Essay On Internet Addiction

When we think about the word addiction we usually think about marijuana, alcohol, nicotine or drugs. In the article “A World Wide Woe - Internet addiction sounds like a punch line. But it ruined my brother’s life”, author Winston Ross (2009), written as a Newsweek Web Exclusive, gives us a look into the world of internet addiction.

This article is about the rehab center called ReStart Internet Addiction Recovery Program which was new to the Fall City, Washington, area. Many other commentaries on this article focus on the author’s brother and his compelling story. But in fact I feel the author effectively uses a story about his brother to emphasize the points he makes about the rehab center and the fact that internet addiction is a very real illness.

ReStart is an inpatient addictions treatment center. Psychologist David Greenfield, founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction in West Hartford, Conn, conducted a survey in 1999 and found that 5.9 percent of the 18,000 web users surveyed demonstrated the symptoms of being addicted to the internet. (Ross, 2009, para 11) The Internet is addicting, says Greenfield (2009), because it works on a “variable ratio reinforcement schedule.” (para 9) The variable ratio schedule, in operant conditioning, is where a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses. What makes this so addicting is the high steady rate of responding. Gambling and lottery games are examples of rewards based on the variable ratio schedule. “The Web may be dangerous for some people because it can feed or spur existing addictions, making gambling, shopping, and sex readily available to those who have already developed the compulsion to binge on those things.” (Ross, 2009, p...

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...personally am convinced it does and it also happens to be very difficult to treat. ReStart has a 12-step program that may include therapy sessions and may require medical treatment for depression or anxiety. Part of the therapeutic treatment includes lessening the attachment to the virtual reality world and completing normal everyday actual world tasks in its place. Checking back in with the world, so to speak.

So the question is what happens when the ReStart patients leave recovery? How do you escape computer usage when computers are available, and in most jobs necessary, for everyday use? As with any condition it requires discipline, therapy and an awareness of your limits. If only it were that easy. Finally, I find there to be a certain irony that the author is writing this article as a web exclusive. At least he knows he is reaching his target audience.