Term paper on Internet Users Turn Addicts

Free Internet Users Turn Addicts papers

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Canada has long been called "The Mosaic", due to the fact that it is made up of a varied mix of races, cultures and ethnicities. As more and more immigrants come to Canada searching for a better life, the population naturally becomes more diverse. This has, in turn, spun a great debate over m

Nuclear Energy

You are watching the control panels and gages for rector two. Sitting comely you think about how easy your job is. It is a joke! All day you sit around and watch the gages for reactor number two just to make sure they maintain their settings. You don't even need to look at the gages either be

If you're an Internet user, you know who

you are. They are among all of us in society, although many may choose

to not acknowledge that they too, frequently use the Internet. As I sit

here and look across the street, I see a man in front of his own computer;

the screen glowing against the window behind him. He does not use his personal

computer for work, he is a farmer. He has become what is known as an "Internet

Junky".

The addiction begins innocently. At the

start, you are not even aware of the possibilities that may form from your

excessive computer use. You begin to take an avid interest in e-mailing

with your friends and family. Once the novelty of keeping in touch with

your colleagues wears off, and researching starts to bore you, you may

possibly expand your computer usage to chatting. Yes, chatting. It is something

that is becoming more acceptable in our lives, but it is still looked down

upon by many skeptics. Chatting through the Internet involves choosing

an appropriate nickname for yourself (IE: Fisherman), and then finding

a room where you feel compelled to spend time in. Once you've entered the

room, other fellow chatters may say, "Hello...a/s/l (age/sex/location)

please."

And so begins the addiction. Once you become

involved in meeting people online, it is difficult to break such a habit.

You may even make a daily habit of it. People have been found to carry

out exactly the same behavior, not only across the nation, but across the

globe. In any one room, you may come across people from five different

countries of the world. Granted, not everyone who stays online for hours

on end, are enveloped in chatting, but it is more often then not, the cause

for Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). (Goldberg, MD)

The prevalence of Internet Addiction Disorder

has been increasing in number, hence a support group, among many, The Internet

Addiction Support Group (IASG) has been developed. IAD, a "maladaptive"

pattern for Internet use, is leading to impairment and/or distress caused

by three (or more) of the following, at any time in a period of one year:

"A) A need for markedly increased amounts of time on Internet to achieve

satisfaction, B) Markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same

amount of time on Internet.", C) Reduction in Internet use which has been

prolonged. (Goldberg, MD)

Symptoms of Internet Addiction Disorder

include: "A) Psychomotor agitation, B) anxiety, C) obsessive thinking about

what is happening on Internet, D) fantasies or dreams about Internet, E)

voluntary or involuntary typing movements of the fingers." These symptoms

begin to cause conflict in "social, occupational, or another important

area of functioning." People who become addicted, use the Internet to relieve

or avoid withdrawal symptoms, which are similar to those brought on by

the halt of drug use. The disorder is recognized by the "persistent desire"

or "unsuccessful efforts"...