Internet addiction disorder is a relatively new term that was supported by some parties and criticized by others.
The debate was whether internet addiction is a disorder or whether it’s just a bad habit of overusing a new technology. I don’t care about who is right because what I care about is letting you know why you overuse the internet and how to get over this problem.
Internet addiction disorder symptoms
I won’t argue whether internet addiction is a disorder or not, but you need to understand that if the following symptoms are present, then you’re over the use of the internet is not correct:
- You spend a very long time on the internet.
- You may stay online in-spite of suffering from dire consequences (e.g., having no time to study or even losing your job)
- You feel irritable when you try to reduce your use of the internet
- You stay online more extended than the time you planned to visit.
- You depend on the internet to get rid of bad moods.
Internet addiction disorder causes
Here are some possible reasons
- External dependency and internet addiction: Like any other addiction, external dependency is always a significant factor. External dependency depends on an external factor to feel happy or to escape from a bad mood.
- Internet addiction and the need for socializing: sometimes, the real cause behind internet addiction is a real need for dating. Some shy people or those who don’t know how to date try to use the internet to satisfy the social conditions they can’t help otherwise
- Internet addiction as an escapement method: some people overuse the internet to escape from their problems. Usually, those people have other issues that they don’t want to face; therefore, they use the internet to forget them. The subconscious mind always comes with neat self-deception attempts to allow you to escape without feeling guilty. since it would hurt your ego to admit that you want to run your subconscious mind lets you develop an addiction such as internet addiction to let you think that you are not escaping
Why internet addiction is hard to spot
The problem with internet addiction is that it does not appear as dangerous as other types of addiction, allowing it to escape unnoticed in most cases.
The same happens with love addition (unable to live without a loving partner or to tolerate being alone). Love addiction is hazardous; love addiction can prevent people from recovering after breakups, force them to fall in love with the wrong persons, and prevent them from having a healthy relationship.
Keeping an eye on such addictions seems to be harmless, such as internet addiction disorder, because they usually hide behind them more serious personal problems.
