Who Suffers From Computer Addiction?

WHO SUFFERS FROM IT?

Computer addiction is shared by the young and the old, the meek and the bold. "Now the addiction strikes women as often as men, young students as freqently as retirees,and folks of all intellectual levels." [39] As media like the Web make it ever easier to access the Internet, it becomes less and less necessary to understand computer technology in order to become obsessed with computers. Different groups of people are inclined to be afflicted with different kinds of addictions, but there are plenty to go around.

People with underdeveloped social skills, from the slightly insecure to the very geeky, are drawn by the social ease inherent in electronic communications like email, MUDs, and IRC. As the well-known cartoon says, "On the internet, no one knows if you are a dog." You can hide your appearance on the net, assume alternate personas and genders, and generally feel far less inhibited than in face-to-face interactions. People who have difficulty with live interactions are most likely to become dependent on these forms of electronic communication. They are offered the illusion of social relationships free of pain and discomfort, which raises their self-confidence so that they no longer feel complete without computer interaction and their on-line personalities.

Many people view all computer users as socially-challenged. However, ever-friendlier user interfaces like the Web have put computer addiction at the fingertips of users who do not conform to the usual stereotypes. The newest breed of addicts lose themselves in the colorful Web pages and multimedia presentations, surfing til it hurts. Due to the youth of the Web, they have not yet been given a popular stereotype; popular culture has been able to pretend that they do not exist. However, this blindness cannot remain for long. Computer addiction via the Internet suddenly requires only a modem and Netscape, rather than extensive computer eduction, and the population that will suffer from it is growing dramatically.

Children are becoming addicted to video games on their home computers. Parents should watch for withdrawal symptoms, like irritability when they stop playing. Some children play computer games up to 30 hours a week. Reports claim that these youngsters have cravings as powerful as junkies needing a drug fix. [40] As with all other groups of addicts, the extreme amounts of time spent on their addiction lead to sacrifices in the other areas of their lives: friends, homework, and other activities. In children this can be particularly dangerous, since it threatens their development and permanent view of the world around them. Some experts say that children tend to outgrow their addiction during adolescence, but others claim that adolescents are more prone to computer addiction than other groups. It seems no one is immune to the siren song.

Older people battle with computer addiction, as well. People who know almost nothing about computers decide to see what the fuss is about and find that the games they try are completely hypnotic and they are unable to stop playing once they start. One journalist wrote, "I burn out on computing after a time. But I worried two years ago when our new computer came with a standard blackjack game. For a couple of months, I was addicted. I didn't lose any money playing blackjack that way. But I lost something more important: time, the precious hours of a life deep into its second half." [33] Many people complain that computers seem to suck the life out of them, stealing their time and giving them nothing in return. Computer addiction can be quite harmful.

REFERENCES

STATISTICS

HOME