IA: Could you be addicted to the Internet?
By Eva Potter

How often do you find yourself checking your Blackberry? Do you feel like you’re online all the time? How much is too much? These and many other questions were answered by Dr. Kimberly S. Young of St. Bonaventure University as she presented her lecture on Internet Addiction (IA) at the Olean Public Library on April 23, 2009. Dr. Young, a professor of management sciences and a clinical psychologist, has been researching the topic of IA for over 15 years. As an international expert on IA and online behavior, she has conducted nationwide seminars and has served as an expert witness.

Dr. Young was first pulled into this intriguing field in 1994 when a friend called her for advice about her husband’s addiction to Internet chat rooms. He had been spending 40-60 hours a week on the Internet, and Young’s friend wanted to know if she’d ever heard of anyone getting addicted to the Internet the same way people become addicted to alcohol, sex or gambling. Through a series of surveys, Young began hearing from people from all over the world who had lost their marriages or their jobs, and from others concerned about family members spending too much time on the Internet. When Young realized she had “hit some sort of psychological nerve,” she knew there was a need for further research.

In the late 1990s, as the dot coms were flourishing, along came shopping venues such as eBay and Amazon. Highly visual, sophisticated, virtual reality games like World of Warcraft, Grand Theft Auto, and Second Life exploded in popularity. The next 14 years would reveal the evolution of the Internet itself, thus creating the types of problems that are now occurring because of it. Utilized as a source of information, the Internet is a powerful tool, but when use spins out of control you have addiction.

“Most people don’t see themselves as addicted,” says Dr. Young. Because you can’t get addicted to a machine, right? Think again.

So, what are the symptoms of IA? The manifestation of IA is complex and includes spending heavy amounts of time online which increases over time; unsuccessful efforts to control or stop use; feelings of restlessness, moodiness and depression when trying to stop; staying online longer than intended; jeopardizing or risking the loss of a significant relationship or job; lying about or concealing use; using it as a form of escape; and physical complaints such as eye strain, back problems, etc.

The question to ask yourself: How much do you use the Internet to the exclusion of other productive activities? If you have five or more of the above symptoms, lasting greater than six months (that cannot be explained by a manic episode), you may have a problem with IA.

On a social level, the introduction of the Internet has provided effortless opportunities to connect with and meet new people in various online settings. When used for activities like business networking, the Internet can open many doors. But the private implications of this can also be very serious, because it can provide a seemingly safe and anonymous way for people to meet outside of a (marital) relationship, possibly leading to the development of strong feelings for them.

Young comments, “What takes people maybe months or years to form a relationship, may take only days or weeks online.” The act of writing is very different from face-to-face contact, and the idea (or even perceived idea) of intimacy can make the user feel he/she is in another world when relating to someone on the other side of the computer screen, easily located halfway around the world. Once a person begins devoting more and more time to a virtual relationship, the possibility of sliding into IA becomes more likely.

Chat rooms, instant messaging (IM), alluring sexual images, video-on-demand, general surfing, massive multiuser online role playing games (MMORPG), news sites, social networking (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter), and online shopping (eBay, Amazon) sites all entice Internet users to stay online.

Virtual gambling casinos, fantasy football, gaming, social networking, and sex addiction provide someone who may already have an addictive personality with an easily accessible, secretive outlet. Tech-savvy teens are shockingly the fastest growing group of online gamblers, which has been associated with increased delinquency, criminal behavior poor school/work performance, and disruption of family and peer relationships. Senior citizens are the most rapidly growing population of Internet users due to less required knowledge and easy accessibility, but no definitive studies have been conducted to determine their Internet habits.

As for pornography and online sexual activity, there is still no clear definition of normal E-sex behavior in what is estimated to be a $4 billion industry. Dr. Young states that over 63 percent of the people she has interviewed never had a sex addiction issue before the Internet, creating a whole new disorder. “You might have somebody who already has a problem with their sexual behavior, independent of the Internet, that now has a new outlet,” comments Young. This has, in essence, created a new market of sex addicts, who believe that nobody is getting hurt, it’s not cheating, it’s low risk, and it’s not really sex.

Young states the American Psychiatric Association is considering either pathological computer use and/or video game addiction as a disorder to be included in future diagnostic manuals, which could open the door to health insurance reimbursement. “We are still trying to figure out what (the) norms are on the Internet.”

The consequences of IA can express themselves through academic difficulties and social isolation (sometimes even with mild use of three to five hours a day), because the more time you spend online the less time you are spending with other people. Work-related issues include reduced productivity and possible job loss. Relationships begin to suffer with increased intimacy problems, feelings of neglect and potential infidelity. In 2004, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers conducted a survey that revealed 63 percent of divorce cases handled by attorneys were exclusively related to online affairs. Young confirms, “That’s a pretty big number when you really stop and think about how many people are getting divorced because of online affairs.”

The good news is that you don’t have to give up your computer in order to get treatment. It’s almost impossible to go cold turkey with technology because it’s everywhere. As in food addiction, you deal with how people are using behaviors to fill a void. Young notes that “it’s not like drugs or alcohol where there is a physical dependency that develops over time with prolonged use.” By analyzing when you’re using the Internet, which applications (programs/sites) are involved, and what problems this is causing, you begin to shed light on the best way to manage IA. Using time management to reduce use, relearning how to use offline time to fill this void, using skills obtained online to do something productive in offline life, and dealing with and treating underlying issues (depression, low self-esteem), you can prevent relapse and find ways to live in harmony with your computer rather than abusing it.

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Dr. Young is the author of “Tangled in the Web,” “Caught in the Net,” Breaking free of the Web,” and most recently “Breaking Free of the Web: Catholics and Internet addiction.” Her work has been featured in various media outlets including USA Today, The London times Newsweek, Good Morning America, Time, and CBS News. Founded in 1995, she serves ad director of the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery. Young has received numerous awards including the Psychology in the Media Award from the Pennsylvania Psychological Association.

(Eva Potter, a SpecialEfects freelance writer, can be reached at potterprose@gmail.com.)