Personal Counseling - Internet Addiction

Internet addictions can sneak up on anyone. We've adapted, with their permission, some danger signs developed by the University of Massachusetts, based on the work of Dr. Ivan Goldberg. Students, faculty, or staff may be too dependent on the Internet when they:

• Constantly try out new browsers, continually research Internet vendors, or constantly download materials;
• Fantasize about the Internet;
• Voluntarily or involuntarily move their fingers as if typing;
• Have to spend more and more time online to feel satisfied;
• Are increasingly criticized by friends, bosses, students, or family members for ignoring social, job, academic, or family duties;
• Use the Internet for longer than they intended;
• Give up or cut back on important social, work, school, or recreation-related activities;
• Try to stop or reduce Internet use but can't because of agitation, anxiety, or obsessive thoughts about what they're missing while they're not online; and
• Continue surfing the Internet despite the problems it fuels, like loss of sleep, relationship conflicts, poor academic or work performance, and loss of significant friends and relationships.

• Immerse themselves in cybersex online for increasing amounts of time. This may or mat not include chat room contact. Other forms of intimacy with friends, family, and loved ones becomes less and less important.
• Gamble using the Internet or whose spending online is out of control. Both these addictions can exist with or without the help of internet access, but some people may find it easier to get "hooked" when they're online.
• Use computer links to others as a tool of harassment. Repeatedly contacting someone who does not wish you to do so, may violate that person's right to privacy. This can lead to serious consequences. Chat room behavior is also supposed to conform to codes of decency. Some offenses, such as child pornography using the Internet, are against the law and punishable as crimes.