, he tells of a teenager in Ohio, who shot and killed his mom and injured his dad because they took away his Xbox. He tells how it is stated that five to ten percent of the 52 million internet users were addicted. The author is telling us that the internet has become very addictive in our everyday society.

Internet gaming disorder deals with individuals who spend an excessive number of hours playing video games. Individuals who are addicted to gaming prefer playing video games than communicating with individuals in person. Individuals prefer to not eat just and rather stay awake playing.

The idea behind the internet was to revolutionize society and with over 3 billion individuals using it, it clearly succeeded (ITU, n.d.). However, individuals started coming online to check their email, watch a video, visit Facebook, or play an online game as a habit, may easily become addicted to these behaviors over time. According to the DSM-V, internet addiction applies to individuals who use the internet excessively, often without realizing how much time has passed, how much more they are using the internet and neglecting their basic needs, as well as, ignoring any negative impacts said internet use has caused (dsm). When not using the internet, the individual may feel withdrawal, angry, tense, and/or depressed; in addition, they may feel the need to have a better computer and more software, which is an internet-addicted individual’s form of tolerance (dsm). Time of use per day in those addicted to the internet is nearly double the time those who are not addicted spend online (Lee,

In the article, “Caught in the Web: More People Say Heavy Internet Use is Disrupting Their Lives, and Medical Experts are Paying Attention” by January W. Payne argues that using technology too much, has consequences that can affect the people around, and the individual’s health as well. At the same time, many people use internet excessively, and do not realize that, they might get further from the outside world. According to a research by Stanford University, demonstrated, that people spend on the internet about 3 or more hours daily. Many people are getting addictive to the internet, because they see it as an escape from problems, while others use it as a way to relax themselves. As people addiction to the internet increase, people isolate

Behaviors speculated to be addictive in nature include gambling, Internet use, sex, exercise, and eating. The negative outcome of devoting an increasing amount of time to the Internet can potentially lead to misuse which can result to social isolation, poor interpersonal relationships, family, instability and low academic performance.

Addiction online has become very common in this day and age. With 88.8% of Americans having access to a device with internet there are plenty of individuals who have started drifting away from from their friends and family because of internet addiction. Internet addiction can become very dangerous for youths who are beginning to develop core learning skills which become essential later on in their adult life. It can cause students grades to take a harsh dip. This type of addiction can even cause cause financial problems. It can cause financial problems because of online gambling where a person would end up losing their sense of time and continuously spend their hard earned money on a risky decision that can lead to depression and and has the potential to strain family

Behaviour is something we acquire and shape it to fit our requirements. Behaviour is shaped by an individual’s interaction with culture and environment. This behavioural report will focus on the undesired behaviour, which is the heavy internet usage. The report will aim to establish baseline, monitor the behaviour and execute treatments to reduce and control the undesired behaviour. Internet addiction is defined as the indulgent or overuse of the internet. Extreme internet use occurs daily in my life, regardless during anytime of the day. The undesired behaviour that is the internet addiction has to reduce the usage in order to have a positive impact on the life. The heavy internet usage has to be reduced, and in its place introduce hobbies and time for study. Boredom is the main cause for the need to use internet. In the internet there are comics, television shows and other activities that could help elevate boredom. Due to the heavy internet use, socializing with family and friends have been significantly reduced. The repeated heavy internet usage has an impact on the physical burden and mental stressors on my life. The internet usage has been a repeated behaviour since I was twelve years old. The internet usage has been my repeated behaviour for a long time

Other surveys draw on the characteristics of pathological gambling, now called ‘gambling disorder, which also could be categorized to the kind of behavior we see in youths who show addiction type Internet use. Again, the surveys often simply swap the words ‘Internet use’ for ‘gambling’. Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire, for example, contains eight yes-or-no items drawn directly from the criteria used to identify pathological gamblers. One question asks: “Do you feel restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use?” Another asks, “Have you lied to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet?” This survey was later expanded to a 20-item questionnaire, called the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) with a five-point scale so that subjects could indicate the extent to which they engage in behaviors that suggest addiction. For most of the surveys, researchers have established cutoff scores to

