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A few examples of underlying issues would be stress in the work place, trials and tribulations often experienced in marriages, and familial battles. These examples are often considered “too hard to handle” leading addicts to fall into social isolation. Over time, studies have shown that white males with at least a four year degree are most likely to suffer from some form of internet addiction. As times have changed, and many technological advances have been made allowing us to have internet in our homes, schools, and work place, internet addiction has been on the rise and seventy-three percent of internet users have become addicted.
There is a list of symptoms found in addicts, such as not being able to intro use, loss of track of time, being “sneaky’ about their behavior, and withdraw. When a person becomes addicted to something, they begin to lose all track of time leading to missed deadlines on homework assignments/business projects, spending less time with their friends and family, and withdraw from their normal schedules. One who suffers from internet addiction gradually spends more time on the internet and less time with human beings.
Studies were done by Karat on families with computers and higher levels of depression and loneliness were reported by those ho spent less than a few hours a week on the internet, and those who overused the internet led to little social support and happiness, and an increase in depression and loneliness. A survey was conducted and it showed that the most problematic internet issue for women is chat rooms, both sexual and social; and that the most problematic for men was pornography.
These online affairs have led to marital problems, separation, and in a few cases divorce. Outpatient services are used in therapy for addicts, and the Sierra Tucson Rehabilitation Center in Arizona began using inpatient therapy as ell. Both outpatient and impatient services use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CUB). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy teaches patients to monitor their thoughts and identify their addict triggers, and is performed over three month treatment or 12 weekly sessions.
CUB allows the addicts to learn coping mechanisms over the course of treatment, and helps them use the internet for good such as research and also manage their time. As of today, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the only effective treatment for internet addicts and little research has been done on the issue. While reading this article, not only did I gain an insight on a growing issue in our society but I became more knowledgeable on what Cognitive behavioral therapy is.
Internet addiction is now something that I have a basic knowledge of and I will begin to manage my time spent surfing the web. Even though I haven’t necessarily used it for negative, I am realizing that I don’t use it for a greater good either, such as research that will benefit my intellect. I never knew that something like the internet could cause things such as social isolation or that it is often due to an underlying issue. I now know that even the slightest “worldly’ object could completely alter our state of mind.
As I read through the material given, I was informed on statistics; and now I have a deeper interest in psychological issues like how our mind works and why we make some of the decisions we do as humans. Also, since the article related internet addiction to compulsive disorders I learned that they come in various forms not Just dealing with computers such as gambling.