People estimate that nearly ten percent of users become addicted to the Internet. The vast majority admitted to feelings of time distortion, accelerated intimacy, and feeling uninhibited when online. Research has found that Internet Addiction is a type of impulsive-control problem and five general subtypes have been defined:

1. Cybersexual Addiction – Individuals who suffer from Cybersexual addiction typically are either engaged in viewing, downloading, and trading online pornography or involved in adult fantasy role-play chat rooms.
2. Cyber-Relational Addiction – Individuals who suffer from Chat Room Addiction become over-involved in online relationships or may engage in virtual adultery. Online friends quickly become more important to the individual often at the expense of real life relationships with family and friends. In many instances, this will lead to marital discord and family instability.
3. Net Compulsions – Addictions to online gaming, online gambling, and eBay are fast becoming new mental problems in the post-Internet Era. With the instant access to virtual casinos, interactive games, and eBay, addicts loose excessive amounts of money and even disrupt other job-related duties or significant relationships.
4. Information Overload – The wealth of data available on the World Wide Web has created a new type of compulsive behavior regarding excessive web surfing and database searches. Individuals will spend greater amounts of time searching and collecting data from the web and organizing information. Obsessive compulsive tendencies and reduced work productivity are typically associated with this behavior.
5. Computer Addiction – In the 80s, computer games such as Solitaire and Minesweeper were programmed into computers and researchers found that obsessive computer game playing became problematic in organizational settings as employees spent most days playing rather than working. These games are not interactive nor played online.

How can you tell if you are addicted to the Internet? Here are some typical warning signs of Internet Addiction:

1. Do you feel preoccupied with the Internet (think about previous on-line activity or anticipate next on-line session)?
2. Do you feel the need to use the Internet with increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction?
3. Have you repeatedly made unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop Internet use?
4. Do you feel restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use?
5. Do you stay on-line longer than originally intended?
6. Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of the Internet?
7. Have you lied to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet?
8. Do you use the Internet as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a dysphoric mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression)?

If you can answer "yes" to five or more of the questions, then you may suffer from Internet addiction. Often time, users are not sure if they suffer from Internet addiction. They suspect because they spend long hours in front of the computer that they may have a problem. There is an array of tests including the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) developed by Internet Addiction expert Dr. Kimberly Young to evaluate if you meet the general criteria of symptoms normally related to compulsive online use.

Duration of online use is broken down as follows:

Clinical research classifies the most addictive online applications:

Many people don't yet understand what makes the Internet addictive or how to deal with the problem. Dr Young utilizes a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy as well as Twelve Step support group recovery and in some cases medication may be used. To learn more about Internet addiction recovery, or if you or someone you love may suffer from online compulsivity, read Caught in the Net: How to Recognize the Signs of Internet Addiction—and a Winning Strategy for Recovery which provides dozens of recovery strategies and techniques to stop online abuse in your family.

continue: How to Treat Internet Addiction

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Reviewed: 03/2006