Internet usage has become a far greater part of society in the past 2 decades. It is used for, virtually, anything one can imagine. Everything is connected to the web for example; if you want to order something from a shop, you don’t need to call the store and ask for it, you just have to fill out a form with what you want and it will arrive at your doorstep. Furthermore, another element the internet has brought to the people of the world is entertainment anywhere you are, people don’t need to go to the park or even get out of the house to have fun or socialize. Humans are spending an incredible amount of time on the world wide web. That is what is starting to worry some psychologists, the sheer amount of time the world population is spending checking social media, playing video games, or sending messages back and forth. So the question I ask today is, Is the internet addictive?
Addiction is defined by the Cambridge dictionary as “an inability to stop doing or using something, especially something harmful”. However, it doesn’t specify anything about any kind of substances so this refutes the idea that any kind of ingestion is required for it to be considered an addiction. The Internet is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “A global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols”. It is quite difficult to make it appear that someone is addicted to the internet since, by what is stated by Dr Levy “...unlike chemical dependency, the internet offers several direct benefits as a technological advancement in our society and not a device to be criticized as addictive” However, is the internet making people addicted to it or are people just using it a lot more than they used to do it but in a harmlessly way?
First of all, let's address the issue from the perspective that the internet is, in fact, addictive. This viewpoint falls in line with Dr. Kimberly S. Young’s article called “Internet Addiction: Symptoms, Evaluation and Treatment”. In this article, Dr. Kimberly states that addiction doesn’t necessarily have to include a substance but rather just be something that hinders your ability to function properly in society due to this activity. The criteria for internet addiction are the ones that are used in the assessment of pathological gambling but modified to reflect the effects of addictive behaviors toward internet usage.
There are several reasons to consider the internet as addictive, according to an article published by the mental help addiction center. One of the reasons is the sudden rush of dopamine that the brain produces each time the person logs on the computer. Users keep getting small rewards that give them a tiny rush of dopamine which makes them want to come back more so as to get even more dopamine thus creating a cycle that is extremely hard to break through. In addition to this, the web is not just on the computer anymore, now it is on your phone or tablet so it has become a part of our daily basis to check it due to the fact that it is intensely easier to gain access to it thus promoting the previously mentioned cycle. Besides this, the fact that there aren’t any significant physical changes in the user, according to mentalhealth.net, the lack thereof a clear negative side to excessive internet use makes people feel like there isn’t anything wrong with what they are doing, along with the fact that sometimes excessive use is rewarded, it makes people feel that there isn’t anything wrong with them.
Internet addiction affects family life for the addicted person, it disrupts communication and gets in the way of doing mundane but necessary tasks such as doing the dishes, or tidying up the room because the obsessed spend most of their time utilizing the web. Dr. Young claims that fifty-three percent of addicts had relationship problems and that marriages are the most affected by this phenomenon in which the partner usually takes up all the undone chores and feels neglected by the other person. When confronted, the addict will deny the accusations and claim that they don’t have a problem or that they are using it for something useful such as work or academic purposes. Moreover, online relationships tend to overshadow physical relationships, the addictive mate will isolate himself and resent doing previously pleasurable tasks like going out to dinner or watching a movie in the cinema. The sufferer would much rather stay indoors with the company of an online friend than go out or spend time with their partner, thus provoking them to quarrel more so as to then lead to a breakup or divorce.
On the other hand, the increase in internet usage and the rapid connection to it has made it easier for people to spread their ideas all around the globe, according to a study made by St. Joseph College. This has generated the possibility for people to learn from things happening across the world that might help them in the situation they are in right now. This communication tool has even helped movements and organizations to get more followers, organizations such as Greenpeace and the whole environmentalist movement has been benefited from the fact that, through the internet, people have been joining their cause and aiding them to the common goal which is, in this case, to ensure that earth is still capable of sustaining life in the future. Furthermore, the communicating capabilities of the internet have made it easier for families to communicate when they are in a different country so that one of the parents may have to stay in one country while the rest of the family has to move to another due to economic difficulties or any other situation, it gives the family an opportunity to talk with the family member that was left behind. Aside from this, the internet helps you communicate with people from every kind of reality and may help you broaden your mind and can help you discover new friends that you would have otherwise never met, an article in the new york times written by Jazmine Hughes supports this.
When it comes to the ethical point of view, as we have established before, internet usage is quite difficult to classify as an addiction due to the many benefits that it carries. However, as it may impede people from making the most of their lives and it may even impair them, we can not say that it is purely good with no negative consequences whatsoever. Unlike substance abuse, internet addiction doesn’t have any major physical side effects, but this does not mean that there are none. Usually, the sufferer spends an enormous amount of time using the internet (time used on the internet isn’t a deciding factor), on average people with the disorder tend to use the internet from sixty to eighty hours a week, with sessions that may last up to 20 hours according to Doctor Kimberly S. Young. To maintain these behaviors, patients frequently will disrupt their sleep patterns. The addict will stay awake past their usual bedtime just to spend more time surfing the web. In some cases, caffeine pills are used just to keep the session going. These kinds of behaviors create extreme fatigue for the patient and downgrade their performance academically or occupationally.
However, the benefits of the internet aren’t limited to communication, although it is its prime characteristic. The Internet can also help people research any topics they need to write an essay about them or to educate themselves on a topic in order to have a debate about it and be able to defend their point of view or even change it due to the new information they have gathered. What is more the fact that, according to an article from the Child Mind Institute written by Caroline Miller “...many of the things kids do on those devices are age-appropriate activities that in the past have been done offline: socializing with peers, exploring personal interests, shopping, listening to music, doing schoolwork, watching movies or TV.” Teenagers are just replacing things that required them to do much work, with the same things just that do not require the extra effort.
Internet addiction has been an issue since the 1990s with it first being introduced by Dr Young. Since then the topic has been excruciatingly researched by many due to the increasing worries that parents have for their children. An article published in PubMed Central states that internet addiction is being considered to enter the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to be publicly known as a mental disorder and not just a colloquial term. A part of the psychology community has been trying to classify internet addiction as a disorder on its own or for it to be a symptom of other kinds of disorders such as depression or anxiety or maybe be an impulse control disorder. However, the factors that take place in assessing this addiction point towards it being its own disorder since “It is accompanied by changes in mood, preoccupation with the Internet and digital media, the inability to control the amount of time spent interfacing with digital technology, the need for more time or a new game to achieve a desired mood, withdrawal symptoms when not engaged, and a continuation of the behavior despite family conflict, a diminishing social life, and adverse work or academic consequence”. What is more, according to an article written for the PMC for the American National Center for biotechnology information' there has been research that suggests that there is a biological factor that increases the chances of developing this condition due to the fact that people that are born with fewer dopamine receptors or do not produce enough of it have a higher risk of being affected by this.
On the contrary, scientific methods for the analysis and diagnosticating of this addiction vary a lot between different countries thus giving inconclusive results. This in turn has divided the scientific community between the ones that think that internet addiction is a pathological disorder of its own and those who believe that internet addiction is not real or it is just a symptom of another disorder, as mentioned before. In addition to this, the investigation into internet addiction has only just begun thus making it impossible for it to be studied thoroughly enough according to another article by the PMC. This shows that science alone cannot prove the existence of internet addiction.
After taking everything into account, one can understand both postures clearly. At first, my view was supporting the question and it still is because I haven’t found enough source material that proves that internet addiction isn’t addictive. However, conducting this research has led me to be more invested in the topic and to continue researching. It must be noted that my knowledge about this issue and my resources to investigate is limited. Perhaps a more thorough and well-funded investigation may reveal different outcomes and possibilities.