Am I Suffering From Internet Addiction Disorder? Am I Addicted?

“You need to stop playing games on the Internet, you’re getting addicted!”

Whenever your mom or dad says this, a chill goes down your spine. You are angry at them for calling you addicted, but still, deep down, you know that it’s true. You’re playing an Internet game (an MMORPG or just social networking) for more than 3 hours a day. You know that it’s taking precious time off your studies, your other hobbies and sometimes even your work. But you still want to keep playing, and don’t want to care about any other stuff. You just say to yourself that you can stop playing when the time comes, and continue.

Guess what? You’re addicted. In most cases, you already know this, but are afraid to admit it. I’m saying this not to inform you, but to confirm the fact; confirm your doubts.

So, what is wrong with getting addicted? Why does everyone keep saying that you shouldn’t get addicted to the Internet? You’re just having fun! The problem is, it affects your daily life. For example, if you’re spending 3 hours of your free time (4 hours, say) on the Internet, then you’ve just wasted 3 hours for nothing, when you could do something really constructive.

Internet Addiction Disorder is a disorder arising out of an inexplicable obsession or uncontrollable desire to surf or use the Internet, which can include games, chatting, online dating, pornography, etc.

Do you feel you’re in one of those categories? Do you know so? You probably do, or else you wouldn’t even be reading this article in the first place.

Internet addiction is not recognized as a formal mental health disorder. However, mental health professionals who have written about the subject note symptoms or behaviors that, when present in sufficient numbers, may indicate problematic use. These include:

Obsession with the Internet: Do you keep thinking about the Internet even when you’re offline or dream of the Internet when you sleep?
Loss of control: Do you feel unwilling or unable to walk away from the computer? Do you feel an uncontrollable urge to keep surfing or playing online? Do you lose your self-control?
Involuntary quiteness or moodiness when offline: Do you have a lot of mood swings? Do you shout at your parents, relatives or friends for no reason? Do you feel alone or cut off from the real world?
Using the Internet as an Escape: Do you use the Web as an easy mode of cheering you up? Do you use it as a source of happiness or escape from reality?
Dishonesty of time spent on the Internet: Do you end up lying to employers or family members about the amount of time you on the Internet, or find other methods to conceal the number of hours you spend per day on the Internet?
A False sense of Security: Do you reveal information to other people via networking that you wouldn’t reveal when you see a person face-to face? Does the disconnection from reality provide you a false sense of security and a loss of boundaries or inhibitions? Do you feel the urge to commit small cyber-crimes like hacking or scamming for your own reasons?
Having deep virtual relationships with others online: Do you spend an excessive amount of time online, talking and building virtual relationships with people who you’ve never seen before, and dating over the Internet?
Loss of real relationships: Do you spend so much time on the Internet that you neglect your personal relationships like your family?

Any of them reminds you of you?

What is interesting is that an addict has the convincing thought that he/she can come out of the addiction whenever he/she wants. For example, you have the final exam after two months. Therefore you say to yourself, “That’s two months away, so let me have fun till then. I’ll quit when I get near the exams.” However, when the exams actually arrive, you’ll find that you are not able to just “quit”. You are, in fact, so intimately and fiercely connected to the virtual world that you have tied yourself to, that you are unable to come out of it for even a short period of time. Even during the exams, you can’t help thinking of the Internet.

Don’t worry. In many cases, though not all, Internet overuse corrects itself. In many cases, the person involved somehow realizes the amount of time he/she is wasting on the Internet, and simply comes out of the addiction.

However, it does not correct itself immediately, and that leaves you a problem in most cases. The best way to stop the Internet Addiction Disorder is to ask your parents to discontinue your Internet Service for some time, usually when the exams arrive. This way, you are not left with a choice; you can’t access the Internet even if you want to. This is the most stable way of de-addicting yourself. There are other, more subtle ways, like gradually minimizing the amount of time you spend online. But in most cases, this proves to be very difficult and requires a huge amount of will power. If you’re playing an MMORPG like the popular RuneScape, the best way to de-addict yourself is to lose all your valuable possessions in the game. This might seem to be hard on you, but it really works. The moment you find that you don’t have anything worth playing for, you start losing interest in the game. But again, this is very difficult. Canceling membership or “premium” usage in many MMORPGs can also work wonders.

Hope I’ve provided you with some interesting information on addiction. I’ve also written an article titled Five Easy Steps to get rid of your Internet Gaming Addiction, which gives you five simple methods to get de-addicted from Internet MMORPGs: http://gameolosophy.com/games/five-easy-steps-to-get-rid-of-your-internet-gaming-addiction (click)