Social Aspects of the Internet; Research on Internet Addiction
When I think of addictions
I first think of drugs or alcohol, but there is one addiction in today’s world that I hadn’t given much thought
to; internet addiction. With the new technology of our time it is no peculiar sight to spot a businessman e-mailing on his
blackberry, a college student researching on her laptop, and workers communicating around the world, all through the use of
the internet. The majority of people are constantly on the internet, whether for work or for pleasure, which made me wonder-
could many of us be addicted to it? When thinking of social aspects of the internet, the topic of internet addiction interested
me most because it is something that most people probably would not want to admit to, it would be difficult to overcome, and
perhaps the digital natives of the world would not like to believe that such a thing exists. I thought maybe even I could
be addicted to it! I instant message my friends, check my Facebook and email constantly, and am even doing this project for
an online class, which means I spend quite a bit of time online so it could be possible. I wanted to investigate this topic
more and find out what other sources had to say about it. At what point would use of the internet be classified as an addiction?
What are the affects and symptoms of an internet addiction? What age group is more likely to become addicted to the internet?
What can be done to prevent an internet addiction? These are all questions that first came to my mind. I hoped that through
my search I could find the answers.
I started my search using the QCC library database search, which I have used quite often and am now comfortable with.
I searched using Academic Search Premier for the article called “Terminally Addicted,” by Carol Cooper, in which
I saw that she stated that internet addiction is:
A condition from which an estimated 5 million Americans suffer, or one out
of every nine Internet users. The disorder has been around since 1994 and can lead to child neglect, debt, divorce, dropping
out of school, and trouble with the law…Typical early symptoms include staying on-line for 38 hours a week, lying to
family, restlessness, irritability, neglecting social obligations, and a consistent failure to select Quit.
Since these are common signs in children and adolescents, they can easily be interpreted
as typical teen behavior problems. I realized that this is something that parents have to watch out for now, and it might
make it difficult for parents of digital natives, who have grown up with the internet, to understand this kind of addiction.
I was surprised at the severity of the possible outcomes of having an internet
addiction.
Next I looked for articles
within the EBSCO and PsychINFO databases with “internet addiction” as my search. I tried to make the results as
reliable as possible by refining my search to only peer-reviewed journals from the past six years. I noticed that most of
the articles were focused on teens and young adults and internet addiction, from which I took that these age groups are the
most prone to becoming addicted. Most of the articles were on research that is being done to learn more about the symptoms,
outcomes, and treatment for internet addiction. Also, since it is such a new addiction, there were a limited amount of articles.
The reason for this become even more clear when I read the article “Cognitive Behavior Therapy
with Internet Addicts: Treatment Outcomes and Implications,” in which
Kimberly Young explains that “little if any empirical evidence exists that examines specific treatment outcomes to deal
with this new client population.” She also stated that her “Results suggested that Caucasian, middle-aged males
with
at least a 4-year degree were most likely to suffer from some form of Internet addiction,” (Young 1). I was wondering
what could be done to help an internet addiction and Young also said in her article that “Researchers have suggested
using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as the treatment of choice for Internet addiction.” As more research is done, we
will gain more knowledge about internet addictions, but as for now there are a limited amount of published articles on the
issue.
There are those who argue that internet addiction is too meshed
with other addictions to be classified as one on its own. One of these people is Dr. Michael Craig Miller, who tells us that:
Many behaviors are channeled through the Internet—gambling and
gaming, talk, and sex, to name a few popular ones. And the presence of other mental disorders among potential addicts is the
rule rather than the exception. Disorders of mood, anxiety, impulse control, attention, and personality are common. For all
these reasons, it is difficult to call “Internet addiction” a unified disorder.
What Dr. Miller said made complete sense
to me, and I could see how it would be difficult to diagnose an internet addiction in someone. It would be hard to know. It
made me realize how excessive use of the internet might just be rooted in some other problem. I realized that I am on the
internet often during the school year, especially for school work and keeping in touch with my friends who are away but in
the summer I hardly go on it. This is different than an internet addiction where someone starts avoiding people to use it.
I searched Google for how to prevent an internet addiction. There weren’t many websites listed but I came across the
website of a doctor who specializes in research on internet addiction. According to Dr. Greenfield it is possible to prevent
an addiction to the internet by “becoming conscious of your patterns of behavior and taking steps to monitor your use
patterns…Telling other people about your Internet use will aid you...Also monitoring your emotions and identifying when
you tend to use or abuse the Internet,” (Greenfield 1).
Through this research I discovered that there is such thing as an internet
addiction, there are symptoms, and outcomes of one, but if we look closer, we “may therefore ask whether the Internet
itself is “addictive,” or whether the activities and information the Internet makes so readily available to users
are addictive,” (Miller 8).
