19 Million People addicted to the Internet?

by Brad Isaac on November 30, 2005

Something occurred to me as I was reading this article about how 6 to 10% of the Internet’s 189 million users might have an addiction to it.

I was on the Internet while I was reading that!

Not only is it an “addiction” say some, but it’s as destructive as alcoholism and drug addiction. A clinic has been developed to help people deal with this addiction. They give as one of the examples a 34 year old unemployed man who still lives with his mother and who has a compulsion to surf, check email, game etc. The author also mentions the countless people who have been fired for looking at porn at the office or the marriages lost due to online affairs. What??

If you want my opinion, these people are bored and don’t have enough to do. The guy above isn’t addicted so much as “enabled” to do it. Most of us choose to lead a responsible life where we are responsible for our own outcomes. Yet, if you give some people the opportunity to do nothing…they will! If you give the guy a choice between flipping burgers in a fast food place and living in a box out on the street with no Internet hook up, I’ll bet money which he’d choose…

Technorati Tags: Internet, Addiction, Boredom

Thank YOU for spreading the word. You are the best!

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

1 B. Riley December 1, 2005 at 8:42 am

The problem is, that wouldn’t be an accurate depiction of his choices. He can flip burgers in a fast food joint and surf when he gets off work.

OR

He can sit at home and surf all day long, and collect some type of funds monthly from the government on a tax-free basis, which will probably be equal to, if not more than, his fast food check.

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2 Cherry February 22, 2010 at 9:18 am

I am a University student who is writing a feature about internet addiction, if anyone knows of someone who is addicted to the internet, online gambling or social networking sites, please get in touch. We can use fake names in the feature and it is just for University work.

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