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 (Mental Health Guru) – We all love the internet, but could a favorite pastime turn into a full blown addiction? http://mental.healthguru.com/
Tags: internet addiction, prescription drug, Prescription Drugs
20 Responses to Internet Addiction?
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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…?
If you’re wasting lots of time on the web then set up openDNS to block all
distracting websites on your router. ?
Claire can get her own fuckin coffee!
How do i lower my internet time when i have to work in it for a living.This
is a puzzler 😀
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
And then you will have medical mental attention addiction.
Well, apparently you haven’t learned how to use capitalization or
punctuation on the internet. Huh, “how about them apples?”
I wake up checking my phone, I spent over 3 hours and start getting ready
for work 30 minutes before I have to go
I play games for a living.
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.
Since I got here in America, I’ve always wanted to try this Marijuana. I
curious :/
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. 🙂
shit i have internet addiction
lol
I skip class to go to the school library to use the computer.
Life is boring with out addiction it is natural so fuck to the therapists
you have one life use it internet addict all day!
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.
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?
Call of duty
@slimshady4everr Same here… ;_;