Signs of internet addiction

For most people, going online is a normal way of life. The internet can help you conduct meetings, make new relationships and perform other functions. On the other hand, some people have used the internet as a means of escape, thus resulting in addiction.  

Some people also use the internet to engage in risky behavior which is detrimental to any aspect of their health. And the sad part is, there are many addicted internet users who are unaware of what they are battling with.

Below are signs that tells you someone is addicted:

Bad priority skills

If you see someone who takes the internet importantly than other aspects of their lives, it is possible they are addicted. You can confirm this if you discover the person has started losing interest in other areas of their lives.

At that point, other things would come secondary because what primarily matters to them is the internet.

Mood modification

If an individual uses the internet to fix up his or her mood, there is an addiction in play. This means it would be nearly impossible for an individual or activity in reality to help them feel better.

Anytime they feel anxious, depressed and the likes, they come to the internet to feel better.

Denial and Minimization

People who are addicted to the internet do not like talking about how much time they spend on the internet. They would rather lie than say the truth because they know you would complain.

Similarly, these set of people would hide from you when they want to use the internet. They know they can be so engrossed in it, and it would certainly piss you off.

Withdrawal symptoms

If someone who is addicted to the internet is taken off the internet for a while, they begin to exhibit nasty behaviors called withdrawal symptoms. However, if they get access to the internet by any means, they are restored to normalcy.

If you know anyone who is exhibiting signs of internet addiction, it is advisable to seek help for them before it gets worse.

PTSD In Relation To Addiction

When people hear of PTSD it oftentimes relates to veterans, as this is what many of them experience post-war. But even so, PTSD－also known as post-traumatic stress disorder－can affect anyone who has experienced something horrific. In fact, it is defined as “a psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, war/combat, rape or other violent personal assault.” That’s why it is quite difficult for those who are faced with such to go through day-to-day life like everyone else, and as a result, some turn to addiction in an attempt to cope with their disorder.

First and foremost, certain signs－and/or symptoms－that one might experience as a victim of PTSD are “irritability, re-experiencing the trauma through flashbacks, severe anxiety, and distrust.” However, these are only some (to name a few) as each person’s experience may differ. In turn, to release such tension these individuals may turn to drugs which “increase pleasure, decrease anxiety, and provide a distraction from difficult emotions.” Yet consequently, even though the substance may pose as beneficial in the moment it does more harm than help. The same goes for alcohol as well－not just drugs. 

Fortunately, there are better ways (for those who are faced with PTSD) to overcome－that don’t involve the unhealthy aid of addiction. Treatment can come in many forms such as medication or therapy. When receiving counseling－and/or talking to a medical expert－the individual can then take the next step towards living a happier and healthier life. Through doing so they will no longer have to feel imprisoned by their disorder and addiction, but can instead start working their way towards freedom from both. The health professional can then offer a personalized－and/or individualized style－of care to better fit the individual’s needs, based on whether he/she is amid his/her addiction. 

In conclusion, the traumatic memories that the individual was faced with won’t go away because he/she won’t be able to change what has already happened－and/or change the past－but what he/she can do is move forward from it. Getting treatment as soon as possible, when symptoms of addiction are first present, can allow one to find himself/herself on a much faster road to recovery. It is then that he/she can defeat the root of the problem right at its source, rather than to numb it with substance abuse.

Signs of Technology Addiction

Technology can pose as an advantage to society, but with such benefits come disadvantages as well. For, a number of people use the internet to access resources that they wouldn’t be able to otherwise, such as; the news, and other important information. But, when these simple accesses stem into full fledged addiction, internet may no longer be seen as a friend to them, but rather an enemy. In turn, it is important to know how far is too far, and to always be on the lookout for signs of technology addiction, not only in ourselves, but in those around us, so that action can be taken within the early stages.

First and foremost, technology addiction is defined as, “an impulse control disorder that involves the obsessive use of mobile devices”. Yet, even so, in today’s world we oftentimes struggle to distinguish such, since we surround ourselves, and are surrounded by technology on a daily basis. It is everywhere that we turn. On billboards, on television, etc. And consequently, in response, we find ourselves desensitized to it because we are so used to it just “being there”.

But, when technology is taken away from the life of an individual and he/she finds himself/herself struggling to cope, this may be an issue that he/she needs to take at face value. For, some symptoms of internet addiction are as follows; “feeling preoccupied with the internet by thinking about previous online activity, feeling the need to use the internet excessively to achieve satisfaction, feeling anxious when away from technology, feeling the need to respond immediately to one’s smartphone, etc”. But, these are only a few of the several signs to watch out for, as many others remain.

In conclusion, this form of dependence serves as a great cause for concern, as it is one addiction in particular that can easily slip under the radar. Someone may even poke fun of it by saying that he/she is addicted to the internet because he/she likes/enjoys live streaming. And since technology is now seen as an essential tool, and/or aspect, many may find it hard to displace themselves from their phones, and other devices, and enjoy the day for what it is, rather than from behind a small rectangle screen. As a result, technology addiction can happen to anyone, even those seen as the most strong minded. But, even so, those who are struggling to regain their life back, mustn’t fear talking to someone close, and/or seeking help/treatment because they can overcome.

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Where is the Harm in Loving Technology?

harmful technology loveMany people cannot see the harm in overusing technology. They figure that if something was invented to make their lives easier, they should use it without limitation. The underlying problem with this thinking is that it does not consider the health, philosophical or ethical ramifications of technology use. The idea of technology being purely progressive and helpful to our lives is a mislead one. The truth is, overusing technology can have harmful effects on our individual, societal and environmental health.

