Smacked up by the Net

Addicted to the internet. Who isn't these days? Everyone I know practically lives on the internet, or on their mobile phone checking the internet, texting, chatting, playing games.... and I suppose some of those people surf porn and play online poker, too. Studies in the early 90's say a significant minority of Americans suffer from the disorder, which, is a disorder only when it interferes with 'normal life'. Nowadays, it is 1 in 8 Americans. Is that really any surprise? The whole world is pushing internet smack- from the prevelance of social websites and integrated chatting, emails, the information we need to feed our ambition for success, for progress, for instant gratification, and consumerism. What is a normal life anymore? Can anyone really define normal? I think the solid definition of a normal life was valid twenty plus years ago when typewriters were still in use and people received letters in their mailbox. 

Sufferers of internet addiction are generalized as individuals who exhibit signs of depression, anxiety, impulse disorders, are anti-social, have a poor self image, or simply don't have great, or even average people skills. Engaging with the web is a type of escapism that frees them of the concepts of time, space, and reality much like drugs or alcohol. In fact, over half of avowed internet addicts also abuse  drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and/or sex. Social networking sites, chat rooms, gaming, poker, and porn are the top enticements.

Personally, I think the last two generations have been groomed to be heavy internet users and future generations will positively be even further engaged in our ever increasing virtual reality. It is the way of the future. It is the way of the present. With family values gone to hell, divorce rates over 60% in the United States, what kid isn't going to be depressed, anxious, conflicted, and have a need for escape? Over 80% of all teenagers these days have tried or use drugs and alcohol and 'sexting' is like, this new epidemic amongst minors. To define internet use as 'excessive' is really kind of a loose variable. So much of our society revolves around the internet; education, business, travel, research, news, politics, charitable causes, even television has capitalized on net phenomenon, encouraging interactivity, voting, and texting.

While the United States is celebrating their first retreat center for internet addiction in Fallbrook, WA.... ironically close to Microsoft headquarters, Asia already has over 400 clinics employing methods like shock therapy and boot camp like environments. The American retreat, fortunately, looks to petting goats and bunnies as an alternative. Warm fuzzy animals have long been used to coax addicts of all kinds back into a caring, focused frame of mind. At reStart located in the Heavenside Retreat center in Fallbrook, life coaches and human to human conversations engage addicts, fostering people skills, a connection with real life, and hopefully cure them of this 'disease'.

The American Psychiatric Association does not recognize internet addiction as a valid affliction because many of the symptoms are diagnosable, like manic depression or anxiety. Admitting internet addiction as a viable malady, would allow people to bill their insurance for treatment and thus far, our country is ill-equipped for such a step. Lord knows we wouldn't want to be shipped off to China for help, either. One 15 year-old boy was beaten to death before his first day was out at one of the boot camps for recovery, just last month.

So how do you know if you are ill? I think forgetting to eat, drink, urinate, or maintain relationships with any human beings face to face is a sure sign. Otherwise, I believe society is grooming all of us to be more and more on the internet. If you aren't on the internet, you aren't 'with it', your business suffers, you are out-of date. If you don't type at least 55 wpm with your eyes closed and know how to turn your Myspace page every color of the rainbow, you must be close to 60. But, the question I want to ask is- are we living more of our lives online because real life says we need to in order to stay in touch? Or are we living online to the point that our people skills fade over time and we just prefer it? It is alot easier dealing with a screen that will do anything you say versus a flesh and blood human that has the ability to disapprove, reject, scream, criticize, or disregard... with devastating effects to our emotional state. Texting far outranks actual phone calls these days to the general dismay of dating singles. The lack of commitment and fear of rejection point are showing up more and more in youth culture, leading to a removal from interpersonal communication. Texting, emailing, chatting, and social networking online allow for a degree of removal and is 'safer' than real time or face to face interaction.

I think instead of asking whether or not you are addicted to the internet, the more important question is, where is this taking all of us? Because the world as we know it is inseparable from the virtual reality in which we all participate. Are we using the internet, or is the internet using us? And to what ends? What will our society look like in 10 years and how will we be communicating with each other? With communications speeding up and devices becoming more necesary, mobile, accessible, and sophisticated.... how will technology effect the way we relate to one another, as humans?

Sources:

Wikipedia.com

http://www.netaddictionrecovery.com/

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,543680,00.html