Internet addiction?

Question

I am a 23 year old student with depression and anxiety disorder. My question is is it normal to surf the internet for long periods of time? Whenever I intend to check my email or work on an assignment, I end up looking at websites for hours at a time and I barely notice that time has passed. I read news articles, blogs, wikipedia, yahoo answers, internet movie database, youtube, and just about everything else. Everytime I tell myself I am about to quit, I tell myself "just one more link." I don't know why I fill my head with all of this useless, random trivia (what were the oscar nominations in 2003, who were nancy drew ghost writers, the average age of marriage in the US vs other countries, famous left handed people, movies with talking animals, list of song titles that are also movies, etc) because I only forget it an hour later. I miss sleep & neglect responsibilities because of this. Does anyone have a sugestion of how to quit surfing w/o giving up my pc(I need it for school work).

Answer 1

You need to introduce other more interesting things into your life. Find something to do outside of the house so you wont be home to surf the net. I have had the same problem before. I now work so many hours that I can only surf a couple of hours a day. If you truely enjoy doing it then why stop? just because other people think its weird? It seems that your problem could be that your life is just too boring to keep your attention so you use the internet to escape to another reality. The only thing you can do is to make the rest of your life more interesting.

Answer 2

Same here, difficult to stop surfing, yahoo answers, stumbleupon, etc. (have you heard of stumbleupon.com? it's very addictive.) Are you trying to escape responsibilities in some way? overwhelmed by work? try making the internet surfing your reward for finishing a task, maybe. you could always disconnect your internet connection (eeeeeeeeek!!!!!!! I can't believe I said that!!!!), that would take sheer will power. maybe find some interests away from the computer like hanging with friends, sports or playing games. Btw, who won best supporting actress in 2003??? :-) see you later on yahoo answers :-)

Answer 3

This may sound counter-productive, but search Yahoo!Answers for OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). The answers may help you.

My advice is check out the symptoms link at www.hufa.org, and maybe try the diet suggestions there, or in the library link in the same site. It is possible your use of the Internet is due to a low blood sugar condition.

Answer 4

We are alike in some ways. The internet is sooo much fun to be at. I also spend alot of time in the internet. I have heard about internet addiction. I hope I am not hook lol. I gues if you feel that you're getting hook then maybe you should limit you're hours like if you spend 5 hours try to quit at 4 and so on. Take care.

Answer 5

That's usually the case with social anxiety, and perhaps anxiety in general. You don't want to go out into the world, and the internet keeps you entertained while not putting you around "real" people.

Answer 6

Hey there, I have that problem, too. I downloaded 'Temptation Blocker' which allows me to shut off the internet, without shutting off Outlook Express, or the other things that I need for as long as I want. It's been pretty helpful. I hope you start feeling better soon. :)

Answer 7

internet can be addictive ! you should limit ur time everyday ..... GET ORGANIZED ..... search in LIFE (not the net) what you like doing.... and programme ur day ! do everything .... like study first n then you will have the time to search the net.... if ur worried that u wont have time and ull be too tired to search the net after u studied .... write on paper the things ur curious to find on the net and search them the next day ... and if you studies first .. then the next day u get the paper n search what u want t search for !!! the net will always be there and its ENDLESS .. ur studies can be eliminated!!! you should really control urself coz ur damaging urself ... and being infront of any tv,pc screen is so harmful to your eyes!!! there are SO many things you can do... trust me ... u can do it !

Answer 8

Here is some information on internet addition:

Are you addicted to the internet?
http://www.netaddiction.com/resources/internet_addiction_test.htm

Hooked on the Web? Health Is on the Way (NY Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/01/fashion/thursdaystyles/01addict.html?ei=5090&en=1a8916920717f083&ex=1291093200&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

General info
http://library.albany.edu/briggs/addiction.html

Good luck to you,

Rachel

Answer 9

Funny! 100!

Answer 10

i do that all the time
i was depressed couple of months ago and i've been doing that since then