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How to Detect and Cure “Internet Addiction Syndrome”

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Is there really anything like Internet addiction? How do you know if you are addicted to the Internet? These are some of the questions I asked myself when I discovered I was spending more than 4 hours a day browsing the Web. Perhaps, the fact that my area of specialisation involves Information Technology (IT) does not help matters either. While I am not aware of anything called Internet Addiction Syndrome, there are a lot of people or their partners who are worried whether they are addicted to the Internet. Twenty years ago, this question would probably never have been asked and perhaps it is one of the fall-outs of the kind of technology advancement we have today.

Computers are becoming more mobile, take for example – laptops, tablets, notebooks and smart-phones are all around us. Back in the days, the only mobile computer I knew of was a rubber calculator wrist-watch, fast-forward two decades later, mobile devices and broadband companies are evolving everyday and access to the Internet has become a lot cheaper and more accessible. So then, how do you know if someone is showing signs of addiction to the Internet? Well, the answer is quite easy to figure out, for example – when one carries a portable Internet device everywhere including on a family vacation, when you are anxious to check your email inbox whether you are expecting an important message or not and when you wake up in the middle of the night to look at your phone or computer without a reasonable excuse.

Inasmuch as the above signs may not indicate a medical condition, there are steps that can be followed to ensure that you do not for example, ruin your family holiday. You can leave your portable Internet devices at home, set aside a specific time to read emails or browse the Web, pick holiday destinations where there are limited or no Internet or mobile phone network coverage or the use of mindfulness technique whereby you discipline your mind not to wonder too far ahead or behind.

Talking Point

How can one separate business from his or her personal life? Can you suggest other ways of reducing Internet impulsion or dependency?

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7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. UK Webmasterserve forum

    September 24, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    I dont think internet is addiction, because in my case, I can not separate my business from internet. Internet is my office and it is the place I earn my living. Moreover, internet is a good place to source for information, news, latest technology and lots more.

  2. Henway

    September 24, 2010 at 9:54 pm

    If you make a living off the internet, the internet can still be an addiction.. ever heard of the term workaholics? If you’re using something to escape the truth of your life situation, or to numb away pain, angst, or existentialism, it’s addiction.

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  4. Tom Anelli Reviews

    September 25, 2010 at 8:30 am

    There will be always the right time and appropriate place to use the Internet. Discipline is the distinct way to minimize or to avoid yourself from being addicted to computer and alike gadget such as mobile phone.

  5. Ericka Ruf

    October 1, 2010 at 11:36 pm

    I used to suffer from this Internet Addiction, Been a webmaster I used to spend 8 to 10 hours a day working on my websites, working on seo and every thing else. All that effort brought me a lot of success and the opportunity to be the owner of my own time. After all this hard working days I realized that I needed to scape from the internet, so I decided to take 2 to 3 days a week to travel, every week of the month… there are more valuable things in life than just make money, I can not imagine my life without internet, but I rather spend my live living it..

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    December 30, 2010 at 3:17 am

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  7. wtjy

    April 5, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    Hahahaha i swear this hit me right on the head. I’m a real internet addict but I’m sitll able to maintain my outside social life.

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