The word “addiction” refers to being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming. Internet addiction has come up to be the latest in the list. Addiction can be of anything – absolutely anything. No more you can only be called addicted to drugs and narcotics. There are several other addictive things or substances available now, and you need to beware of them. Videogames were the ones which turned out to be effectively addictive in the last decade; especially children between the ages of 8 to 19 were the most affected ones.
Addiction, be it of any kind, is considered harmful; because the person gets so engrossed in a particular activity that the world seems alien to him. The addicted being can be said to be possessed by that activity, and this possession tightens its grip with time. The individual gets so enwrapped with what I call as “addictivity” (addictive activity), that he can curtail on other basic needs such as food, thirst, etc. Addiction, as I mentioned earlier, can be of anything, and now it can catch a person of any age – 5 onwards. A kid aged as less as 5 years can be addicted to videogames, playing any particular game, T.V., computer, etc., but he can be forced to leave that activity with adequate actions. An adult person on the other hand is prone to far many things, such as drugs, alcohol, gambling, computer, T.V., anything else – almost anything else, no guesses; and for that person it becomes very difficult to leave that activity. Every now and then he feels the urge to get into that activity again...to perform that action again, because it gives him satisfaction – mental, physical, emotional, and also financial in some cases.
As I said earlier, internet addiction is the latest bug people got bit by, and this bug sees no age. Be it a 9-year-old school going kid or a 90-year-old retired granddad of 5. Individual of almost any age can get addicted to internet. Now, what are the symptoms? Do you think you can be addicted to internet? How much activity on internet is less/more? How can one be addicted to internet? These are so many questions which cross one’s mind when we talk about internet addiction. There is no particular time limit set to diagnose whether a person spending this much time on internet is addicted and the one spending less than this set limit is not...it is the “urge” which decides the addiction. If your answers to following questions come up to be positive, i.e., yes, then you can self-diagnose yourself to be addicted to internet. Do you feel the urge to check your inbox every 5 minutes? Do you feel like checking/changing your “status message” every now and then? Do you feel the urge to look whether or not any of your acquaintances is online, and go ahead to chat if any found? Do you feel like sharing your feelings on internet every now and then as “status message”, or do you let the world know each and every activity you do through the messages on internet? If answer to most of the questions is “yes”, then you are not far from getting almost addicted, and if answer to all the questions is “yes”, then my dear friend, you are already in clutches of this bug – the internet. YOU ARE ADDICTED...!!! People mostly get addicted to particular websites, especially social networking websites, for example, Facebook, Orkut, Google+, etc. Every now and then (as less as 3-5 minutes, when online) they feel the urge to check for updates from members of the network. If they do not find any update, they feel sad, or get busy commenting on others’ statuses, messages, photographs, etc. Usage of internet on mobile devices has acted as a catalyst to this reaction.
Social networking is good, but excess of everything is bad, and this applies to social networking websites or internet activity, too. Now, if you’ve found yourself to be addicted and feel there is no escape, you are wrong. Internet addiction, like any other addiction, too, is curable. But again, one has to take initiative oneself. One has to realize the bad effects of internet addiction and set his/her own priorities. Need is to focus back on other more important aspects of life, and apply CONTROL. Control on oneself plays the most important role in internet de-addiction. So, if one can exercise control over the internet usage, especially addictive websites, one can feel free from this addiction and can focus on other important areas of life. But, as there is no clear-cut demarcation on more/less time spent on the internet or on any particular website, individuals have to analyse themselves the usage pattern.
As the time is passing, new cases are coming up in relation to internet addiction. Everybody has a significant role to play in this or any other “addictivity” – individual, family, peer group, organization, or society – they all can either help the addicted or make the addicted helpless.
0 comments:
Post a Comment