To date, scientists have identified 5 main types of this uncontrollable craving for the Internet:
1) The need for continuous communication (forums, social networks and various chats). This risk group of Internet addicts includes people who have communication problems. The lack of social and communication skills immerses them in the virtual world, which replaces their circle of friends. 2) Internet information addiction or an irresistible need for a constant flow of information. Obsessive web surfing involves a disordered search for information, devoid of any purpose or meaning. A person wanders through websites, databases, reads articles, notes, comments to them one after another, endlessly follows links... As a result, this meaningless wandering and incessant search for information leads to loss of productivity and information overload. 3)Gaming addiction. This is when a person gets hooked and cannot tear himself away from online games. leads to loss of productivity and information overload. Many gamers even spend real money to somehow improve their characters (for example, in RPG games like World of Warcraft) and achieve imaginary superiority. Having great fun and seeing that they have reached level 25, while their closest competitor has not yet reached level 22, they continue to play for days on end and in the process of this race become Internet addicted.4) Internet addiction related with online gambling is in many ways similar to the usual addiction to gambling for money. Online casinos, of which there are a great many on the Internet today, luring tens of thousands of new users every day, recreate the seductive and realistic world of traditional casinos. The symptoms of this type of Internet addiction, as well as its causes and consequences, are similar to those of ordinary gambling addiction (playing for money). Unless there are some minor nuances. But accessibility, and therefore involvement, is many times higher than that of conventional gaming establishments. 5) Cybersexual attraction is an obsessive craving for watching porn films on the Internet and engaging in cybersex. Although seemingly harmless at first glance, sexual Internet addiction is a serious problem standing in the way of ensuring the socio-psychological safety of both an individual and society as a whole. Today, many married couples are breaking up or are on the verge of breaking up due to the tendency of one of the spouses to satisfy their sexual needs using the Internet. People suffering from this addiction have little time left for ordinary communication, so an emotional break in relationships with real people gradually occurs - family, children, friends, work and study fade into the background.
Consequences of the development of Internet addiction in adolescents
Dependence on Internet computer technologies does not arise out of nowhere and not every person is susceptible to it. There are certain factors that provoke its onset:
- family problems and tense psychological climate in the family;
- difficulties in building communication with peers;
- lack of attention and care from parents.
By going into virtual reality, a teenager seeks to escape from the problems of real life and find himself in the Internet space.
The consequences of Internet addiction are quite severe and require long-term and systematic psychological work with a teenager. They are expressed in the following psychological manifestations:
- complete abandonment of an active lifestyle and live communication with other people;
- loss of interest in life events around;
- decreased appetite and sleep disturbance;
- the occurrence of emotional instability;
- alternation of emotional ups and downs;
- aggression during forced shutdown of the computer and the Internet.
Symptoms of Internet addiction:
*You feel great joy before each new session, but without access to the Internet you experience sadness and despondency. *They can’t drag you away from the monitor by the ears, and under no circumstances can they lure you out onto the street. *You don’t go on visits, you meet with friends less often, i.e. Slowly you lose contacts with people offline. *You constantly update your page on social networks, often check your email, account on a dating site, etc. * Discuss computer topics even with people who are barely knowledgeable in this area. *You lose track of time. Having looked in on business for a few minutes, you hang out online for several hours and don’t notice how quickly time flies by. *While surfing the Internet, you forget about work duties, studies, household chores, meetings and agreements. *You do not visit sites with the goal of finding the information you need, but go to them aimlessly and mechanically. *Spend a lot of money on the Internet, as well as on ensuring constant updates of both various computer devices and software. You are also trying to hide it from your loved ones. *At the physiological level, you feel the consequences of prolonged sitting at the computer: pain in the eyes, aching joints, disturbances in sleep and diet. *Experience the influence of information from the Internet on your psychological well-being - negative news or messages cause a storm of negative emotions in you, such as rage, sadness or anxiety. *You notice how people close to you are increasingly beginning to express their indignation at the fact that you spend too much time on the Internet. And this is a clear sign of Internet addiction. My own excessive passion for the Internet
Presentation for computer science lesson “Internet addiction”
Internet addiction
Internet addiction -
- mental disorder, obsessive desire to connect to the Internet and painful inability to disconnect from the Internet in time.
Internet addiction is a widely discussed issue, but its status is still at an unofficial level: the disorder is not included in the official classification of diseases DSM-IV.
- Information for a person is of great importance. The computer and the Internet are powerful tools for processing and exchanging information; in addition, thanks to the computer, various types of information have become available. This is considered the root cause of computer or Internet addiction, since in a certain sense they suffer from a violation of the processes of information exchange.
- The problem of Internet addiction has emerged with the increasing popularity of the Internet. Some people have become so carried away by the virtual space that they began to prefer the Internet to reality, spending up to 18 hours a day at the computer. Abrupt refusal of the Internet causes anxiety and emotional agitation in such people. Psychiatrists see similarities between this addiction and excessive gambling.
Types of addiction
- Obsessive web surfing - endless travel on the World Wide Web, searching for information.
- Addiction to virtual communication and virtual dating - large volumes of correspondence, constant participation in chat rooms, web forums, redundancy of acquaintances and friends on the Internet.
- Gaming addiction is an obsessive passion for playing computer games online.
- Obsessive financial need - online gambling, unnecessary purchases in online stores or constant participation in online auctions.
