Using the Internet relieves these symptoms. If they can’t go online, the user experiences unpleasant withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, moodiness and compulsive fantasising about the Internet.The user needs to spend ever-increasing amounts of time online to feel the same sense of satisfaction.Signs of Internet addictionĪccording to the American Psychiatric Association, Internet addiction can include three or more of the following: Sometime survey studies do not give reliable results as they may only study a single class so the data cannot be generalised to a broader group or population, and the construction and use of surveys can produce results that are hard to interpret. A recent study in the USA showed that four per cent of college (university) students aged between 18 and 20 showed problematic internet behaviour.Ĭollege and university students may be particularly vulnerable to addiction, yet studies on internet addiction in students typically only use self-selected online surveys, with no control groups for comparison. More research is needed into this ‘chicken or the egg’ aspect of Internet addiction before any conclusive answers are known. For example, a person who compulsively trawls the Internet for online gambling venues may have a gambling problem rather than an Internet addiction. Medical opinion is divided on whether Internet addiction exists as a mental disorder in its own right or whether it’s an expression of pre-existing mental disorders or behavioural problems. Generally speaking, surveys suggest that males who are addicted to spending time online tend to prefer viewing pornographic websites, while females are attracted to chat rooms for making platonic and cybersexual relationships. Other terms for this addiction include Internet addiction disorder (IAD) and net addiction. There is a range of behaviours that can be referred to as Internet addiction. The person becomes dependent on using the Internet and needs to spend more and more time online to achieve the same ‘high’. Internet addiction is when a person has a compulsive need to spend a great deal of time on the Internet, to the point where other areas of life (such as relationships, work or health) are allowed to suffer.
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