Internet Addiction Hype Disorder
I’m sure that some people really are addicted to the Internet. I’m probably one of them! I can and will “unplug” from time to time (”I can quit anytime I want,” he said…) but truth be told I’m online for large chunks of most days. I get tired and burned out and haggard like everyone else in the working masses, but I attribute it more to work than the mere experience of being online.
But there’s addiction and then there’s addiction.
According to a doctor in Israel, “10 percent of Internet surfers are afflicted with ‘Internet addiction disorder,’ which can lead to anxiety and severe depression. Internet addiction is classified by mental health professionals as an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a mild to severe mental health condition that results in an urge to engage in ritualistic thoughts and behavior.”
Ten percent of “Internet surfers” is a lot of people. Like hundreds of millions. I think it’s going a little far to allege that hundreds of millions of people are experiencing a disorder from online use that can “lead to anxiety and severe depression.” So in essence one could also argue that eating food in great quantities can lead – for some, mind – to getting fat.
Meanwhile, a new study asserts that Facebook is costing Australian companies billions of dollars in lost productivity (hat tip: Lifehacker). This alarming conclusion comes about due to the speculation that “the cost to companies if one person in every organization spent an hour on Facebook instead of working.”
Note the use of the word if. In other news, if tortoises could fly, there would be a whole new magical way for Internet-addicted Facebook time wasters to commute to work.
I’m going to attempt to quell my Restless Leg Disorder while I ponder this one some more.
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August 20th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
I agree the percentage claim is unfounded, but since there are people who have compulsive, addictive personalities, it’s probably an area worth studying. There’s no denying the PC is changing the way people behave in dramatic ways.
August 20th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
EL B, I agree. I was a little bit flippant and tounge-in-cheek in my take on this story, but no doubt there are people who have developed serious issues due to online behaviors, and absolutely without doubt the Internet is rapidly changing and shaping the lives of many hundreds of millions.
August 20th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
I wasn’t reacting to your tone, just the issue itself. Sorry if it came off like that
August 20th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
No, you didn’t, you came off just fine!
August 21st, 2007 at 8:21 pm
One of the interesting parts of this conversation, me thinks, is going to be the whole social aspect of the internet. It is pretty well understood that everybody needs contact with fellow humans and longs for some sort of intimacy.
In many ways, e-mail, facebook and blogs connect us to each other in a very real way. How will this factor into the whole addiction scenario? Are we going to say someone is addicting to communicating with their friends?
I don’t know, but it is interesting to think about.
August 22nd, 2007 at 10:22 am
Great thoughts, Mat! This gets into the whole real world versus virtual world communications conundrum. In other words, if you spend all your time social networking online, is that less valuable somehow than real world face time. My moms always uses the old axiom “moderation in everything,” and like on most issues, she’s right on.