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Running Head: Internet Addiction

Community Problem Report: Internet Addiction

The University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1301
November 7, 2015
Brandon Vazquez-Gracida

Abstract
The internet is a medium known for having a variety of benefits, but it also has drawbacks due to
the fact that people tend to abuse the use of it. Currently, society does not take this issue
seriously because the use of internet is so common nowadays. If people saw this problem in an
objective manner by reading psychology reports and the news, they would be able to realize how
severe this problem really is. Parents are an important asset while dealing with this problem
because teenagers are the most prone to develop this sort of addiction. If parents take action and
keep track of their childrens internet usage they might be able to stop an addiction from
developing. As of right now a tremendous amount of parents and teenagers are unaware that
excessively using the internet can have negative effects health wise on a person. Even though
internet addiction is a serious problem, the use of internet itself is not bad. In fact, a controlled
use of internet is positive because people get used to using technology and this is good because
society is experiencing an extraordinary technological growth.

Keywords: Internet addiction, Psychology, Mental Problems, Technological Growth.

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Introduction
In recent studies conducted by Business Insider, it was revealed that an astonishing six
percent of the world population has developed an addiction from excessively using the internet.
For the most part, American society has the belief that this problem only occurs in overly
populated continents like Asia, but the reality is that a great percentage comes from our own
continent. This ignorant belief has led to the expansion of this issue and currently the most
affected are teenagers who are exposed to the internet in a daily basis. Parents have developed a
negative image on teenagers because they seem to be overly attached to their electronic devices.
The reality is that there are facts that demonstrate that adults are affected by this issue as well,
due to the fact that most adults are required to use the internet in some form in order to do their
work. This report will talk about psychological analysis on internet addiction, how internet
addiction has increased over the world, the comparison between internet and gambling addiction,
and the absence of internet addiction in the manual of mental disorders.

Psychological Analysis on Internet Addiction

The internet high has been compared by many doctors to the effects of drugs due to
the fact that when a person uses the internet for prolonged hours, the brain starts to produce the
chemical called Dopamine which gives the sensation of pleasure and happiness. This is why it
is extremely difficult for a person who is addicted to just stop using the internet completely. Also
if an addicted person is able to control their urge to use the internet, a phenomenon that is called
Internet Withdrawal occurs, and this means that the brain does not receive the same amount of
dopamine. Dr. Carson-DeWitt commented on this matter by saying, People with IAD

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effectively feel a high when engaged on the computer, this also means they can feel
withdrawal symptoms when they arent online (Carson-DeWitt, 2015).
In recent studies, many people noticed that their behavior changed in a negative way
when they were exposed to the internet for prolonged hours of the day. The most common
Figure 1. A cartoon showing the
contrast between social people, and a
secluded person who is addicted to the
internet.

symptoms that people experienced were that they felt

with less energy, their attitude got bad, and they
developed anxiety. Many people do not realize that
internet addiction can develop negative symptoms,
and this is why they do not go to an addictions
specialist to get treated. People who suffer from this
addiction are given the opportunity to attend

different programs in nearby hospitals that may offer fundamental help in order to cure this
problem. Dr. Steiner-Adair gave her opinion in this matter by saying, Children and adults who
display an extremely problematic relationship with tech and the internet need help, whether
its cognitive behavior therapy, wilderness programs, insight-oriented therapy or treatment
centers (Steiner-Adair, 2015). All of these programs mentioned above by Dr. Steiner-Adair, are
of great help because they give people the opportunity to be able to use the internet in a
controlled way in which it does not develop any sort of addiction.

Expansion of Internet Addiction Over the World

In recent years, psychologists have been investigating how many people suffer from
internet addiction, and they found out that the number was higher than what they expected. It
was discovered that around sixteen percent of eighteen to twenty-five-year olds were addicted to

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the internet. If that was not alarming enough, a recent study conducted by the University of Hong
Kong revealed that an astonishing six percent of the population worldwide are addicted to the
internet. This means that four hundred and twenty million people around the world suffer from
this condition. According to a survey
conducted by the website Reuters,

Figure 2. Graph illustrating how frequently

people use the internet.

