Internet Addiction Luis Garcia The University of Texas at El Paso Professor Siduane Patcha Lum
Within our communities, we daily face problems and conflicts that are basically everywhere, but do we know with exactitude what a community report problem is? A community problem as its name explains it, is a common issue that the community faces and even though it doesn’t exactly relate to everyone, it can catch any person’s attention because there is interesting information that could help to resolve a problem and understand it in a better way. Now, one of the biggest problems that is affecting the entire world is the Internet. How can the Internet possibly affect the society? The Internet is a very influential tool that entertains, informs, and connects billions of users daily, Unfortunately, many people make a bad use of the Internet and go hours and hours online creating a more serious problem. The main problems to cover about the Internet addiction are health, social, and academic concerns. Electronic devices are often used to access the Internet so that is why this report will directly relate the devices with Internet addiction. Based on a study from The University of Hong Kong, it says that in 2014, it was estimated that 420 million people worldwide experience some level of internet addiction, amounting to about 8% of the approximately 5.2 billion people who are able to access the internet. China is the most developed country in the world. According to Annesha De, on October 25th, 2015, a study was realized and concluded that China, one of the most developed countries in the world, suffered from internet addiction, which nowadays exists all around the world. China has treatment camps for internet addicts. Over 200 million Internet users in China are mostly between the ages of 15 and 35. In this case, it is most likely that they lose self-control. Tao Ran, director of the country’s first Internet addiction treatment clinic under a military hospital in Beijing, said that 40% of those addicted to the Internet suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
In addition, speaking from a healthy perspective, there are more and more people who are confronting this addiction in critical ways. For example, all the electronic devices unfortunately disrupt sleep and based on research and studies, the person has to turn off the phone and avoid all types of contact with it for at least one hour before going to sleep and this is because the brain needs to disconnect in order to function appropriately and later on, the person is not suffering any type of health concern. Sleeping is fundamental for any human’s correct brain and physical functioning. Otherwise, it is easier to get exhausted even in the simplest activities if there is lack of sleep. Another studio by Stanford University shows that at least 1 out of 8 people were internet addicts based on detailed surveys.
In the social perspective, sometimes many people use social media to let all their thoughts and stress out which is very wrong because they are making themselves dependent to the internet in order to share how they feel. Once a person gets used to it, it becomes a habit and immediately transforms into an addiction that is harmful to that person’s social life based on poor self-expression. This can also be determined as a problem because what would happen if a person does not have immediate access to the internet in order to share his or her feelings, they will feel frustration, stress to share virtually, which is not just bad for their social life but also for their own health. The Doctor of Psychology Keith Beard explains that the internet is a new technology era, that has amazingly impacted the world and provided many benefits to its users. Unfortunately, the internet has also its negative effects which are people becoming preoccupied with the internet because they are unable to control their use, and are jeopardizing employment, education and relationships.
Academically, students from all different levels are affected because, as mentioned before, many make bad use of the internet by visiting repeatedly social media, and getting distracted easily which later on, is directly reflected on their grades. For instance, the internet can be a major distraction that causes students to procrastinate on their assignments. And as a result, the quality of the work is not the desired and in some extreme cases, procrastination and the effects of the internet together makes students to plagiarize entire articles for an easy grade and everything based on all the hours spent online. Sadly, many students do not know how to manage their time and think they have spent just an hour online when in reality, they spend five without even noticing. The symptoms of excessive internet use are compared to the criteria used to diagnose other addictions. Unfortunately, internet addiction is linked to other addictions, most typically sexual, gambling, or shopping/spending addictions and counting. This can also lead to such illegal behaviors as kiting checks or robbing, with significant legal consequences. The problems behind these disorders and consequences may cause not only the people who practice it but all their family, friends, and relations either directly or indirectly.