First of all, overusing technology has a damaging effect on us as individuals, in both a mental and a physical way. We take pleasure in our technology because we feel it creates a path of least resistance for our daily tasks. And as we all know, anything that a person can take pleasure in they can also become addicted to. This is often the case when it comes to our personal technology. Vehicles, cell phones, computers and other devices have all been found to create addictions within people. These addictions can hurt a person’s physical health when they overwhelmingly default to technology to get labor done, and they can hurt a person’s mental health by giving them errant ideas that they are not capable of completing a task without technology.

In a similar way, technology addiction is damaging to our societal consciousness as well. Tasks that people used to complete as part of a team are now completed by some form of technology, such as an assembly line of machines. This makes society dependent on technology and makes our human connections weak. Technology addiction also wreaks havoc on the health of our environment  as only a small percentage of technology is considered sustainable. Most of our technology is still developed under the industrialism ethic of “the more production, the better,” making it focused on quantity instead of quality.

Society and Technology Dependence

societal technology addictionAddiction at a societal level is a different condition than addiction at an individual level. They are not understood in the same way and they have different types of effects. The primary difference between addiction at an individual level and addiction at a societal level is how they are acknowledged. For example, if one member of a family is struggling with alcoholism while no one else in the family is, it tends to be very obvious that the one person has a problem and needs to make changes to their lives. On the other hand, when society embraces a popular trend together as one, who is going to hold society accountable when the trend turns into an addiction?

Society’s dependence on technology is the perfect example of a societal trend turned addiction. Technology has always been a source of pride and competition to people. The nations that use more advanced technologies are considered more developed, and emerging technologies are frequently created under the pressure of competition, as there is prestige in being the first to invent something. We take immense pride and pleasure in our personal technology as a society. The problem there in is that we deny as a society that we are addicted to technology due to our collective unwillingness to separate from it. Group denial can be much more dangerous than individual denial.

When a society cannot recognize that it has an addiction to something, the society will become unsustainable and will experience a collapse. Addiction to money is what caused the recession of 2007, addiction to food is what has made the United States the most obese country on earth and the most prone to heart disease, and addiction to technology is having similar effects on North American society. We are becoming physically lazier as we rely on technology more and more, we are becoming more distant from one another as we focus more heavily on our relationship with technology than on our relationships with one another, and we are hurting the environment with the carbon emissions that unsustainable technology creates. If we do not rethink the role that technology is meant to play in our lives, our society will experience yet another collapse.

Ending Addiction to Technology

end technology addictionIf North American society is going to end its collective addiction to technology, it must go against its individualistic nature and acknowledge that we have been in denial about our addiction to technology. Social scientists and psychologists have gradually been trying to warn us of our technology addictions by examining our overuse of cell phones and computers. The fact of the matter is, our over-reliance on technology is damaging on many levels and must be stopped by whatever means necessary.

Ending a collective, societal addiction is similar to ending an individual addiction. The first step is breaking the denial. A society that is not judicial about its own flaws is an unhealthy one. It is critical that we acknowledge our technology addiction before it does irreparable damage to ourselves as individuals, our societal relationships and to the environment we live in. The voices of reason that are pointing out our societal addiction must become louder, and those who have been reluctant to listen must be held accountable as part of a group.

Secondly, we must make efforts to change our thinking as a society. We need to be cognitive of which choices we are making that contribute to our technology addiction, such as overuse of our cell phones and vehicles. We need to make the decision to refrain from overusing these technologies in the future, perhaps by walking to the store instead of driving, or by setting rules down about our phone usage. We need to remain aware of our tendency to overuse the technologies in our lives and be cognitive of healthier thought patterns we can adopt.

And lastly, even once we have made changes to our lifestyles, we need to remember to support one another in the quest to liberate ourselves from technology and reach out for support when we are feeling weak. An addiction to technology may not be as severe as an addiction to a drug, but because it can still have serious ramifications, it should be taken seriously as an addiction.

Addicted to Technology

Addiction to technology is a recent phenomenon, and a much debated one. Many question whether or not an addiction to technology is a real or imagined thing. When we consider the definition of addiction– a strong and harmful condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing or activity – we can begin to understand why the question of technology addiction has arisen. Some addictions found in society are damaging to the individual and those close to them, while some addictions within society do minor damage to the individual but are widespread and have a damaging effect on humanity and the planet.

In 2006, United States President George W. Bush said “America is addicted to oil.” This would be a prime example of addiction to technology at a societal level. What he meant, of course, is that American industries are dependent on oil to make machinery work and American citizens are dependent on oil for their commuter vehicles. Cell phones and computers may also be thought of as technology addictions because people compulsively overuse them and because the energy they demand is unsustainable.

Our future depends on acknowledging large-scale societal addictions instead of denying them. The term “addiction” has long been stigmatized as a way of referring to one member of a group as the black sheep who has a “problem,” therefore society as a whole refuses to acknowledge the addictions within it, reasoning that if it is a widespread behavior, it is healthy. The truth is, if we do not collectively end our technology addiction, we will deplete our resources and severely damage the planet’s health. There are ways of drastically limiting our technology use, such as bicycle commuting and exercising impulse control over our cell phones and computers. In order to move our society away from its addictions, we need to acknowledge how we are addicted at an individualistic level and correct our addictive behavior by any means necessary.

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