Getting Entangled By Your Computer Use?

HAS YOUR COMPUTER USE BECOME OUT OF CONTROL?

Many young people across the country are finding themselves spending longer amounts of time online, sometimes to the detriment of their work, studies and social lives, and being drawn into a downward spiral of missed classes, not getting homework completed, focusing on online social interactions instead of real social relationships face-to- face, and 'going online' to escape from or relieve the pressures of everyday life.

The Internet can be an invaluable resource for in the academic community - finding information, communicating with friends, co-workers, and professionals. Used as such, it is a healthy and helpful tool. But some find that they use it to fill their time, avoid other life responsibilities, neglect normal social interaction, and become increasingly dependent on their 'logon'. They lose their own personal control of their computer use.

Here are some things that suggest a problem:

Lack of sleep and excess fatigue;
Declining grades;
Less investment in relationships with boyfriend or girlfriend
Withdrawal from all campus social activities and events;
General apathy, edginess, or irritability when off-line (s)
Denial of the seriousness of the problem;
Rationalizing that what they learn on the Net is superior to their classes;
Lying about how much time they spend online and what they do there; and
Trying to quit completely when threatened with possible expulsion because of poor grades, then slipping right back into the same addictive patterns.

Yet, despite these problems, denial cuts especially deep in the college environment because packed computer labs provide an effective cover. When you're sitting in rows of Internet users whose obsessions manifest in eight-hour sessions, no one's going to tap you on the shoulder and say: "Hey, I think you're seriously addicted to what you do on the computer and you need to get some help." Most students laugh off any suggestion that they're becoming psychologically dependent on the feelings they get from playing games and chat rooms. "Only foolish adults get addicted to stuff they take or things they do," students counter. "I can cut back or quit fooling around on the Net any time I want."

But some students can't cut back . . .

Symptoms of Internet Overuse and Addiction

Based on symptoms identified by the Ivan Goldberg Internet Addiction Support Group, individuals may be too dependent on the Internet when they:

constantly try out new browsers, research Internet vendors, join Internet groups and constantly download materials;
fantasize about the Internet;
voluntarily or involuntarily move their fingers as if typing;
have to spend more and more time online to feel satisfied;
are increasingly criticized by friends, bosses, students, and family members for ignoring social, job, academic, and family duties;
use the Internet for longer than they intended;
give up or cut back on important social-, work-, class-, or recreation-related activities;
try to stop or reduce Internet use but can't because of agitation, anxiety, and obsessive thoughts about what they're missing while they're not online; and
continue surfing the Internet despite the problems it fuels, like loss of sleep, relationship conflicts, poor academic or work performance and loss of significant friends and relationships.