How often do you check your phone for text messages, emails, and social media updates? What does it feel like if you forget your phone and find yourself without it? If the power goes out and you can’t access the Internet, do you struggle to figure out how to pass the time? You’re not alone. The pervasiveness of the Internet in recent years offers many benefits to our society, but it’s also intrusive. The very nature of the changing technology has made it so that we are all increasingly a little bit addicted to the Internet.
Internet addiction exists on a spectrum, and most of us are somewhere on that spectrum today. This book primarily covers the extreme end of the spectrum where full-blown addiction leads to serious problems in life including job loss, destruction of relationships, and comorbidity with other mental and physical health problems. It will help you understand what it is like to live with Internet addiction; how it affects individuals, families, and communities; and what options there are for treating this emerging issue.
Most of us aren’t at that extreme end of the spectrum. However, it’s a slippery slope. Understanding the ways in which the Internet is increasingly addictive for all people can help you take precautions in your own life in order to prevent heading down that slope yourself. Knowing the signs and risks of Internet addiction can allow you to see when someone you love might need to step back from their devices for a little bit. Most important, gaining a deeper understanding of the issue can help each of us proceed more consciously with our Internet use.
No one is suggesting giving up the Internet entirely (although some people with addiction choose to do so). In today’s world, it’s nearly impossible to work or socialize without some degree of Internet connectivity. That’s perfectly fine. However, we can choose to use the Internet in a focused, intentional way that allows each of us to make the most of the technology instead of letting the technology get the best of us. We can recognize warnings of addiction and take appropriate steps to mitigate the harms in the lives of ourselves and our children.
Naturally, in order to understand Internet addiction, we have to define it. We’ll do that in Chapter 1, looking at some of the official diagnostic criteria that various professionals use to help clients determine whether or not they’re dealing with addiction. We’ll also look at some ways that people can self-identify whether or not their Internet use is becoming a problem. Finally, in this chapter, we will address the important distinction between addiction and simply being creatures of habit. How do you know if it’s really addiction? It’s hard to tell where any one person lands on the spectrum, particularly yourself when you are deep inside of the issue, but this chapter helps gives you a better perspective on what Internet addiction really means. At the end of the book, you will also find five case studies that can help you get a more personal sense of what it is like to live with Internet addiction.
Chapter 2 digs deep into why it’s a problem to have this type of addiction. Most of us are so used to the prevalence of online technology that we don’t necessarily see it as a serious issue. Sure, we might have a sense that we could all benefit from a digital detox now and then. However, most of us don’t bother to take one, and that suggests that we don’t see the real harm at play here. Gaining a deeper understanding of how serious the issue can get for some people helps open our eyes to why it’s a problem worthy of discussion, attention, concern, and treatment. We look at some of the major mental, physical, and social repercussions of Internet addiction, thickening our comprehension of why we need to address this issue sooner rather than later.
Moving on from defining Internet addiction and why it’s a problem, we’ll take a moment to examine the human brain as it relates to addiction. Chapter 3 lays out the science of the matter, helping set the groundwork for understanding what makes the Internet so addictive to the human brain. After we begin to get a grasp on why the brain easily becomes addicted to this medium, we will touch on the important topic of how the technology industry has exploited the brain’s weaknesses specifically to generate addiction. Companies of all kinds have used what we know from both psychology and neuroscience to intentionally make the Internet more addictive. That’s why so many people are affected by this issue today.
Next, we’ll break down the different types of Internet addiction people commonly face. The Internet is increasingly a social tool, so Chapter 4 covers all of the forms of addiction related to people’s relationships on the Internet. Social media addiction is one of the most common forms of the condition, and it comes in many forms including addiction to selfies, likes, image management, catfishing, and even cyberbullying. Many of society’s issues, particularly those afflicting the young, relate directly to social media addiction. Chapter 4 also covers addictions to texting, online dating, and Internet pornography. The latter is one of the most widely studied forms of Internet addiction to date.
