Facebook Addiction

I am one of the content experts for Addicted.com, a great resource for addiction recovery. I received a recent question regarding Facebook addiction. I am receiving more email on this issue lately so I thought I would repost my answer.

Facebook has become an indispensable way to find old friends, schedule events, play games and even send virtual gifts. But if you’re doing more living online than off, it might be time to reassess. Many students (and adults) are now seeing Facebook more as an addiction than a networking tool, and psychologists are starting to agree.

Ask yourself some of the following questions: Are personal relationships taking a backseat to Facebook? Do you think about Facebook even when you’re offline? Do you use Facebook to escape problems or homework? Do you stay on Facebook longer than intended? Have you ever concealed Facebook use?

If you answered yes to any, you might be a borderline addict. Frequent Facebook visits actually cause something psychologists refer to as intermittent reinforcement. Notifications, messages and invites reward you with an unpredictable high, much like gambling. That anticipation can get dangerously addictive. It is an entire world where one can easily be seduced and sucked in. I have many friends who consider it a time-waster yet they are on it everyday. A few tips for cutting down your Facebook habit is first, keep a log to track your Facebook usage. If you’re shocked by what you see, try the following:

List your Facebook goals. Why did you originally sign up? Is your goal to network? Is your goal to have 5,000 friends? Are these people that you really need to keep in touch with?

Record what you actually do on Facebook. How many times to check status updates of friends? How many notifications do you receive? How much time do you search for new friends on People Search or Classmate search? Facebook can be a time-consuming activity if you let it. Once you see how much you do certain activities you will be able to use that as a baseline to control and moderate your usage.

Make a Facebook schedule. Limit time to maintaining your original goals. Update your e-mail addresses to avoid relying on Facebook messages.Only check it once a day. These are ways to unhook yourself from the behavior without having to completely remove Facebook from your life

Money and Internet Addiction by Neal Frankle, CFP ® - Guest Blogger

The fuel that runs addiction is shame. Even if you are blessed and no longer acting out on the internet, the shame can linger on for years. One of the components of that shame is often financial. We have shame about the hours we wasted indulging our addictions, rather than being productive. We have shame about the money we spent to momentarily quiet our addiction. We have shame about the money we could have earned and spent to benefit our family – and didn’t.

That lingering shame can hurt us and lead us to act out in other ways. You might not be acting out on the computer but are you acting out with money?

To find out, look at your relationship with money and ask yourself a few questions. Consider the way you spend, invest, borrow, save and plan Are you powerless over some aspect of your financial life? Does some part of your financial behavior make your life unmanageable? If you feel you need to work a recovery program around money you are not alone. You can work a program and get the same benefits of recovery. Many resources are available and you deserve the blessings of a life full of joy and peace.

I know. The first step is the most difficult but also the most rewarding. Take an honest look at your financial life. You don’t have to suffer anymore. If you need help, just ask. It’s all around you.

Women prefer Internet over Sex

Nearly half of the women questioned by Harris Interactive said they'd be willing to forgo sex for two weeks, rather than give up their Internet access, according to a study released Monday by Intel, which commissioned the survey.

While 46 percent of the women surveyed were willing to engage in abstinence versus losing their Internet, only 30 percent of the men surveyed were willing to do likewise.

The U.S. survey, which queried 2,119 adults last month, found that the gap grew even wider for both men and woman who were 18 to 34 years old. For woman, the percentage of those willing to skip the sheets in favor of the Web rose to 49 percent, while it climbed to 39 percent for men.

This says so much about our dependency upon the Internet. Beyond addiction, we are focused on creating a connected world. Asking people to give up email, Facebook, or MySpace would mean giving up social relationships. The Internet is a large part of how we relate.

Being online also is more than information searching. We NEED the Internet to do research, book hotels, make airline reservations, or trade stocks. It is a tool that goes beyond anything we first imagined. Forget addiction - giving up the Internet for average people would be difficult for anyone! It is our reality, which makes diagnosis of addiction tricky when we have come to rely upon online use in our daily lives.

Porn in Libraries

The debate of unrestricted access to porn in public libraries is back in the news. Some say that librarians should not be censors to public content available online. On the same side of this argument are those who say the library's so-called, "shoulder tap" policy that allows patrons to object to what others may be watching is also too restrictive. "Is there a problem here or do we have people who want to engage in censorship?" said American Civil Liberties Union.

