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Internet Addiction
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
http://news.sky.com/home/technology/article/16147572
Internet addiction can be as damaging to teenagers' brains as alcohol and drugs, a study suggests.
Scientists say internet addiction disorder (IAD) is a recently recognised condition where individuals spend unhealthy amounts of time online.
Researchers have now discovered it disrupts nerve wiring in adolescent brains in a similar way to people exposed to cocaine and cannabis.
They believe it shows that being hooked on a behaviour can be just as physically damaging as addiction to drugs.
Denied access to their computers, people may experience distress and withdrawal symptoms including tremors, obsessive thoughts, and involuntary typing movements of the fingers.
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Thought I might move this over into politics & debate if that's ok - might get some more discussion going there
Anyone feel like they get withdrawal when they're away from their computer/ mobile? I certainly notice amongst friends that some can seem 'addicted' to their phones.
I started getting into a habit of having to do the rounds on my smartphone before I went to sleep - emails, twitter and that, just checking them all - I don't know what would have been so important that couldn't have waited until the morning! Have nipped that in the bud now though, I turn my wifi and mobile internet off at night and actually in general feel like I'm using facebook less and less :chin:
Some people might get addicted for different reasons, and to different things.
I think for those who do get hooked and addicted in a bad way, it often comes down to being addicted to the fusion that the internet provides to other addictive things, as much as the content itself.
Maybe it's semantics, but I think there's a difference between someone suffering the detrimental effects of long-term internet use, particularly if used as a replacement for actual, face-to-face interactions, and addiction.
To me it seems that the internet is a facilitator - both for good and bad - more than it is a perpetrator.
Whilst in some cases it might be a perpetrator, I'm inclined to agree with that which you have said.
One thing that annoys me about surfing the net, they always say that time flies when you are having fun, time seems to fly when I'm using the internet, even when I'm not having fun.
Largely because "the internet" is such a vague and MASSIVE thing.
Have I jeopardised a significant relationship because of 'the internet'? No. Have I jeopardised a significant relationship because of a game I play online with other people? Yep. But that's nothing to do with the internet - if I could play that game offline, I would.
Do I stay online longer than intended? Sometimes, but only because I am talking to other people, or watching something interesting, or something distracts my attention from what I planned to do (usually going to work/going to bed).
If I'm not having fun online, then I find something else to do. I knit, or I play games, or I read. There have been times when I've stayed online hitting refresh a lot, but that's usually when I am at work and have no work to do.
It provides something that many people feel they are lacking in their lives - human contact, even if it is via a machine!
Which to some extent, is better for some of us.
Agreed, but when time on the internet is at the detriment of the real world, the area becomes shady.
I've never had "withdrawal symptoms" from not using the internet as such, but I do feel bored more easily and it seems as if time goes slower without it, or maybe it's just that time on the internet goes by quicker.
And yes, it can be detrimental to your physical and mental health, if not directly than non-directly. Because it's a sedentary activity, I gained quite a lot of weight over the years from it.