Government data says 680,000 children

aged between 10 and 19 are Internet addicts,
or around 10 percent of the age group (Kim,
2013).
Internet addiction is a problem that has
been linked to affecting not only the sufferer,
but also their family and friends. This problem is catastrophic because it limits a person from
being able to interact socially with people. Internet addiction makes a person more irritable and
prone to depression, and because of this it creates problems with the people around them.
According to Senior Director of EMBO Reports, Patricia Wallace, A young couple in Korea
spent so much time raising a virtual daughter online that they neglected their own actual
daughter, who eventually died (Wallace, 2014).

Comparison Between Internet and Gambling Addiction

The symptoms that a person experiences when being addicted to the internet can be
compared to the ones experienced with other types of substances like drugs and alcohol.
Psychologists all around the world have concluded that internet addiction and gambling
addiction are the ones who portray the most similar symptoms. For instance, when a person is

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addicted to gambling the brain begins to release dopamine whenever the person wins a price, and
with internet addiction the person releases the same amount of dopamine when it has access to
the internet. In a study done by Dr. Potenza it was revealed that both types of addictions
activated the brains reward circuitry and because of this Dr. Potenza concluded his study by
saying, The basic neuroscience of the two types of addiction showed a substantial overlap
(Potenza, 2014). Since the two types of addictions mentioned above share similar traits, it has
been reported that being addicted to the internet can actually lead to gambling addiction since
there are many types of gambling games online.

The Absence of Internet Addiction in the Manual of Mental Disorders

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition was recently
published in 2013, and it generated a great deal of polemic because it did not include internet
addiction. This polemic arose due to the fact that internet addiction was not included on the
DSM-5 even when psychologists admitted that internet addiction portrayed the exact symptoms
of any sort of addiction, which include: dependency, unsuccessful attempts to quit, change in
behavior, and withdrawal symptoms. The main issues that arise with the absence of internet
addiction on the DSM-5, is that this sort of addiction does not get the attention it is supposed to
and it does not get treated seriously by society. If this issue does not get fixed in a quickly
manner it will cause disastrous consequences in the future. Forbes contributor, Alice G. Walton,
commented on this issue by saying How bad does it have to get before we do something. We
need to accept that internet addiction or IA is a legitimate mental health disorder or there will be
consequences further on (Walton, 2012).

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Conclusion and Suggestion for Those Who Suffer from IA
Even though using the internet for prolonged hours has become a normal activity in
society, using it excessively has its negative aspects. Currently there are not many organizations
or programs that deal with internet addiction, but the few that are available are of great help for
any person who might be suffering from this condition. People who think they might be
developing an addiction to the internet should research and call their local addictions center in
order to treat this problem before it becomes a serious health issue in the future. Since society is
living through a technological revolution, there is a high probability that this addiction might
expand tremendously over the world. For this reason, adults should protect themselves and
should protect their children who are the most vulnerable to developing an addiction to internet
since they are exposed to it in a daily basis. Internet addiction can be avoided if people begin to
use the internet in a controlled manner, and society needs to understand that there should be more
ways to inform people that this addiction can become a real world-wide issue in the future.

References

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Konnikova, M. (2014, November 26). Is Internet Addiction a Real Thing? Retrieved from
http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/internet-addiction-real-thing

Walton, A. (2012, October 2). Internet Addiction: The New Mental Health Disorder? Retrieved
October 16, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2012/10/02/the-new-mentalhealth-disorder-internet-addiction/

Carson-DeWitt, R. (n.d.). What Is Internet Addiction? Retrieved October 17, 2015, from
http://www.everydayhealth.com/internet-addiction/

Wallace, P. (2014, January 7). Internet Addiction Disorder and Youth. Retrieved October 18,
2015, from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/embr.201338222/full

Steiner-Adair, C. (2015, July 17). Internet addiction: The next mental illness? Retrieved October
18, 2015, from http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/17/opinions/steiner-adair-internet-addiction/

Kim, D., & Shin, E. (2013, January 8). Horses to the rescue of Korea's Internet-addicted teens.
Retrieved October 20, 2015, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/09/us-korea-internethorses-idUSBRE90803020130109