Warning Signs Of Cyberaddiction (and How To Detect It)
Have you ever noticed, in crowded places, the number of people who walk without looking where they are going, with their eyes fixed on their mobile phones?
The use of the Internet has become a fundamental tool for our lives It allows us to get in touch with loved ones despite being miles away, produce and receive information about our personal interests, consume entertainment programs or video games, among many other functions. The virtual world opens a space of infinite possibilities that at another time would have been unthinkable. The freedom that the Internet offers, added to the skill with which they move on it, makes it the favorite means of exchange for children, adolescents and young people; all children of the digital age.
However, the potential of the Internet can carry certain risks. Although most of the time it is a beneficial quality, the ease and speed with which people can obtain what they want right now It can lead to excessive consumption of that inexhaustible source of gratification. For this reason, many investigations have been carried out about how dependent we can become on the Internet, arriving at very interesting conceptualizations around it, such as cyber addiction.
Although there is no absolute consensus to determine where the threshold is between what is healthy and what is pathological, it has been possible to determine a series of warning signs – that is, problematic behaviors or first manifestations – from which we can detect dependence on the Internet which we will develop in this article.
Cyber ​​addiction: what is it and what are its characteristics?
Cyber ​​addiction is the formal concept that refers to pathological dependence on the Internet. Although this theoretical category has its particularities, we could maintain that it shares certain characteristics with some substance addictions—such as, for example, tobacco or alcohol. Some of them are: the relevance that the activity acquires in the person’s life, starring their thoughts, feelings or behaviors most of the time; a pleasant subjective experience around the activity, a product of the activation of the brain’s reward systems (which will make it more likely that the problematic behavior will be repeated); conflict or interference with other people due to the importance given to the activity; withdrawal, that is, those unpleasant emotional states, such as anxiety and irritability, that occur when the activity in question cannot be carried out; and finally, relapse.
Yes indeed, Although cyber addiction shares some characteristics with chemical addictions, it is a psychological addiction Therefore, problematic behavior does not directly have negative physical consequences. However, this in no way means that the health of the person suffering from an Internet addiction will not be affected. In the case of cyber addiction, the notable physical consequences will derive from sleep deprivation caused by the inability to disconnect, a behavior that usually extends late into the night. This habit in the medium or long term could lead to a weakened immune system, fatigue, and a deterioration in general health.
The warning signs of cyber addiction
Taking this into account we can free the way to determine when it is convenient to talk about cyber addiction and when it is not. The most likely thing is that, no matter how shocking the situation may seem, the scene described above of people hooked on their phones is nothing more than a manifestation of our times. This does not imply that carrying your cell phone everywhere is healthy behavior, but it is not necessarily a sign of addiction.
Compared to frequent use of the Internet, something that distinguishes cyber addiction is the loss of control over the use of electronic devices through which the network is accessed, such as cell phones or computers. No matter how much the person manages at a certain moment to consider that certain behaviors can be harmful in many areas of his life, such as at work, school or in his interpersonal relationships, he continues to refer to them. In fact, These behaviors take control over your life
Some of the first manifestations that could suggest that a person is dependent on the Internet are the following: the person makes drastic changes in their habits in order to have more time to connect, neglects their own health or physical appearance as a result of the activity Internet, avoid important activities to spend more time “online” and, above all, the desire to remain in front of the screen, instead of appeasing after the use of an electronic device, is increasing.
Another point of reference that we could consider to determine the warning signs of cyber addiction is to ask ourselves what the questionnaires used in empirical research on this topic evaluate. Although there is no univocal way to collect data from research participants, some of the items that are considered in certain studies to see if a person has Internet addictive behavior are:
Taking this into account, we could maintain that cyberaddiction has a series of characteristics shared with other addictions. However, we must be attentive to the particularities of network dependency in order to be able to detect when a person is making pathological use of the Internet. It is worth noting that Both the evaluation of cyber addiction and its corresponding treatment must be carried out by a mental health professional
Cyber ​​addiction is a disorder that seriously affects the quality of life and mental health of those who suffer from it. It is therefore necessary to have professionals in the field of psychology capable of knowing and discovering this pathology.
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