Why Are We Addicted

1
Why Are We Addicted?

• A presentation on how and why people become
  addicted to the Internet

2
Youre An Internet Junkie If.

• You wake up at 3 am to go to the bathroom and
  stop to check your e-mail on the way back to bed.
• You start introducing yourself as JohnDoe at AOL
  dot com.
• You forget how to work the TV remote control
• You try to enter your password on the Microwave.

3
Are You Online?

• More and more people are discovering the joys of
  the internet. Some are finding that once they
  sign on its nearly impossible for them to sign
  off.
• Kimberly Young, a Professor of psychology, Found
  in 1994 that people who were dependant on the
  internet spent 38 hours a week online, compared
  to only five hours a week for nondependent users
  (Potera).

4
Whos At Risk?

• Anyone who has access to the many online services
  can become addicted.
• College students, however, seem to be especially
  prone to it.
• Affected College students can spend anywhere from
  40 to 60 hours a week in MUDs (Multi-User Dungeon
  games), e-mail, and chat rooms (Potera).

5
Why Do We Get Addicted?

• The fantasy world the net can offer through chat
  rooms, MUDs, writing e-mail, surfing the web and
  playing games is an attractive alternative to the
  daily grind. It is an alternate state of reality
  that some users are reluctant or even unable to
  leave (Murray).
• A recent study by psychiatrist at the University
  of Cincinnati suggests that people hooked on the
  internet may also suffer from underlying
  illnesses such as manic depression, anxiety
  disorders and substance abuse. It has not yet
  been decided if compulsive computer use is a
  disorder in its own right (Seaman).

6
Why Do We Get Addicted?

• As a Language Arts Major I have studied many
  theories on how and why humans communicate. One
  theory I found to be particularly interesting was
  Bryon Reeves and Clifford Nasss theory on Media
  Equation
• They claim that people respond to communication
  media as if it were a living thing. Meaning that
  we react the same to TVs and computers as we do
  to people (Griffin).

7
Why Do We Get Addicted?

• They credit the slow pace of evolution as the
  reason the human brain responds socially and
  naturally to media. It has been demonstrated in
  their studies that people respond to computer
  personalities in the same way that they respond
  to human personalities. Click Here
• This theory could explain why people can become
  so addicted to their computers. They see the
  computer the same way we would see spending time
  with our friends, completely normal and natural.
  Not as an addiction (Griffin).

8
Harmful Side Effects

• One of the dangers of constant online surfing, is
  that Internet social interactions can start to
  replace real social relationships. Click here
• Students visiting chat rooms or playing MUD games
  can assume new glamorous identities. Some start
  to believe they are loved and cared for in these
  identities and spend the evening with their
  computer instead of going out and meeting people
  (Murray).
• During my research I came across many accounts of
  people who lost their jobs, family, and friends
  because they could not stay off the computer.
  They began to prefer their cyber-world over the
  real one.

9
When Is It A Problem?

• When it starts to interfere with other parts of
  your life, such as sleep, work, socializing and
  exercise.
• When you become depressed after leaving your
  online personality.
• When you cannot turn it off or limit the time you
  spend on the web (Murray).

10
Are You Suffering From Internet Addiction
Disorder?

• Danger Signs
• STAYING on line longer than you intended
• Admitting you CANT STOP from signing on
• NEGLECTIONG loved ones, chores, sleep, reading,
  friends, exercise, sex, or social events because
  of internet
• Spending 38 HOURS a week or MORE online
• Failing attempts to CUT DOWN time on line
• Feeling ANXIOUS, bored, sad, lonely, angry or
  STRESSED when not on line, but happy, loved, calm
  and confident with on the internet
• Favoring CHAT ROOMS, games, and MUDs over other
  internet activities (Potera).

11
How To Cure It

• Not recommended for home use

12
Hot-Nets to Click

• http//www.computeraddiction.com/
• http//www.virtual-addiction.com/
• Subscribe to Internet Addiction Support Group
• http//www.Listserv_at_netcom.com/

13
References

• Seaman, Debbie. Hooked Online. Time, 12 Oct.
  1998 114-116.
• Potera, Carol. Trapped in the Web. Psychology
  Today 31 Spring 1998 66-70.
• Murray Bridget. Computer Addictions Entangle
  Students. American Psychological Association
  APA Monitor 1999 43-47.
• The Media Equation. Griffin, Em. A First Look
  At Communication Theory. McGraw-Hill Publishing,
  2000 373-384.

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