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Thread: Obsessive Internet use poses risk of isolation, depression, researchers say

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    Exclamation Obsessive Internet use poses risk of isolation, depression, researchers say

    - How long have you been sitting there, staring at this screen? Are you spending more and more of your time clicking and typing, typing and clicking? Is there nothing else you'd rather do? Think carefully about the answers to these questions, say psychologists; they may tell a lot about your mental health.
    A growing body of research suggests that excessive Internet use carries some of the same risks as gambling: It can lead to social isolation, depression and failure at work or school.
    Some people -- particularly those who were isolated to begin with -- have forged healthy friendships by meeting kindred souls online. But using the Internet too much can hurt face-to-face relationships. And psychologists say an increasing number of people are using the Internet so obsessively that they are ruining their marriages and careers.
    In one survey of 1,700 Internet users, presented August 24, 1999 at a meeting of the American Psychological Association, 6 percent of those surveyed met the criteria for addiction: They felt a building tension before the act, a rush of relief afterwards and distortions of mood and bingeing.
    Many get hooked on Internet pornography. "We're a nation of puritans," says Dr. Kimberly S. Young, the survey's author and executive director of the Center for On-Line Addiction in Pennsylvania. "And this is the first time in our history we've had something so uncensored in our homes. You can get to very objectionable material in a few keystrokes -- even by accident -- and then it's hard to get out of the site."
    Dan Moore (not his real name), a self-defined compulsive personality-type and workaholic from a Midwestern state, says the Internet destroyed his life. This middle-aged professional is currently going through divorce proceedings from his wife of nine years and has been denied visitation rights with his two children due to his addiction to sex sites. According to Dan, his wife claims that some of the "soft porn" sites he regularly logged on to used minors. "She became obsessed with the thought that I was getting involved in child pornography. She even accused me of molesting my children." Although Dan vehemently denies both charges, he admits that determining the age of women on the plethora of available pornography sites is virtually impossible. "It's like having access to a million adult videos, all for free. It's seductive. You get mesmerized."
    Dan, who has recently begun treatment with an Internet addiction specialist and is taking antidepressant medication, rid his home of both PC and modem. "When I finally realized how it has affected my life, I felt like smashing it, throwing it out the window. Now my compulsion is to try and understand what I've done to myself and my family."
    But it isn't only pornography that attracts addicts to the Internet, says Paul Gallant, a licensed addiction counselor at the Sierra Tucson Center for Addiction in Arizona. Some people are lured by the appeal of creating new identities for themselves. Other users make a habit of online gambling, auctions or stock trading. "Your life may be really boring in reality, but online you're a competitive superhero," Gallant says.
    Even innocent inquiries can become obsessions in a medium where information is limitless, he adds. "Say you're a wine connoisseur, you find this great site and it's linked to another great site. Fine, you've learned a lot more about wine. Then all of a sudden you realize six hours have gone by. You're obsessed with getting more and more information."
    Experts are still debating nearly every aspect of the Internet's effect on mental health. Advocates argue that the new medium's social benefits outweigh its risks. They point to studies like one in the February 2000 issue of the journal American Psychologist that found that many people draw comfort from anonymous discussions with others who share their medical conditions.
    But these studies are balanced by others that reveal a strong link between excessive Internet use and serious mental disorders. For a study in the March 2000 issue of the Journal of Affective Disorders, researchers interviewed 20 people like Moore whose lives had been disrupted by the Internet. Nearly all of them were diagnosed with serious mental illness, such as bipolar disorder. Many were sacrificing sleep to spend an average of 30 hours a week online outside work.
    But does the Internet cause the mental illness, or does mental illness lead people to abuse the Internet? Researchers tried to answer that question in a 1998 study by providing Internet access to 169 people who previously had not been able to log on from home. The researchers reported in American Psychologist that the more time these people spent online, the less time they spent with their families, the smaller their social circles became and the more depressed and lonely they felt. "Even for people who don't manifest addictive behavior, the Internet is almost an invitation to obsession," says Young.
    Many psychologists who accept that the Internet can be abused still hesitate to use the phrase "addiction." University of Florida psychiatrist Dr. Nathan Shapira, -- who co-authored the Journal of Affective Disorders study -- prefers "internetomania." But whatever you call it, he says, it's clear that the problem needs more attention. "It concerns me that we're bustling along blind. ... There is a tremendous amount of money going into the development of this technology and almost nothing going into understanding how it affects people. That may spell trouble ahead."

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    Don't forget carpal tunnel syndrome. All you wankers know what I'm talking about.

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    i know its long - but basically just says ppl use the net as a method of socializing and it affects mental health.. i see it sometimes and i think its disturbing

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mizfit
    i know its long - but basically just says ppl use the net as a method of socializing and it affects mental health.. i see it sometimes and i think its disturbing
    There are plenty of instances of it, take a look at this place for starters
    Last edited by Phreak101; 11-09-2006 at 11:42 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Phreak101
    There are plenty of instances of it, take a look at this place for startes

    Yes i realize that - but in some cases it's a bit scary to point it out to people directly because you really do not know their mental state.

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    Confussed I log on when I'm bored, are you talking about people trying to hook up or something? (post was long, I have ADD and their were no smiley faces to break it up)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mizfit
    Yes i realize that - but in some cases it's a bit scary to point it out to people directly because you really do not know their mental state.
    I agree to a point, but catering to mental illness only allows the person to continue living in whatever demented reality they have stuctured for themselves. Sometimes people just a need a smack in the face to bring them back from outer space.

