According to a new study by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, 'Internet addiction' is becoming a serious, widespread issue or indeed problem in some cases.
It has the potential to become a compulsive disorder along the lines of substance abuse and impulse control disorder if it is not identified and treated on time.
The researchers carried out a telephonic study of 2500 Americans and found that between 6 to 12 percent of Internet users were addicted to the computer and were even neglecting their work, food and families because of their internet addiction.
In the study, the Stanford researchers found that 5.9 percent of the respondents realized that their relationships were suffering because of their addiction and 13.7 percent of the respondents were so addicted to the Internet that they could not even stay away from the Internet even for a few days . In the survey 8.7 percent of the respondents felt the need to hide their excessive non- essential Internet use from their friends, family and even employers.
An important finding of the survey was that more than 8 percent of the internet users were using it to self medicate, uplift their mood and as a means to escape from reality. These non- essential computer users were falling into this trap because the computers offer them anonymity and a sense of closeness and connectivity.
The survey indicates that the most likely people to fall into this trap are single, well educated young men in their thirties who spend about thirty hours every week surfing the internet and are willing to substitute their social interactions with these virtual surreal interactions on the internet.
These symptoms of “Internet addiction” are very similar to alcoholism and other substance abuse but there has been no comprehensive quantitative or qualitative research on this addiction. This Stanford survey is the first attempt of the researchers to identify this addiction as a distinct condition and draw attention towards this widespread problem.
