Internet Addiction Part 2

Some researchers still question whether problematic Internet use should be considered a disease. An argument against this is that the internet can be a means to satisfy other compulsive behaviors such as gambling, shopping, pornography use, etc. So it’s a medium of exchange to fuel other addictions and is not the source of the addiction. That is, if a person has a shopping compulsion and spends hours shopping on the Internet, they are “addicted” to shopping and not the Internet. Others will say that the Internet itself provides its own level of rewarding experience such that those addicted to the Internet use the internet simply for the experience of being online.

So, what’s wrong with enjoying being online? After all, there is a vast amount of information available over the Internet and it is easy to spend loads of time reading and surfing. How is this different from watching television? Although theoretically, the Internet could be seen as a better use of time than television because it can be a research tool providing useful information, it is the interactive nature of the Internet and the sheer volume of information available that makes it more dangerous to some than sitting in front of the television.

Unfortunately, we haven’t definitively established how much is too much. In a review article on problematic Internet use (source: Liu T, Potenza MN, CNS Spectr. Vol 12, No. 6, 2007), the author cites several studies where they used time as a measure of social and occupational impairment. In one study those considered to have an Internet addiction spent 38.5 hours/wk on the Internet for non-work related activities compared to 4.9 hours/wk for the non-problematic user.

How does one find 38 extra hours in the week to spend on the internet?

So how do you know if you spend too much time on the internet? Diagnostic criteria aside, I think the most practical way is to examine how much of an impact it has on your personal and work life. Are you less efficient at work, missing deadlines, being warned not to surf, being distracted in meetings because you’re thinking of what you’re going to surf next? Are you spending less time with friends, losing sleep because you’re up late on the Internet? Is your spouse or significant other threatening to throw away your Blackberry? Are you getting more headaches, neck pain or finger cramps because of too much time at your keyboard?

As for treatment, the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery is a web-based treatment that some have found to be very helpful (despite that it uses the Internet to treat an Internet problem). There are also some more traditional treatment centers that use an addiction model and 12 step recovery program. Some research has suggested antidepressants may be helpful.