Online addiction

“Online” addiction

Stepanova T.A., Vashchenko E.A., Zemlina E.M.

Southern Federal University, Academy of Physical Culture and Sports, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Ten years have passed since the founding of Facebook, and today it is difficult to imagine how we lived without the social networks and the Internet, which greatly changed not only the world, but also people, creating new diseases and mental disorders.

Ten years ago – February 4, 2004 – one of the most popular social networks – Facebook – was officially founded. The date of the foundation of the Internet is considered October 29, 1969. During 40 years, people not only got used to the Internet, which has changed the world, but also became dependent on it. And dependence on the Internet sometimes reaches pathological forms, and not so long ago such a thing as "Internet addiction" has got in the international encyclopedia "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders» (DSM-IV).

While the disease is described as an illness that needs further study, but scientists admit that today we can say that the Internet addiction- is AIDS and the plague of the 21^st century, network drug users need special treatment and special clinics.

Nowadays information technologies play an important role in the life of people. At present, it is difficult to imagine anyone not having a mobile phone or some other gadget. Information technology has penetrated into our daily lives that sometimes we refuse from the outside world, replacing it with a technical device. In fact, we notice that a lot of people go side by side in silence, "buried" in their phones and pocket computers. These gadgets real communication from our life.

Our society has reached a post-industrial level, implying the development of information technology through the development of human intelligence. It creates more and more new technologies that make our livelihoods more comfortable and easy. After all, thanks to the information technologies, we can contact people who are thousands of kilometers away. Is it not a miracle?

It is difficult to deny that information technologies have a great number of advantages but on the other hand, we can call it an “online addiction” with certainty. The key problem is that people sometimes do not know borders; the man cannot stop when he is absorbed. Information technologies sometimes push people to degradation. The mental activity is reducing. It should be stopped.

Internet addiction disorder, sometimes abbreviated as IAD, is also known by other names, such as Internet overuse, pathological computer use, and problematic computer use. The concept of Internet addiction has become more widely accepted since 2000, primarily due to the fact that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for some to distinguish between online and offline life.

This problem has become global, and there are even different tests that can help the doctors recognize “online-addicted persons”. The Internet addiction test is described in the 2012 publication “Clinical Assessment of Internet-Addicted Clients” by Kimberly S. Young. This test provides a set of key characteristics for pathological use of the Internet. The Internet addiction test classifies the subject’s impairment due to Internet addiction as mild, moderate or severe. It consists of 20 questions related to the subject’s Internet usage, with each question having a score of one to five. The total score on the test therefore ranges from 20 to 100, and a higher score indicates a higher level of Internet addiction. Clinicians primarily use the Internet addiction test for those in inpatient and outpatient treatment.

Information technologies have both advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes a person does not notice how deeply he is absorbed into information technologies. We suppose that the most negative feature of the use of information technologies are replacing real communication. Unfortunately, most of today's children, teenagers and even adults will prefer to play in their gadgets rather than to go outside and get some fresh air.

Nobody could even imagine at the beginning of the 21^st century that people can be “online-addicted”. We can’t admit that information technologies affect us and our children only negative, but negative sides are dominant.

In 1995 Dr. Ivan Goldberg was the first, who claimed that excessive Internet use caused depression, stress, aggression. Today we know that children and adolescents who are dependent on the virtual space can have delays in social and emotional development - the inability to work and achieve results, to have friends, to start a family.

“Online” addiction leads to constant anxiety and excitement, family break up. There were even reports, informing that the dependence on the network led to the death of a person. Usually, death occurs as a result of exhaustion, a person sitting at the computer screen, forgetting to eat, drink and sleep.

Looking at the positive aspects of the global use of IT, we can see that now it has become much easier to find the information we need, and thus it has become easier to develop themselves intellectually. Now, if a person wants to learn, for example, English, it is not necessary to look for a teacher or go to some courses, it can be done electronically, online: there are many educational websites and videos. No doubt, it is less effective than the classroom with the teacher-native speaker, but it is also acceptable, and most importantly, it works!

As with any other kind of addiction, the most important thing is to recognize the problem and start to solve it. It is sometimes very difficult to return the person again into the real life. The first thing you need to see a doctor, therapist, who will analyze the problem, exclude other diseases and find the right way out.

Литература

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2. Жизнь в сети: первые признаки интернет-зависимости. [Электронный ресурс] – URL: http://www.aif.ru/health/psychologic/1096601 (дата обращения: 05.06.2015)

3. Колин К.К. Информационные технологии – катализатор процесса развития современного общества / К.К. Колин // Информационные технологии. № 1. с. 2-8 – 2003