Dan Jellinek
Have you ever stayed up all night on the Internet? Do you live to go online? Is your partner threatening divorce? Internet addiction affects around one in 10 regular Internet users, reports what is claimed to be one of the most extensive reviews of the field.
The paper, by Janet Morahan-Martin, psychology professor at Bryant College, Rhode Island, was presented at Addictions ’98, a three-day international symposium held in Newcastle, United Kingdom, recently.
Morahan-Martin’s paper compares the work of more than 40 psychologists during the 1990s. It finds that “pathological Internet users” are more than twice as likely as others to pretend they are someone else when online.
“Users are free to experiment with different forms of self-representation online with the relative safety of anonymous interactions,” she says. Compulsive users are also more likely than others to use Internet games such as “multiple-user dungeons”, chat-rooms and sites with sexual content.
Morahan-Martin’s review has uncovered a range of possible causes for compulsive Internet use. One includes the sense of “power and mastery” achieved online – in games, for example – by people who might find it hard to achieve feelings of power in their lives.
She also finds that excessive Internet users are more likely to be lonely or depressed. This would appear to be borne out by a study released last month by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, United States, which found “strong evidence that the Internet caused declines in psychological well- being”.
But this study sparked fierce controversy centring on the difficulty of determining cause and effect: does the Internet cause the depression, or do people suffering from depression seek escape online?
Foremost among the survey’s detractors has been the research firm Activmedia, , which earlier this month said its own study showed the Internet expanded people’s social interactions, enabling them to express themselves with greater ease.
According to Activmedia’s founder, Jeanne Dietsch, “Young people who spend hours in chat rooms … are in the minority. Overall, the Internet is improving social networks dramatically.”
Morahan-Martin agrees that problems exist in assessing the scale of the addiction problem. “The combination of the rapid growth of the Internet, not knowing its effects, and concerns about negative consequences have created a climate where bad news can become magnified.”
She is also expecting a rough ride at the conference from purists who object to her applying the word “addiction” to anything other than substance abuse. But she says it is undeniable that many Internet users have serious problems. “People feel helpless, out of control, and report interpersonal problems, divorces and even impaired health resulting from their Internet use, and they are clamouring for help. `Internet addiction’ is the term many have applied to themselves and reflects a sense of powerlessness.”
One of the strongest exponents of the addiction theory is Dr Kimberly Young, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and founder of the Center for Online Addiction.
“The same criteria used to define alcoholism or compulsive gambling were used to define compulsive Internet use. I don’t see how you can use the same measures and not call the Internet addictive,” says Young.
“We used to promote alcohol and other drugs as beneficial until research uncovered the risks. The same may be true of the Internet. It is too new to predict if it will benefit or if it will harm society.”
Are you an addict?Ten signs
l You promise to cut down time online, but are unable to do so
l You lie about the time spent on the computer
l You experience negative consequences as a result of time spent online
l You participate in high-risk behaviour
l You have an over-developed sense of your computer’s importance
l You have mixed feelings of euphoria and guilt from being online
l You have feelings of anxiety when something shortens your time online
l You are preoccupied with computer activities
l You use the computer to avoid problems in your life and feelings of inadequacy
l You have financial problems as a result of computer use