Internet addiction and family problems
Problems in the family, as a rule, arise as a result of lack of attention to one or another family member. Quarrels and misunderstanding of the problems of an addicted person only aggravate the situation in family relationships. Since an Internet addict absorbs a lot of information and, possibly, knowledge, such changes cause internal tension and anxiety. Family scandals can only further damage a person’s psyche. The best way to solve family problems is love, mutual understanding, and wisdom of household members. Smoothly introduce a person to positive family communication and, most importantly, increase joint communication with wildlife, for example: through walks
Symptoms of Internet addiction
(in order of increasing severity):
- checking email too often;
- reducing time for eating at work and at home, eating in front of the monitor;
- accessing the Internet while doing unrelated work;
- complaints from others about your excessively long sitting at the computer;
- loss of sense of time on-line;
- more frequent communication with people online than in person;
- constant anticipation of the next on-line session or memories of the previous one;
- ignoring family and work responsibilities, social life, scientific activities or the state of one’s health in connection with the depth of the Internet;
- inability to reduce time spent on the Internet;
- skipping meals, classes, meetings, or limiting sleep to be able to be online;
- accessing the Internet to escape problems or drown out feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety or depression;
- the appearance of fatigue, irritability, decreased mood when you stop being online and an irresistible desire to return to the computer;
- “secretly” accessing the Internet in the absence of a spouse or other family members, accompanied by a feeling of relief or guilt;
- denial of addiction.
Additional Tips
* Ask your family to make sure you don't spend too much time on the Internet * Look at the electricity bills you have to pay. Think about how much money you could save by using the Internet less often * Make a list of reasons why you should stop using the Internet excessively * Try to stay away from sites that can be addictive. These are mainly social networks, forums or entertainment sites. If you feel that your addiction to these sites is too strong, simply block them. * Make sure you can resist the urge to use the Internet. Do not approach the computer if you feel an irresistible desire to access the Internet, but at the same time you do not need it. * Turn off notifications sent to your email unless they are particularly necessary. * Every time you go online, plan which sites you intend to visit, what you need to do there and how much time you want to spend there. Each time, try to reduce the amount of time you spend using the Internet until you reduce it to a minimum. * If there are pages that contain information that you often need (for example, a Wikipedia article), copy them to a file on your computer or print it out. Then you will not go online so often and be tempted to visit several more sites. * Adjust your sleep schedule. Many people who are addicted to the Internet have serious sleep problems due to the fact that they do not close their eyes in front of the monitor all night. * When sitting in front of the computer, take breaks every fifteen minutes - your eyes and muscles should rest.
How to treat this?
It is not surprising that the treatment of Internet addiction has become part of the income of psychologists and psychiatrists, because there are more and more people with an unhealthy craving for the World Wide Web. Both men and women, both young (to a greater extent) and adult citizens, suffer from Internet addiction, and their number is only growing every year. The inability to get rid of Internet addiction on their own brings users who were unaware of such negative consequences of online life to medical institutions, where they are treated for mental disorders that have become a manifestation of attachment to the Internet, and not from Internet addiction, since the diagnosis of “Internet addiction” is in worldwide practice doesn't exist yet. However, in China there is the first clinic for the treatment of Internet addiction, which appeared back in 2005, patients are prescribed electric shock - a device that applies a voltage of thirty volts to the body. This type of treatment for Internet addiction is not widely understood, and even some local doctors are against the use of electric shock, especially when it comes to treating children.
Causes of Internet addiction in teenagers
Note 1
The causes of Internet addiction in adolescents are most often psychological in nature and depend on the psychological characteristics and inclinations of the teenager’s personality.
Some people easily become dependent on various Internet games; for others, the anonymity of online communication is important; in any case, these reasons are formed at high speed and depend on age-related changes and the characteristics of the process of mental formation.
Another reason for the formation of such dependence is the pedagogical neglect of children and the lack of proper control on the part of parents. A permissive or, on the contrary, too authoritarian style of education, the inability of parents to apply psychological and pedagogical knowledge in the process of education, lack of individual attention and approach.
But let's get to the point. How to overcome addiction yourself?
Firstly. To start fighting Internet addiction, you first need to admit that the problem exists and understand that no one will help you get rid of it. Secondly. Return to real life and forget about the existence of the Internet for a few days. Where there is an entrance, there is an exit! Go out into nature more often, meet with friends, attend various events, remember a long-forgotten hobby, start playing sports, read an interesting book, etc. Third. Gradually reduce the time you spend online until this “infection” leaves you. Soon you will notice how the desire to spend time online will gradually decrease. And ultimately you will defeat her.
Main signs of Internet addiction in teenagers
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Internet addiction is expressed in the manifestation of the following symptoms:
- the teenager experiences a feeling of euphoria while on the Internet; in the absence of the opportunity to access the Internet, there is complete apathy towards the world around him;
- the teenager practically stops going out into society;
- the teenager stops all communication with friends and acquaintances in real life;
- all conversations boil down to discussing Internet technologies, websites and computer topics;
- there is a violation of the daily routine, sleep and rest, food intake, and hygiene procedures;
- there is a persistent tendency towards a decrease in physical activity;
- Difficulties arise with learning due to poor progress and inattention, a complete lack of interest in the learning process.
When trying to point out to a teenager the changes taking place in his life, his dependence on the Internet, there is a process of complete denial and aggression towards the speaker.
