Going Offline: Recognizing the Need for Internet Addiction Treatment

Because internet use is an ordinary activity, it may be difficult to recognize exactly when your online activity crosses the line from a benign pastime to addiction. While many people who suffer from internet addiction spend the majority of their waking hours online, it is not the quantity of internet use that defines addiction, but how your internet use affects your functioning. As Elias Aboujaoude, a psychiatrist at Stanford University and author of Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality, explains:

The way to define (internet addiction) is not by the number of hours you spend in front of your browser, it’s really by the offline consequences. Is your productivity at work affected? Is it affecting your relationship, whether romantic or personal? Is it affecting your academic performance? You look at the offline effects, not so much at what the person is doing online or how much time they’re spending in front of their browser.

Some people with internet addiction become enthralled in gaming, others participate in online discussion groups, watch videos, read news sites, or engage in popular social media activities. For some, the compulsion manifests in very specific activities, while others have no particular focus. The exact way your internet activity presents itself is largely irrelevant; what matters is the way in which your addictive behavior manifests in the larger scope of your life.

Common symptoms of internet addiction include:

• Experiencing feelings of distress when you cannot be online.
• Neglecting personal and professional responsibilities in favor of using the internet.
• Withdrawing from family and friends to spend more time online.
• Hiding your internet use from others and feeling guilty and defensive about how much time you spend online.
• Using the internet to deal with negative emotions.

Internet addiction may not only affect your social and professional functioning, it may actually be damaging your brain. Researchers have found that long-term internet addiction causes structural changes in both grey and white matter similar to that observed in long-term drug users. Grey matter is responsible for processing emotion, speech, memory, motor control, and sensory experiences; studies indicate that internet addiction can cause grey matter atrophy, shrinking these vital regions of the brain by 10-20%, leading to impaired emotional regulation, inhibited impulse control, and reduced goal orientation. Similarly, increased density of white matter in key locations may affect cognitive function, particularly executive functions, as well as the ability to form and retrieve memories. The findings not only lend credence to the fact that internet addiction is a legitimate medical phenomenon, it also highlights the need for effective interventions to prevent and reverse brain damage.

Compulsive online activity is often accompanied by mood disturbances, particularly depression. In the first large-scale study on the effect of excessive internet usage on mood, researchers at the University of Leeds found a direct correlation between prevalence of depressive symptoms and time spent online. Lead researcher Dr. Catriona Morrison, says, “This study reinforces the public speculation that over-engaging in websites that serve to replace normal social function might be linked to psychological disorders like depression and addiction.” While the study did not investigate a causal relationship between depression and internet addiction, the combination of brain changes and behavioral disruptions caused by excessive internet use may partially explain the rise in depressive symptoms.

On the other hand, many people develop an internet addiction in response to pre-existing depression. The internet may offer an escape from distressing feelings and an easily accessible outlet for dealing with painful emotions; when it’s difficult to leave the house or get out of bed due to depression, you can still access the world via the internet. While the internet may play a productive role for some people’s treatment processes, excessive or unhealthy use may inhibit restoration of psychological health and contribute to dysfunction. As you become increasingly dependent on internet activity, your drive to participate in the healthy activities known to counteract depression, such as building social support networks, maintaining a regular schedule, participating in your community, and exercising, may decrease, pulling you into a cycle of psychological illness that feeds both your depression and your addiction.