Internet Addiction Disorder

Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, once said “every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic is be alcohol or morphine or idealism”.

Recently advancements technology had brought out unusual types of Addictions including Internet, gambling, pornography, gaming, on-line shopping and eBay addictions.

Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) doesn’t differ from other type of addictions. While drug addiction victim needs drug to feel normal, the Internet addiction victim becomes dependent on Internet to feel normal.

Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) victims normally have special interests in Internet which can include pornography, on-line gaming, gambling and or auctions.

1 out of 14 American adults have shown at least one sign of IAD, according to a recent study by Stanford University.

While the cause of the AID is not clearly known, several factors that have been proposed as contributing to Internet addiction. Pleasurable feeling developed by a person when using the Internet, might reinforce the addiction. Like alcohol addiction, biological study tells us that, there may be a combination of genes that make a person more susceptible to addictive behaviours.

According to Dr. John Grohol, in his book Internet Addiction Guide, he relates to the idea that people engage in the activity because they do not want to deal with the problems in their lives. Some affected persons may lack the social skills that would enable them to meet people in person rather than on-line.

The big question behind is whether it is the proper to term it as a type of addiction rather than a technology that supports other addictions?
For example, a girl addicted to shopping could transfer her addiction from the local mall to on-line stores.

Some psychologists do not accept the term addiction to describe what happens to people when they spend too much time on-line. What about other technologies like video games and telephones?

Some may view addiction as when a task becomes a necessary part of a user's life. When the on-line experience enrich and expand people's lives, it can also seduce the vulnerable into ignoring the real world.

In his book Trapped in the Web, Potera highlights that, Internet has become a destructive force, its remarkable benefits overshadowed by its potential to disrupt the lives of those who can't resist the lure of round-the-clock social opportunities, entertainment, and information. For such people, work, friends, family, and sleep are replaced by a virtual world of chat rooms and games.

Also, studies by Stanford's SIQSS and Carnegie Mellon's HomeNet Project revels that, People who spent more time on the Internet spent less time socializing with peers, communicated less within the family and felt more lonely and depressed.

The amount of time spent on-line and the service provider charges can lead to financial problems. Phone calls while chatting and telephone connection charges are among the common financial issues.