Recently, a home computer connected to the Internet will not surprise anyone. Electronic world created by the hands of a person began to replace many living communication. This dependence is akin to drug addiction. How to understand whether the line of pathology has not moved to the Internet?
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Many network users start testing excitement while on the Internet. The desire to start as many acquaintances as possible or download more interesting information makes them be in the virtual space all night (the Internet is at this time it is cheaper and, as a rule, a good connection). How we can carry out the boundaries between a healthy interest in the network and pathological dependence on it, which affects the performance of a person and begins to harm his social life, undermines his mental health.
Internet-dependence phenomenon
The Internet-Dependency Phenomenon is now attracting the attention of scientists, network researchers, media. This phenomenon began to be studied in foreign psychology since 1994. Internet addiction is determined by psychologists as «An obsessive desire to enter the Internet, being off-line, and inability to leave the Internet, being on-line». Under on-line it is understood to communicate in a real-time network, off-line - communication via the mailbox, when the immediate interlocutor is missing at the moment.
How to recognize Internet addiction
Researchers lead various criteria by which you can judge the Internet addiction. For example, Americans allocate 4 main features.
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Obsessive desire to check e-mail
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Permanent Desire to the next Internet access
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Complaints around the fact that a person spends too much time on the Internet
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Complaints around the fact that a person spends too much money on the Internet.
Russian specialists lead more unfolded criteria. In their opinion, the Internet addiction can be stated in the presence of 3 items from the following:
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The amount of time to carry out in the Internet to achieve satisfaction (sometimes a sense of pleasure from communication in the network borders with euphoria), increases noticeably
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If a person does not increase the amount of time he carries on the Internet, the effect is noticeably reduced.
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The user performs attempts to refuse the Internet or at least spend less time in it
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Termination or reduction of time spent on the Internet leads to a user to poor well-being, which develops within a few days to month. It can manifest themselves increased anxiety and excitability, constant conversations and thoughts on the Internet, as well as machine movies, as if man prints on the keyboard.
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Use the Internet allows you to avoid «denial syndrome».
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Internet is often used for a large amount of time or more often than it was conceived.
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Significant social, professional activities, rest are terminated or reduced due to the use of the Internet.
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The use of the Internet continues, despite the knowledge of the existing or permanent physical, psychological, social, professional problems that are caused by the use of the Internet (lack of sleep, family (marital) problems, late for the meeting scheduled for the morning, disregard for professional duties, or a sense of ability to be significant) .
In other studies, Internet addiction it was established that Internet-dependent frequently «Anticipate» Its access to the Internet, there are nervousness, being off-line, lie relative to the time of staying on the Internet, and feel that the Internet creates problems at work, financial status, as well as social problems.
So, guided above the listed characteristics of Internet addiction, you can judge your own Internet dependence or the presence of such familiar. The experience of psychotherapists shows that if a person recognizes this or that type of dependence, whether dependence on harmful substances or from the Internet, he is trying to cope with it on his own or with the help of people close to him, as well as specialists (psychiatrists, narcologists, psychotherapists or psychologists). It is not a critical attitude to its own problems (that is, the denial of their presence) and makes people addicts, alcoholics, Internet dependent and so on, as people do not recognize themselves and deny this problem. Say, Alcoholic motto: «I'll throw drink at any time if I want. And if I'm still in the cut, then this is from what I still do not want to quit it». I compare the Internet dependency with other types of dependencies, since I consider the mechanisms of their occurrence, which will be said later. Of course, in comparison with dependencies from harmful substances, the Internet addiction is not so harmful, as it does not exhibit itself at the physical level.