Various models have been designed to explain the how IAD develops in an individual and how it is then maintained. These models draw from different fields of psychology such to determine different theorised causes for the addiction such as biological factors (such as chemical imbalances making one more susceptible to addiction), psychological predispositions (such as other mental health problems or personality) and social factors (such as culture, socio-economic standing and acceptance of the Internet from others). Whilst these factors are dependant on the individual, some studies include the nature and attributes of the Internet itself. Some models include the cognitive-behavioural model of problematic Internet use, the access, affordability and anonymity engine, the anonymity, convenience and escape model and the comprehensive model of the development and maintenance of Internet addiction.

July of 2009 in Fall City, Washington, the first rehab center for Internet Addiction Disorder in the United States opened its doors. Yes, there is actually a rehab for that! One 19-year-old resident who was interviewed from the reSTART Rehab Center, compared the destruction of his internet addiction to alcoholism and drug addiction as he described how he had dropped out of school and had fought to get his life back together. Although Internet Addiction is not an official disorder and has yet to be included in the DSM-V, it is very real for an increasing number of young Americans struggling to regain control in their lives. Addiction to the internet has caused more and more young Americans to quit school, isolate themselves from family, and even lose their jobs. The internet has had a huge impact on the way most Americans today communicate. Although there are benefits, excessive use of the internet and social media has negatively impacted Americans which has led to problems like addiction, poor school and work performance, and less time spent with family.

Goldberg presented the first definition for Internet-related disorders, Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD), as a behavioral addiction that serves as a coping mechanism and borrows from substance-dependence criteria from the DSM-IV (Garrison & Long, 1995, p. 20; Goldberg, 1996). Expanding the definition to include six "core components" of Internet addiction (salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflict, and

A lot of people enjoy surfing the net, they look for interesting websites and chat with people all over the world. Although, some people spend so many hours online that they are internet addicts. However an average person spends about 12 hours per week, but an addict may spend 8 to 12 hours per day online, because addicts spend so much time interacting with the computer that their lives are negatively affected. They become socially isolated, because they stop going out and talking to people face-to-face. They avoid real-life social situations, preferring instead to be in a dimly lit room with only the glowing screen to light up their lives.

Ivan Goldberg first introduced IAD as disorder in 1995. He took pathological gambling, as diagnosed by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), as his model for the description of IAD (Craparo, 2011). IAD receives attention in the academic research and the possible future classification of it as a psychological disorder continues to be researched and debated in the psychiatric community (shapira. et al., 2000). According to various research data sets, Internet connection is now especially significant risk for 12 to 18 age groups (Öztürk et al., 2007). In studies conducted on this issue, it is pointed out that adolescent males use the Internet more and get addicted more compared to their female counterparts. Some other studies on this issue in their study, Orhan and Akkoyunlu (2004) found that Internet use increased in puberty and adolescence as their

The term is being coined by Dr. Kimberly Young, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, in Bradford, Pa. With her paper's presentation, the APA will classify excessive Internet use as addictive, in the same way that drugs (including alcohol), gambling, video games, and some types of eating

There is not a clear stated definition of digital addiction however Shaw and Black (2008) characterize Internet addiction by excessive or poorly preoccupations, urges or behaviours regarding computer use and internet access that lead to impairment or distress. However as the term addict is a strong description DA is seen as a general misuse of the internet in various forms, as no formal definition exists the author sees the disorder as problematic computer usage resulting in negative consequences. According to Young et al DA is a broad term covering a wide variety of behaviours and impulse control problems. K.Young (1999) also categorised DA into five subtypes of DA, they are cybersexual addiction, cyberrelationship addiction; net compulsion (e.g. gambling or shopping on the internet); information overload (e.g. compulsive database searching); and computer addiction (excessive game-playing). This project highlights social network addiction which falls into the category of cyberrelationship addiction but also contemplates all other types.