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    Quote Originally Posted by goodcents
    Confussed I log on when I'm bored, are you talking about people trying to hook up or something? (post was long, I have ADD and their were no smiley faces to break it up)
    haha sorry i forget the smilies sometimes.. basically people become too obssesive about the net and forget to live..

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    Quote Originally Posted by Phreak101
    There are plenty of instances of it, take a look at this place for starters
    ehh...not exactly though..i come on here throw my 2 cents around when im bored or have nothing to do...most people dont come on here cause they have no one else to talk to...i think the article pertains to people that are lookin to make meaningful relationships online...and this is there only choice for making friends...

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    Quote Originally Posted by lucabratzi
    ehh...not exactly though..i come on here throw my 2 cents around when im bored or have nothing to do...most people dont come on here cause they have no one else to talk to...i think the article pertains to people that are lookin to make meaningful relationships online...and this is there only choice for making friends...
    Yah kinda what i mean.. but seriously it can be spokey.. and maybe i see it more because im female.. but it can be downright creepy

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    Quote Originally Posted by goodcents
    Confussed I log on when I'm bored, are you talking about people trying to hook up or something? (post was long, I have ADD and their were no smiley faces to break it up)
    No, we're talking about people like Tai

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    Quote Originally Posted by Phreak101
    No, we're talking about people like Tai
    Tai just wants attention and he has a knack for being annoying.. its accpetable

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mizfit
    Yah kinda what i mean.. but seriously it can be spokey.. and maybe i see it more because im female.. but it can be downright creepy
    Women are a different story. If you break the mental state of a crazy girl, they go beserk. Mental breakdowns, crying, threatening suicide, very dangerous and unstable actions in a huge cry for help. It's a scary thing to wake up one day and realize that you despise who you have become.

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    Quote Originally Posted by lucabratzi
    ehh...not exactly though..i come on here throw my 2 cents around when im bored or have nothing to do...most people dont come on here cause they have no one else to talk to...i think the article pertains to people that are lookin to make meaningful relationships online...and this is there only choice for making friends...
    Well luca I'm not saying everyone, but I'm sure we can all think of a couple people we have a met online that are a bit too detached from reality...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Phreak101
    Women are a different story. If you break the mental state of a crazy girl, they go beserk. Mental breakdowns, crying, threatening suicide, very dangerous and unstable actions in a huge cry for help. It's a scary thing to wake up one day and realize that you despise who you have become.
    I mean from men...

    U know how freaky it is when u have someone msging u constantly asking what your doing and telling you that your ignoring them - when in actuality you just got a life and just dont sit by the computer 24 7.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mizfit
    I mean from men...

    U know how freaky it is when u have someone msging u constantly asking what your doing and telling you that your ignoring them - when in actuality you just got a life and just dont sit by the computer 24 7.
    Haha, sometimes guys let out their inner stalker online. Miz i don't know how you do it. When guys like that figure out you're a girl it's bad enough, but then they know you're good looking to, I'd imagine you get about 50 IM's the second you log onto any messenger service

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mizfit
    I mean from men...

    U know how freaky it is when u have someone msging u constantly asking what your doing and telling you that your ignoring them - when in actuality you just got a life and just dont sit by the computer 24 7.
    '
    I feel my best contact method is email


    i can be a real nerd sometimes

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mizfit
    I mean from men...

    U know how freaky it is when u have someone msging u constantly asking what your doing and telling you that your ignoring them - when in actuality you just got a life and just dont sit by the computer 24 7.

    ....it really is quite disturbing

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    i think its a reverse effect on me, when i am depressed or isolated it somtimes cheer me up and helps. but i dont isolate myself because im a addict. i know i border line addict at times because i got nothing else honestly possible i can do, but this is true, and maybe i am in denile but i think its possible

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    im really only on here long enuff to say a few stupid things then look at some porn spank it.. shower... repornspank then shower again (i hate being unclean) then goto wat ever i gotta goto then come back home chek emails re'respank and bed

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    Quote Originally Posted by taiboxa
    im really only on here long enuff to say a few stupid things then look at some porn spank it.. shower... repornspank then shower again (i hate being unclean) then goto wat ever i gotta goto then come back home chek emails re'respank and bed
    alot of spamking going on in your world! good for you! i think there is another thread soley about that going on rt now

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    I have seen obsessive people even in my day to day life - but when someone is in your face it is alot easier to judge their mental state.

    When its thru a monitor it's not and you don't know how much someone can actually handle.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mizfit
    I have seen obsessive people even in my day to day life - but when someone is in your face it is alot easier to judge their mental state.

    When its thru a monitor it's not and you don't know how much someone can actually handle.
    Agreed. Their is always a lot of idealization going on when you cannot see or judge the person. Some people take it too far I suppose...

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    I can defenetly identify with this.

    Even innocent inquiries can become obsessions in a medium where information is limitless, he adds. "Say you're a wine connoisseur, you find this great site and it's linked to another great site. Fine, you've learned a lot more about wine. Then all of a sudden you realize six hours have gone by. You're obsessed with getting more and more information."
    I am not a very social person but I wouldnt be more social if I didnt have the net so Id say it has made my life richer, especialy with the unlimited amount of information.

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