Internet Use | Contemporary Addiction

Defined in 1995, Internet Addiction even has a page on Wikipedia
According to Maressa Orzack, director of the Computer Addiction Study Center at Harvard University's McLean Hospital, between 5% and 10% of Web surfers suffer some form of Web dependency. The major symptom in this behavior is when it becomes a problem and takes over your life. When you are not doing the things you should be doing, keeping up your responsibilities, fulfilling your dreams, interacting with your relationships in real time, and generally neglecting yourself.

L.A. Times Article | Internet addiction: a 21st century epidemic with some more at risk than others?
A two-year study tracked more than 2,000 young teens in 10 middle schools across southern Taiwan, and found that 233 subjects--10.8%--could be classified as having an addiction to the Internet. Males were more likely to fall into that category.Those who played online games were more vulnerable. And teens who used the Internet everyday and/or 20 hours a week or more were more likely to be deemed addicted.

Internet Addiction Test
How do you know if you're already addicted or rapidly tumbling toward trouble? The Internet Addiction Test is the first validated and reliable measure of addictive use of the Internet. Click here to read the study. Developed by Dr. Kimberly Young, the IAT is a 20-item questionnaire that measures mild, moderate, and severe levels of Internet Addiction.

Psychiatric Symptoms May Predict Internet Addiction In Adolescent
ScienceDaily (Oct. 6, 2009) — Adolescents with psychiatric symptoms such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), social phobia, hostility and depression may be more likely to develop an Internet addiction, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Even though this is a new phenomena, An Internet Addiction Guide can be found with a discussion about what defines it as an addiction and debating its existence. They say the definition was based upon weak scientific information from surveys and anecdotal reports. Uhmm. That sounds familiar.

Seems like "what is" is what is. Meaning if one is addicted to any kind of behavior, and I should know, then this could be defined as a behavior.

Let's define addiction:

addiction |əˈdik sh ən| noun the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity : he committed the theft to finance his drug addiction | an addiction to gambling. ORIGIN late 16th cent. (denoting a person's inclination or proclivity): from Latin addictio(n-), from addicere ‘assign’ (see addict ). 1 his heroin addiction: dependency, dependence, habit, problem. 2 a slavish addiction to fashion: devotion to, dedication to, obsession with, infatuation with, passion for, love of, mania for, enslavement to.

It seems the word 'Addiction' is better defined by the 'person' who is an Addict. It appears there are two types of illustrations. One is a negative context, where the individual must feed his addiction, often times by stealing or unethical behavior. And the addictive behavior, in and of itself, is unhealthy.

1 stealing money for your next high, just like the addicts out in the street | a barbiturate addict: abuser, user, drug addict; informal junkie, druggie, -head, -freak, pill-popper, dope fiend.

Then there is a kind of addict which appears pretty positive. I think in 'homeopathic terms' we might call this 'compensatory' behavior. The person compensates for a lack of a better solution to his or her problem.

2 informal skiing addicts: enthusiast, fan, lover, devotee, aficionado; informal freak, buff, nut, fiend, bum, junkie, fanatic, maniac.

So, a computer freak will devote all his time and energy to working, learning or playing on the computer. Just as anyone else who has a passion in life may devote all his time to learning a new technique, refining an artform, practicing an instrument, spending hours in the laboratory or on the sports field just to reach an end goal. Perhaps, what this says is there is no balance in this person's life. Or maybe they are spending all their time and energy doing something to compensate for other things that they are unable to attain. I suppose everyone can come up with a hypothesis or two about why and how people spend their time. We could all ask ourselves the same question.

Okay. So how do we bring this into the realm of homeopathy? I will leave that up to my readers. I'm hoping to get some stupendous replies. Guess why I am letting you finish this post? Because I am an internet addict and I know it. Plus, I am very tired and often times do not finish what I start. Well, I intend to finish what I start with all good intentions. But, everyone has just so much time and so much energy and . . . bla, bla, bla

sending love and light to all
Debby

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