Although social media and the relational aspect of the Internet are highly addictive, people can become addicted to this technology in many other ways as well. Chapter 5 explores some of the most common nonrelational Internet addictions starting with online gaming. As with pornography, Internet gaming is one of the most widely studied forms of Internet addiction. In fact, it’s the only form to have an official diagnosis at a professional psychiatric level. Like pornography, it straddles the line between a social/relational addiction and a solo addiction, which is why the chapter begins with this topic.
The rest of the issues in this chapter are generally solo endeavors. Compulsive Internet behavior is common, so we’ll look at addictions to online gambling, stock trading, shopping, and auctions. In recent years, video streaming technology has improved dramatically, allowing us to easily develop an addiction to “binge-watching” television shows, movies, video clips, and the news. News addiction is a particularly prevalent problem emerging in society today. Finally, this chapter wraps up with a condition that you may not have heard of but might be able to relate to: cyberchondria. This is a form of hypochondria directly related to the tendency to search online for information about potential medical conditions, becoming increasingly certain that you’re deathly ill because of what the Internet has to say.
If you have ever stayed up late at night on a site like WebMD, then you have a sense of what cyberchondria can feel like. You also see how easy it might be to become addicted to any behavior or content online. Virtually anyone can develop Internet addiction. However, there are certain populations that are more at risk than others, which is the topic covered in Chapter 6. We start with children and teens because their developing brains make them particularly vulnerable to the risk of Internet addiction. Then we explore a variety of other conditions and issues that can put someone at greater risk than the general population.
At this point, you might be wondering what can be done about this increasingly prevalent problem in our society. Chapter 7 answers that question as far as it relates to individuals. We look at the established and emerging treatment options available to people struggling with Internet addiction. We explore the concept of harm reduction, discuss the challenges of withdrawing from the Internet, and look at professional options including inpatient and outpatient therapy. We also explore self-help options for people who may not have a full-blown Internet addiction but who want to cut back on Internet use, go online with more intention, or utilize techniques to prevent addiction in the future.
Chapter 8 adds to the conversation begun in Chapter 7, looking at how addiction and treatment may be complicated by a variety of issues. We look at an individual’s addiction in general, asking, “Would this person still have a similar addiction even without access to the Internet?” In other words, “Is the Internet really the problem or does it only exacerbate the problem?” This chapter also explores comorbidity, which is Internet addiction among people with other mental health diagnoses.
Although Chapters 7 and 8 address how to solve the problem at the individual level, this is really a societal issue. We are all increasingly reliant on the Internet for both work and play, which primes more and more people for potential addictive behavior. Chapter 9 asks the question, “If everyone is doing it, what is the problem?” More important, it looks at the benefits of the Internet, particularly as it applies to mental health. Because this book is about Internet addiction, and not just average use of the Internet, much of the content in the earlier chapters can lead you to believe that the Internet is a terrible thing putting us all at risk. This chapter helps to balance that out by looking at how the Internet can and does improve mental health generally and for specific populations. It includes asking the question, “Can the Internet help resolve the issue of Internet addiction?”
Chapter 10 takes things to the next level by addressing the increasing prevalence of Internet technology across all aspects of our lives. New and emerging technology, including smart homes and virtual reality, make it increasingly likely that Internet addiction will impact more and more people in new ways that we might not yet be able to foresee. It’s important to start having the conversations about these technologies so that we can be thoughtful about how we introduce them into our lives, particularly among populations that are at-risk for addiction.
In Chapter 11, we ask the controversial and complicated question about who is responsible for helping to resolve the Internet addiction issue. Parents, schools, health professionals, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations are all working on some level to cope with the effects of Internet addiction and even to prevent it to some degree. What can each of these groups do best? Who bears what level of responsibility to take greater action? While there aren’t clear-cut answers, this chapter aims to provide an overview of the options in order to start a greater conversation to resolve the issues.
By the end of the book, you should have a strong sense of what it means to have Internet addiction or to love someone who is coping with this problem. You will understand the issues affecting both individuals and communities and how, even though full-blown problematic Internet addiction isn’t a widespread condition, it’s a problem that affects many of us on a smaller scale. As technology advances, more people are exposed to the risk of greater addiction. By examining the treatment options, complicating factors, and big questions toward the end of the book, perhaps you yourself will begin to dream up some of the answers that can help all of us with this issue in the future.