US Students Suffering From Internet Addiction

goG sends in a piece from IBTimes on the latest study to confirm what is becoming pretty obvious. The article mentions the Internet addiction rehab center we discussed last year. "American college students are hooked on cellphones, social media and the Internet and showing symptoms similar to drug and alcohol addictions, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Maryland who asked 200 students to give up all media for one full day found that after 24 hours many showed signs of withdrawal, craving and anxiety along with an inability to function well without their media and social links. ... 'Texting and IM-ing my friends gives me a constant feeling of comfort,' wrote one of the students, who blogged about their reactions. 'When I did not have those two luxuries, I felt quite alone and secluded from my life.'"

Comments

Re:I don't buy this

[Sarten-X]

It's a habit. No more and no less. There's obviously nothing chemical causing the "addiction", and this study is useless to profile whether someone follows the normal trend for psychological dependence.

Dropping anything normal for 24 hours is weird. I had a friend in high school (one of them cross-country folks) who would run a few miles each morning before school. One day he didn't, and there was a marked difference in his personality until he ran home (a distance of 5 miles) afterwards. He seemed mentally slower to respond than normal, yet craved physical activity. Was he "addicted" to running?

I think it's more likely that when habits are interrupted, it's just discomforting. Replace the Internet connection with something else (like a trip to an amusement park, sans cell phone), and you'll find that these "signs" disappear.

I'm sure it's possible to become addicted to everything, including the services the Internet provides. The human mind is a crazy thing. I sincerely doubt it happens anywhere near often enough to be concerned about. These rehab centers are just exploiting fears.