Internet addiction is the most common addiction among young people.
Internet addiction includes different addictions such as game addiction, social media addiction, chat addiction, and p*rn addiction.
Everyone uses the internet. Young children do not know otherwise and often use the internet for educational purposes. During this time, a child often gives a tablet to play on.
The internet, tablets, and other technology are part of their daily life for this generation. So when can you speak of an addiction? That is sometimes difficult to recognize.
Types of Internet Addiction:
1. Game addiction
Online games are the most addictive. After all, games specially developed to constantly captivate the player, wanting them to play with rewards as often as possible. But the urge and will also become strong because of the competition among themselves. Wanting to be better than the rest, get that higher score, the excitement and curiosity of the new level.
It’s tempting for even the less addictive personalities to check their status every day. Games like Clash of Clans or WoW even require that you play regularly; otherwise, you will quickly fall behind. But also simple games that use notifications on your tablet or phone require attention.
Game addiction happens gradually. It only becomes noticeable when someone spends all nights and days at their computer, tablet, or phone. As soon as it affects daily functioning, the addiction is already well advanced. It is a psychological addiction and therefore requires a different approach than purely physical addiction.
2. Chat addiction
They constantly want to keep in touch with others to maintain social status not miss something. It is the reward of being recognized and appreciated. Chatting is a very accessible form of contact.
You can have contact with many people at the same time. Or pretend to be different from you and lead a double/fanatic life—children from 12 to 15 years old chat the most. But adults are also quick to seek online contact when, for example, their marriage is going badly, or introverts see chatting as a way to make communication more easily.
Chat addiction often goes unnoticed. Or it is seen by parents, as usual, perhaps even optimistic, that their son or daughter has so many contacts. But people can also chat on their phone anywhere, anytime. So it is not always visible. When the offline contact moments become less and less, and the online contact becomes obsessive, there is a chat addiction.
3. Social Media Addiction
Addiction to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media has a lot to do with chat addiction. They want to be constantly informed about what others are doing, news, gossip, and more. The reward of recognition, likes, retweets, and contact is excellent for someone who is addicted to social media.
The person in question will have a hard time recognizing that he/she is addicted to social media, as Facebook and other channels often see as another form of a news source. The interaction sees as being social. But when the offline contact decreases and people cannot go a day without a like or tweet, or even when they are offline on Facebook, there is a good chance that a severe addiction is hiding.
4. Porn addiction
A more famous internet addiction. Porn is abundant on the internet and easily accessible. What first discover out of curiosity can lead to an addiction that also drastically changes someone’s reality, expectations, and interests. It is a habit that can have very negative consequences with the perception of and “sense” in offline fact.
Symptoms of an Internet addiction
- Be (want to) be online all the time than usual
- Not adhering to set limits (e.g., by parents), disobedience
- Less offline social contacts and activities
- Poor performance at school or work
- Depression
- Being isolated and wholly engrossed in playing, chatting, etc. Slow or not responding to external stimuli
- (Secretly) to continue with the internet activities, despite the stated consequences
Not all of these symptoms may occur with Internet addiction. On the other hand, the occurrence of one of the symptoms does not automatically mean that someone is addicted. Someone who uses the internet a lot can do this for work, study or other purposes. Addiction only occurs when an inner urge for internet use arises, and normal functioning is affected.
A great danger is that the person does not feel that they end up in social isolation. Many virtual friends often make on the internet. These are at the expense of other relationships with friends, family, and acquaintances.
People become highly involved and addicted to chatting so that they can no longer function without them. Other daily tasks no longer perform. For example, people drop appointments for this, eat less or irregularly or let sleep.
Internet addiction treatment
Every person and every addiction is different. The treatment will, therefore, always be tailor-made. For Internet and gaming addictions, treatment is outpatient. Discussions give with a psychologist, and the underlying cause is sought. If you want to understand more first, please feel free to contact us. An intervention is also possible. 85% of the interventions lead to the acceptance of help.
