Internet addiction

You can get addicted to pretty much anything including the internet.

Addiction takes many forms. There's a section on addiction on malehealth. It's possible to become addicted to the internet. However, some people who appear addicted to the internet may actually be addicted to something they access through the internet  such as pornography or gambling rather than to the net itself.

Worried you might be addicted? Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Do you feel preoccupied with X (Do you think about X when you are doing something else and look forward to it?)
• Do you feel you need more X each time to get the same level of enjoyment?
• Have you made efforts to control, cut back or stop X?
• Do you do X longer than originally intended?
• Have you put X before the more important things in life like your relationships, job, education or career?
• Have you lied to others about your involvement with X?
• Do you use X as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving, for example, feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety or depression?

There is commercial US site on internet addiction: www.netaddiction.com

BBC World Service: Caught in the Web

The BBC World Service broadcast a programme on internet addiction on 23 March 2011 called Caught in the Web. You can download a 13Mb podcast or link to the page of the Discovery strand on which it was broadcast. The programme explores various aspects of internet addiction, including trying to define the term through exploring some of the psychological aspects of this condition. The programme looks at these issues in a number of places, not least China (which has the highest number of internet users) where there are over 200 clinics to support people with Internet Addiction.