Internet Addiction

Is there such a phenomenon as internet addiction? Strange as it may sound, it's true. The internet, with millions upon millions of sites to see, can easily become an alternate reality. One link leads to another and before you know it, hours have passed. You may have started out your net session with some serious purpose, researching a health topic or locating information for a term paper.

You decide to take a short break to visit your favorite message board. You find a response to one of your posts from one of your online friends. The response really gets your dander up, so you fire off a quick response. The responder is also online and shoots back with another message. Again, before you know it, dinner's burning and the kids are after you - "When's dinner?".

Does this situation qualify as internet addiction? If this scenario arises once in a blue moon, no. However, in most cases like this, it's a regular event. Once you're on the net, you find you've got to tear yourself away to tend to business. If surfing the net interferes with regular responsibilities, or keeps you up until the wee hours such that you can't get up in time for work, you've got the dreaded internet addiction.

So prevalent is this phenomenon, there are now institutions and support groups dedicated to curing this brand new addiction. You may be shocked to discover that people are paying money to be rehabilitated from their internet addiction.

If you suspect that you're creeping up to addictive status, or already there, how do you recognize the signature characteristics of internet addiction? What steps can you take on your own to wean yourself from excessive stints on the web?

To answer the first question, if you've got internet addiction, your surfing adventures take priority over other mundane, but necessary tasks, such as doing last week's laundry, fixing tonight's meal or helping the kids with homework. Do you become annoyed when someone tries to get your attention while you're on the net? Do you spend hours playing online games, leaving poor Fido to his own dinner devices? Chances are, you've got internet addiction.

Now, what to do? You really don't want to let dinner burn, or have nothing for the kids to wear tomorrow. Not to mention Fido making off with the meat sitting on the counter. Curing internet addiction requires a disciplined approach and establishing proper priorities. Here are a few clues to get you clean.

Establish certain times of the day or evening when the net won't interfere with work and family responsibilities. Let's say you do housework for an hour in the morning and on Saturdays. Pencil that time into your calendar. Homework help is nightly, between 4:00 and 6:00 pm. Mark it down, along with all regular tasks. What's left is when you fit in net excursions.

Yes, it's all easier said than done. However, it's doable. Buck up. Get up an hour earlier than usual, or forego your favorite TV program. Yes!