Feb 28 2009
Internet Addiction - Are you hooked?
Have you ever wondered if you have a problem with the internet? Have all the latest and greatest forms of social media like Twitter and Facebook and Digg left you spending hours online that you could have, and probably should have been doing something else? Are you new to the idea of addiction and in Denial? Or more like me, aware of my own addiction and still trying to deny? I decided to track down a brief internet addiction quiz for any one curious about just what is considered ‘addicted.
Take the internet addiction quiz here:
What were your results? I took the quiz, answereed honestly, and scored a 65. Not as bad as I thought it would be but not great!
The relevance and accuracy of the quiz is supposed to have been validated and found to be a reasonable tool for the detection of internet addiction disorders. But really, we know how compulsive we feel on the inside! I mean internet addiction can be a big deal!
Did you know…
49% of women surveyed would fore-go sex for 2 weeks rather than lose their internet!
WOW.
As a work-from-home mom with three different online jobs, a blogger, and networking-fool, I find I spend a great deal of time on the net. Granted, at least 75% of this is warranted, I still know myself better than to laugh it off or not treat it like a problem. I’ve started to incorporate my complusion to get online into my step work. I know I can’t just abstain from internet use, but I’m striving towards balance today.
Feeling depressed and down about the whole scenario, I set out to look for some solution… Here’s a few tips…
1. Tell some one about your problem: Get your family members behind you in your endeavor to modify your use. It’s understandable that in today’s technological advanced era, ‘quitting’ all together is unrealistic. Aim for reducing time spent online and limit online activities to those that are actually necessary.
2. Change your schedule: If the first thing you do in the morning is check your email, replace that with doing simple things first, like brushing your teeth, eating breakfast, or perhaps calling a friend to delay your initial urge to get online.
3. Examine your frequent uses: If you work online, chat in an internet chat room, Tweet, manage a Facebook account, pay bills, and WOW, narrow your list and limit your activities to those that are necessary. Schedule days for internet tasks that are lower priority to one day a week.
4. Give yourself a break: Set at least one day a month that is completely internet-free. All your email, friends requests and chat buddy’s can go one day without a reply. Remember, the world will not stop turning if you take a day off.
5. Take it seriously: There are many consequences to internet abuse. Weigh out the physical, emotional, and psychological risks involved with continuing on at an unhealthy pace.
With these simple tools, we can hopefully find a more balanced and healthy life both on an off the net!
As always, Thanks for being a part of my recovery!
JenO.
Thanks for stopping by. Honesty is admirable. And by the way, the fact that I’m here, that’s a pretty good indicator for me too. But it’s progress not perfection right!
Hmmm. I actually came in a bit lower than I would have thought. I’m in the low-normal range, but I’m not sure that it wouldn’t be quite a bit higher say in the winter months, when I tend to obsess on the internet more, or when I’m depressed (last year I had a long bout of grief induced depression) and the internet is my “drug of choice”. Having just celebrated my 21st clean and sober anniversary, I’m probably lucky to have enough tools to keep my other addictions at least “controlled” Haha! Great blog! I’ll “keep comin’ back”!