Internet Addiction
Internet Addiction
Nowadays, instead of looking at the world in the front, people prefer a virtual window to look for it. The World Wide Web is informative, convenient, resourceful, and fun. Having smartphones, smart watches, smart devices, smart vehicles, do we smart enough to live our life peacefully. Nowadays people not only dependent on technology but also have become Internet Addiction. A kind of psychosis involved with a person who unnaturally attached to a device.
For some internet addicted people, the benefits of the internet are becoming detriments. Addictive use of Internet, in some respect, resemble “process” addictions, in which a person is addicted to an activity or behavior (including gambling, shopping, or certain unusual behaviors) rather than a substance (mood-altering drugs, tobacco, food, etc.).
Overusage of internet- Internet Addiction
People may start off using the Internet on a casual basis and then progress to using the technology in dysfunctional ways and then leads to develop problems with their Internet use. The core feature of the disorder is spending large amounts of time on the Internet as the daily functioning of a person is interfering and occupied by the Internet, however, the amount of time by itself is not as important a factor.
Even it may affect the Personal Life, Social life and other job-related works of a person addicted to the internet. Internet addicted persons also pretend to suffer from serious disorder to gain sympathy. Treatment options often mirror those for other addictions. Although very less amount of research has been done on this disorder, the treatments that have been used appear to be effective.
Research on- Internet Addiction
It is still a point of research that Internet addiction is whether it is a distinctive type of addiction or simply a case or the matter of a new technology being used to support other addictions. Researchers may need to determine whether there is such a disorder as “pure” Internet addiction.
Singles and young people are most likely to be addicted to the internet, perhaps because singles have more free time at home and young people are more comfortable with daily computer use because they grew up with it. Even more specifically, single white college-educated men in their 30’s are most likely to spend over 30 hours a week on non-essential computer use, which could lead to internet addiction. Even if some of this time is spent on creating and building internet relationships – it may be unhealthy. As with any addiction, an internet addiction can be a serious problem.
Is it good?
Although the Internet is then a valuable research tool used for the purpose of academic accomplishment, students experience major academic problems due to their tendency to browse irrelevant websites, being the active participant in chat room gossiping, to play interactive online games while sacrificing productivity. In addition, students may encounter difficulty while preparing for exams or assignments, getting adequate sleep in order to wake up early for morning classes simply because of their excessive Internet use. More frequently, they simply failed to control their own compulsive behavior to use Internet for such a prolonged period of time, the result then inevitably lead to poor graduation, academic probation and even in some case eviction from the university itself.
Damage
Not only the academic performance but the marital and close interpersonal relationships, parent-child relationships are also increasingly disrupted due to excessive usage of Internet. While at the initial days, the Internet addicts or dependents tend to use the Internet as a pretext in order to refrain from essential but reluctantly performed daily tasks such as daily shopping from the grocery or house cleaning, later it includes much more important responsibilities like caring for children. Examples may include forgetting important tasks such as picking up the child from school or prepare dinner, simply because the mind is fully preoccupied with Internet usage.
Depth of- Internet Addiction
Depending on different existing treatment policies, the suggested treatment modalities of Internet addiction can be categorized as Invert Selection Method, Using external stoppers, Goal setting, Staying abstinent from a particular set of activities, Using reminder cards, Developing personal inventory, Entering into the support group and seeking help and Family therapy.
The excessive use of the internet can build low self-esteem, weakened motivation, a sense of insecurity, fear of rejection, need for endorsement to the internet addict. It should be controlled by the regular treatment and restrict the addict from the use of internet completely until he returns to his normal behavior. Also, direct the user to use the technology optimistically and not non-constructive.
Dr. Deepti Sharma
HOD, Computer Science, and Engineering, Department
Advanced Educational Institutions