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Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

netaddiction.com

11–20 of 80 posts

Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#11

One of those old scares which seems a little quaint now, not because the fears were unfounded, but because the feared thing came to pass and is normal. Similar to old fears that family time would turn into TV time.

And in the meantime suicide and depression keep climbing

Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#14

> Dependents spent a M = 38.5, SD = 8.04 hours per week compared to Non-Dependents who spent M= 4.9, SD = 4.70 hours per week. Rookie numbers.

The SF is the standard deviation. The dependent group was spending 5.5 hours a day. Though I probably spend over 24 glowing rectangles-hours per day, soooo… https://www.theonion.com/report-90-of-waking-hours-spent-sta...

An average white collar worker today probably spends more than that just doing their job.

Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#15
post #7

What's the solution to internet addiction? It's only seeming to get worse.

The same way you solve "car addiction", you don't. The internet is such a convenient way to get information and media that it outcompeted a lot of other old activities. Sure convenience has issues, like "car addiction" tend to create obesity, since you no longer train the skills dealing with inconvenience, but the convenience itself isn't a problem.

Rather just like we realized people need exercise, you just need to exercise the parts that you no longer need thanks to the internet.

Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#16
post #7

What's the solution to internet addiction? It's only seeming to get worse.

I definitely recommend checking out your local public library, or going for a long walk in a nearby park. Don't take your phone. Allow yourself to be bored. Let your mind wander. Once you get over the weird feeling, and the anxiousness of not knowing what's been happening, you'll likely find that your mind amuses itself. I have a sneaky suspicion that relaxing in this way and encouraging that mental wandering grants…

Your advice to the comment, sadly, amounts to someone telling a drug addict to "just not use drugs", or a depressed person to "just go outside".

Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#17
Have we collectively forgotten that Ivan Goldberg coined this term as a joke?

It was also an ironic commentary on the overreach of addiction metaphors to encompass everything that existing social structures, especially established structures of productivity and wealth extraction, found disruptive.

In that sense, the advent of "internet addiction" as a frame of reference was also part of the internet moral panic, which itself was just another iteration of all technology panics that have accompanied every shift in communication technologies, including the TV, movies, radio, novels, and book printing (which was the original fake news panic).

So, grain of salt.

Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#18

One of those old scares which seems a little quaint now, not because the fears were unfounded, but because the feared thing came to pass and is normal. Similar to old fears that family time would turn into TV time.

And in the meantime suicide and depression keep climbing

Yes, but the source of that is not the symptom.

Re: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder (1996) [pdf]

#20

One of those old scares which seems a little quaint now, not because the fears were unfounded, but because the feared thing came to pass and is normal. Similar to old fears that family time would turn into TV time.

You could add the matrix. We used to wonder if we were living in a simulation. I run often into teens running after VR goggles and explain they want to live tethered into virtual life to enjoy whatever life is possible without fear of death. And just last week a dude was too proud to explain that playing video games was better than looking outside because his neighborhood was too sad. Talk about escapism.
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