Internet Addiction?

Question by eyedocwood: Internet Addiction?
Wondering if anyone has any experience treating internet addiction and if so what methods were used. Are SSRI’s often used for this type of behavior?

Best answer:

Answer by Pam Ragland
Dear “Eyedocwood”,
Internet addiction is one of the fastest growing addictions today, because it is so available. I have experience with addictions of all kinds. I include Internet Addiction in my book “The 7 Whys of Addiction: The Hidden Secrets that Cause Addiction and The 3 Keys to Finally Be Free of Them”, because it is so prevalent today.

It helps to understand how addictions happen to understand this addiction & how to treat it. First, all addictions are an avoidance mechanism.

They can start out harmless enough. What happens with any addiction, internet included, is it starts as a simple habit. It may be the habit of surfing the internet or playing games at night for example. Then, when it is truly an addiction, it progresses & has a greater impact on your life. I created a scale to explain this (in my book) I call “ACS” or the “Addiction Continuum Scale” because every addiction is a progression. It starts out as a simple habit and progressess over time.

How quickly it progresses into something more harmful to you depends on why you have the addiction in the first place and how aware you are of the process.

SSRI’s shift the neuro transmitters in your brain. These are your brain’s reward centers… So, from that perspective IF you are feeling pain you then avoid with your addiction, you may feel better.

However, these do nothing to determine the reason you are avoiding in the first place. They are a patch, and will never cure an addiction. This is like treating your cough with cough medicine when you have lung cancer. It treats the symptom not the cause. In fact, sometimes they are like putting a lid on a volcano which later explodes. I know those who love prescription drugs as a treatment won’t agree with me, but this is what I have observed.

I recommend getting rid of the triggers, and changing your habits. I talk about this more in a free report, and my book. Both are available in the source list if you would like more information.

Make no mistake, any addiction gone untreated will get worse. It is simply a matter of how fast.

Warmly,
Pam Ragland

What do you think? Answer below!

 


 

Internet Addiction: Signs You Need to Shut Down ( Guru) – We all love the internet, but could a favorite pastime turn into a full blown addiction? http://mental.healthguru.com/

 


Tags: , ,

20 Responses to Internet Addiction?

  • Laura Vittadini says:

    This is the first Mental Health Guru summary that does NOT describe me –
    FINALLY. Then again, this is my husband 100%. I wouldn’t even know if his
    phone was glued to his hand or not…?

  • Jon Tyson says:

    If you’re wasting lots of time on the web then set up openDNS to block all
    distracting websites on your router. ?

  • BestOfBothMinds says:

    Claire can get her own fuckin coffee!

  • AtanasovPetar says:

    How do i lower my internet time when i have to work in it for a living.This
    is a puzzler 😀

  • rclark23 says:

    I use to jokingly ask that question at electronic boutique game store, when
    looking for a new game after playing the 1st Halo Xbox game quite intensely
    for that last 3 weeks, I would say do ‘they’ have a 1-800 number for gamers
    anonymous, and I was Serious.. As George Carlin refers too as ‘DIGITAL
    CoCain’ Decent link as to How and Why; Search,, What Causes Internet
    Addiction? Spooky shit here folks. ME,, I feel drawn here because; C.F.R.
    HDTV is a Corp Monopoly now aka LIES and Sell sell sell

  • Carles Lloret Salvo says:

    And then you will have medical mental attention addiction.

  • lucy christianson says:

    Well, apparently you haven’t learned how to use capitalization or
    punctuation on the internet. Huh, “how about them apples?”

  • Ramsés Amadeus says:

    I wake up checking my phone, I spent over 3 hours and start getting ready
    for work 30 minutes before I have to go

  • AtanasovPetar says:

    I play games for a living.

  • yumagetbullet says:

    internet keeps me from real life? nonsense. internet IS REAL LIFE! that
    thing that you call ‘real life’ keeps me away from what is my life !! my
    life belongs to the Network.

  • inuyasha3384 says:

    Since I got here in America, I’ve always wanted to try this Marijuana. I
    curious :/

  • ncisfan29 says:

    this is just an opinion of mine but people who joke about this need to
    really think before they type. Internet addiction is almost as serious as
    alchohol and coke addictions. I would take it seriously..just saying. 🙂

  • dana enani says:

    shit i have internet addiction

  • doulikewaffles1029 says:

    lol

  • Stephanie Chu says:

    I skip class to go to the school library to use the computer.

  • czabyl says:

    Life is boring with out addiction it is natural so fuck to the therapists
    you have one life use it internet addict all day!

  • best496 says:

    Starting tomorrow I’m not going to go on the internet at all for 3 months
    until September. I spend about 8 hours a day on the internet on the
    weekend. I just think it’s a waste of time and I feel like crap after being
    on the computer so long. I could be doing something else more important.

  • rachmoulder says:

    The last time I was away from my computer is when it got a virus before I
    got anti-virus protection and my poor baby computer had to go to a little
    computer doctor to fix him and I was so broken I stared at the monitor
    (yes, I have a desktop. Fuck off.) and imagined what I’d do if the poor
    baby computer was there and just had to touch the monitor sometimes…I
    never go more than the hours I’m asleep without internet…am I addicted?

  • Mr-Nice-Guy j says:

    Call of duty

  • Sarah Herndon says:

    @slimshady4everr Same here… ;_;

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *