Are You Addicted to the Internet?

Are you compulsive in your use of the internet? Do you devote time to your online pursuits that would better be devoted to your family or career? Do you get up in the wee hours of the morning to check your email, or your favorite website?
If the answer to one or more of these questions is yes, you might be suffering from Internet Addiction Disorder.
This malady was first described by Ivan Goldberg, MD, of Columbia University. He characterized it as a "maladaptive pattern of internet use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress." (Source: Duchon)
Psychologist Kimberly S. Young likens internet addiction to pathological gambling addiction because it "involves failed impulse control without involving an intoxicant." Young studied 396 heavy internet users from a pool of volunteers who responded to an ad. Participants were selected if they reported four or more of the following:
Feel preoccupied with the internet (think about it while offline)
Feel a need to use the internet with increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction;
Have an inability to control your internet use;
Feel restless or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use;
Use the Internet as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a poor mood (feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety or depression);
Lie to family members or friends to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet;
Jeopardize or risk the loss of a significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of the Internet;
Keep returning even after spending an excessive amount of money on on-line fees;
Go through withdrawal when offline (increased depression, anxiety);
Stay on-line longer than originally intended.
Young's study group was composed of 239 females and 157 males. Of her findings, she reported that her study participants "exhibited significant addictive behavior patterns. We also discovered that the use of the internet can definitely disrupt one's academic, social, financial and occupational life the same way other well-documented addictions like pathological gambling, eating disorder and alcoholism can."
She further reported that "the largest [group] of respondents who met this adapted criteria and were most likely to develop an addiction to the internet were middle aged females and those (both men and women) who were currently unemployed." (Source: APA)
Richard Davis, a doctoral candidate at York University has also investigated this syndrome. He writes:
"Some people are simply using the Internet too much. How can we explain these people who seem to spend so much time on the web, often to the point that it interferes with normal functioning? The answer lies in the fundamental nature of the Internet."
"When we mix communication with entertainment, we are left with a medium so incredibly interesting, that it captivates some people to the point of what I call 'Information masturbation.' There is so much out there on the Internet that allows us to have fun communicating with others, that we can always find a way to (metaphorically) stroke our collective intellects. In some cases, people will take this to the extreme, and lose themselves into their Internet world, to the detriment of their 'real' world offline, which invariably results in problems with daily life functioning."