Early in my career, I spoke at the American Library Association regarding this issue, hearing from many librarians who had to deal with men coming to the library to view porn offending other patrons. They also complained of not feeling comfortable in the role of censor. Feeling that this was not part of their job description.

The debate will surely continue. Not one ounce of doubt about that. The Internet is publicly accessible at a library, and should libraries be censoring any objectionable materials. It isn't just porn but hate sites or access to violent games, for example, may not be something that parents want their children to view. Given these issues, do you believe libraries should censor porn at public computers?

Pathological Computer Use

Pathological Computer Use (PCU) is a proprosed diagnosis for the upcoming fifth edition of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). PCU consists of excessive computer use, withdrawal, tolerance, and serious negative repercussions due to excessive computer use. The debate, to some extent, is in the term. Research has used Internet addiction, Problem Internet use, Pathological Internet use, heavy Internet use to describe the same behavior. As another opinion question, what term do you think best describes the problem?

Should Internet Addiction be in DSM?

In the American Journal of Psychiatry for March, an editorial offers the opinion that Internet addiction is a 'compulsive-impulsive' disorder, and should be added to the official DSM guidebook of disorders. The editorial characterizes net addiction as including 'excessive gaming, online sexual pre-occupations and e-mail/text messaging'. From the article: 'Like other addicts, users experience cravings, urges, withdrawal and tolerance, requiring more and better equipment and software, or more and more hours online, according to Dr. Jerald Block, a psychiatrist at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. Dr. Block says people can lose all track of time or neglect "basic drives," like eating or sleeping. Relapse rates are high, he writes, and some people may need psychoactive medications or hospitalization."

Going back to 1994, when I started to study Internet addiction, many did question its validity. Today, documented cases in Italy, Germany, China, Taiwan, and Korea as well as the US, support that Internet addiction is a serious condition.

Last summer, doctors from the Internet Addiction Recovery Center in Beijing had visited with me to personally discuss my work on Internet addiction. They had repeatedly asked me why in America we didn't have more treatment centers for Internet addiction. In China, the government had funded their clinic and were considering opening several more. They were surprised that Internet addiction was being debated as a disorder. To a large extent, in the US, accurate estimates of the prevalence of the disorder are lacking. Unlike in Asia, where Internet cafés are frequently used, in the US, computers are mainly accessed from home. Further, attempts to measure the phenomenon are clouded by shame, denial, and minimization.

Internet addicts often suffer from other psychological problems such as depression or anxiety, masking signs of Internet problems, especially if therapists do not routinely screen for it.

As the psychiatry field gains a deeper understanding, Internet addiction may very well appear in the next DSM. The movement towards its inclusion grows as more professionals are urging a closer examination of the problem. As an opinion question, do you think Internet addiction be included in the next DSM?

Impact on marriage

I received an emaiil today made me want to share this. Repeatedly, studies find that Internet use has a negative impact on marriages. In my first study on Internet addiction, over 50% of respondents said that they suffered marital problems because of their Internet use. It is how I first got involved with this study, as a friend of mine's husband became addicted to chat rooms, which led to their divorce.

In the email, Maggie has been married for 3 years and they do not have children. She writes, "We are both 28 and I thought we had a strong, open and honest relationship; other than the normal marital issues. He started playing World of Warcraft and finds playing this game takes his mind off his concerns, but it has become a problem, he plays all the time. Everything we had together seems to be slipping away."

"I mentioned to my husband that I didn't want to be replaced by a cybergame, and I think that is finally penetrating. After I mentioned that I felt intimacy between us was difficult (to put it mildly) with a computer in the way, he seemed to realize that I was seriously feeling pushed aside. For the past few weeks he hasn't been spending as much time on it. Now I hope this continues, but it is early to tell! I don't want his GRUDGING attention, so I guess I will have to be patient and persistent. I know our relationship IS first for him, so I think he will fight this "addiction." I will suggest we play together - in real time, not online! I do have a backgammon board somewhere (now why didn't I think of that myself...)"

Even if online relationships aren't sexual or involve cybersex, they can still lead to marital problems. Just the basic neglect of the marriage can impede intimacy and trust for a couple. Maggie feels confused yet hopeful that she can regain his attention in a meaningful way.