Apparently yes, you really can get "addicted" to the Web. And despite the many jokes about it, Web addiction is becoming more serious for both teens and adults.
Researchers are finding that teens who have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely to become addicted to the Internet. They are also finding that adults who spend many hours everyday involved in pornographic websites, gaming sites, and online communities are likely to be depressed, according to The Week.
Internet addiction has been a problem for the South Koreans and Chinese who, because they embraced mobile technology much earlier on than we did, are already going to rehab for Internet addiction. Now Americans have an Internet rehab facility too. A new center called reSTART opened in Washington, ironically near the Redmond headquarters of Microsoft. For $14,000 it offers a 45-day program intended to help people wean themselves from pathological computer use, which can include obsessive use of video games, texting, Facebook, eBay, Twitter and any other time-killers brought courtesy of technology.
Are you or is someone you love addicted to the Internet? Take this test and find out!
As more studies continue to emerge about teens and adults who "spend nearly every waking minute on the net or playing video games" the chicken-and-egg question remains unsolved: Does heavy Internet use cause people to be depressed and lonely, or do depressed and lonely people gravitate to excessive time on the Internet?
What do you think?
Erin
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