Furthermore, a point to consider is the fact of simply checking e-mails, logging into any social media accounts, or any other action doesn’t establish that the person is an internet addict. Being an addict involves way more than just going onto the internet and this is what makes it a real issue. For example, some of the symptoms to truly consider can include: unsuccessful attempts to stop or control computer use, dishonesty related to computer use, problems in significant life areas as a result of computer use, spending increasing time online in order to get the same reaction achieved previously in less time, escaping feelings while online, experiencing anxiety, irritability, mood swings, restlessness, depression, and/or insomnia when not able to use the internet, experiencing both euphoria and guilt from computer use, preoccupation with computer use or related activities; more and more time online, or financial problems related to computer use. If at least five of the above symptoms mentioned are positive, then this means that there is evidently a problem. That is why there are different options when seeking for help. If you can identify any familiar, friend, or even yourself as internet addicted, there is a very important first step to take. Recognize that there is a problem with you or the person you know because the first symptom is to show any kind of dependency towards the internet and even if you know, you will just deny it.
Moving on, there is people who underestimate and believe that such thing as internet addiction is just a common miss-perception of society, because the internet has incorporated to our lives in a daily basis that it is almost impossible to not access the internet at least once a day. One example can be that not just because you are a computer science major you are already addicted. The purpose of internet usage is what really determines if there is a serious problem or not. Many people can make a big deal of a simple tool that will develop the future. People see it as a need not an issue. Also, there are many people that are really not severely affected because patients are not really into the internet usage which makes believe that there is not really a problem behind the internet than its beneficial functionality. People also say that the internet addiction doesn’t cause the damage that any addiction can cause. Some people think that addiction refers directly and only to drugs. Anything that is not drugs will be left out of the addiction categories based on their opinions.
The truth about the internet addiction is that it can affect as much as any other addiction from drugs to any bad habits. One of the reasons teenagers and young adults just like in China’s study, are affected the most because they are barely under the developmental process that catches their attention more easily, teenagers are daily known to be the audience that consumes more of their time on the internet. It is important to mention that people who encounter to this addiction are more propane to suffer from poor time management skills. Any addiction can be seen as an impulse control disorder. One recent study showed that the examination of five indices of stability and change in internet addiction: structural stability, mean-level stability, differential stability, individual-level stability. The study sample included 351 undergraduate students from freshman to the end of junior year. The findings revealed stability rather than change in internet addiction. Prior academic self-concept was not associated with individual-level stability, profile consistency, and dispersion.
As a result, the internet addiction has deeply contributed into long-term health related and social life problems which through time have made people more aware. Even though many people lack of knowledge towards this type of addiction, it can be inferred that as less harmful that the internet addiction may sound, it causes the same magnitude damage that drugs can cause on a person. That is why it is important to always have a watch right next to you in order to keep track of the time spent online and successfully set a time goal to accomplish your assignments and work labors. Finally, to support the arguments, it is very important to consider Kimberly, Young a psychologist who is a world expert on internet addiction. In one of Kimberly’s books, she mentions on how the internet itself is a neutral device originally designed to facilitate research among academic and military agencies. Addictive use of the internet is a new cause which many practitioners are unaware of and subsequently unprepared to treat. Some therapists are unfamiliar with the internet, making its seduction difficult to understand. The main purpose is to enable clinicians to better detect and treat internet addiction. Since internet addiction is an emergent disorder, implications for future practice are presented. The internet can be entertaining and educational as long as you know its limits.
REFERENCES Beard, Keith W., and Eve M. Wolf. "Modification in the proposed diagnostic criteria for Internet addiction." CyberPsychology & Behavior 4.3 (2001): 377-383.
Brenner, Viktor. "Psychology of computer use: XLVII. Parameters of Internet use, abuse and addiction: the first 90 days of the Internet Usage Survey."Psychological reports 80.3 (1997): 879-882.
Griffiths, Mark. "Internet addiction: fact or fiction?" The Psychologist (1999). Huang, Chiungjung. "Internet Addiction: Stability and Change." European Journal of Psychology of Education 25.3 (2010): 345-61. Web.