I wrote a short piece on Internet Addiction Disorder, and submitted it to a few papers for consideration in their Op-Ed section. It didn't get published. I could have pushed a little harder, but I didn't. Anyway, I just thought I would share it here.
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Dan woke up early this morning. A full 30 minutes before his alarm was set to go off. he didn't sleep well, tossing and turning all night long. The anticipation of the next day's session was the source of his insomnia. Just yesterday, at the end of his four hour session, one of the admins promoted him to "superuser." he had been working toward this promotion for several months. Over the past year, Dan had logged 75 days, 18 hours, and 33 minutes. This was his exact time on line as he logged out last night. he knew this because he checked it, as he did every night before logging out.
Dan absolutely loved the idea of chatting with people from all over the world. The thought that he could be nothing more to them than a witty response on the computer screen gave him a lot of confidence. he could say anything. There were no negative consequences to his verbal persona as there would be if he behaved this way with his friends IRL (In Real Life). he loved the sound of the modem as it established a connection to the Internet. And he hated the fact that at some point in the early morning hours, he would have to log off and go to bed.
Dan is a fictional character (circa 1995) I created to illustrate a point.
Even though Dan now admits he was addicted to the Internet, he really wasn't. he did have a compulsive habit of chatting on line, but the Internet was only the vehicle that took him there. Dan overcame his compulsive behavior, when he woke up one day, and looked in the mirror.
Attention Cyber Geeks, Net Heads, Internet Junkies, et al. Step away from the computer. I am not a doctor. Hell, I don't even play one on TV. But please, please, please step away from your computer.
Ask yourself a few questions. here are a few to get you started.
What is your passion in life?
How are you using the Internet to further your passion?
Or are you just killing time?
Your compulsive time wasting behavior is not caused by "The Internet." The Internet is nothing more than a delivery system for your compulsions and/or addictions. Much like the glass is to the alcoholic. But the glass is not to blame for the addiction.
This "Internet Addiction" thing has gotten so out of hand, it has forced the Psyche community to debate it's existence. Some Psyche professionals have even given it a name - Internet Addiction Disorder. And some are offering treatment for this psychological malady.
I do not quarrel with these professionals as to whether or not addictions involving the Internet exist. My disagreement is in the term. If we are to call it Internet Addiction Disorder, shouldn't we re-evaluate the term for alcoholism? Glass Addiction Disorder?
Proponents of the term, Internet Addiction Disorder, have a bad habit of oversimplifying "The Internet." They also tend to refer to the Internet as if it were a living, breathing, thinking, autonomous being.
The concept of the Internet began back in the 1950s with Project RAND. The main goal was information sharing. This goal was then further developed in the 60s when it was picked up by the Department of Defense. Their research efforts were less labor intensive if separate physical computing centers could be interconnected, thus reducing time and effort in traveling from one computer to another, or sharing information on the telephone.
So The Internet, in it's infancy, was a collection of computer systems, interconnected with cables, for the purpose of sharing information. Though on a much larger scale, The Internet today is very much like the Internet of yesterday.
Some will ask, "What does the Internet do?" The answer to that question strikes at the heart of my opposition to the term Internet Addiction Disorder.
What does the Internet do? It does exactly what you command it to do. Now think about that for a moment. Think about how that affects the question, “Can a person actually be addicted to The Internet?”
If you please. The Internet is not the addiction. It's the substance you pursue, which as it happens, can be found on the Internet. For some, it may be gambling. Or it could be pornography. In most cases, it's nothing more than compulsion. Similar to compulsive shopping. But no matter what the source of the compulsion, the blame lies not with the tools that get your there, but rather within your own choices. You simply must choose to not continue that pattern.
Just step away from the computer, folks. Take a close look in the mirror. The Internet can be a wonderful tool for your life's pursuits. But in the end, you must engage your fellow human being IRL.
