Virtual Addiction: Sometimes New Technology Can Create New Problems

Here is little doubt that the Internet represents the spearhead of the industrial revolution. I love new technologies and gadgets that promise new and better ways of doing things. I have many such gadgets myself and I even manage to use a few of them (though not without some pain).A new piece of technology is like a new relationship, fun and exciting at first, but eventually it requires some hard work to maintain, usually in the form of time and energy. I doubt technology’s promise to improve the quality of life and I am still surprised how time-distorting and dissociating the computer and the Internet can be for me, along with the thousands of people I’ve interviewed, studied and treated in my clinical practice. It seems clear that the Internet can be used and abused in a compulsive fashion, and that there are numerous psychological factors that contribute to the Internet’s power and appeal. It appears that the very same features that drive the potency of the Net are potentially habit-forming. This study examined the self-reported Internet behavior of nearly 18,000 people who answered a survey on the ABCNEWS.com web site. Results clearly support the psychoactive nature of the Internet, and the potential for compulsive use and abuse of the Internet for certain individuals.  Technology, and most especially, computers and the Internet, seem to be at best easily overused/abused, and at worst, addictive. The combination of available stimulating content, ease of access, convenience, low cost, visual stimulation, autonomy, and anonymity—all contribute to a highly psychoactive experience. By psychoactive, that is Running Head: Virtual Addiction to say mood altering, and potentially behaviorally impacting. In other words these technologies affect the manner in which we live and love. It is my contention that some of these effects are indeed less than positive, and may contribute to various negative psychological effects. The Internet and other digital technologies are only the latest in a series of “improvements” to our world which may have unintended negative effects. The experience of problems with new and unknown technologies is far from new; we have seen countless examples of newer and better things that have had unintended and unexpected deleterious effects. Remember Thalidomide, PVC/PCB’s, Atomic power, fossil fuels, even television, along with other seemingly innocuous conveniences which have been shown to be conveniently helpful, but on other levels harmful. Some of these harmful effects are obvious and tragic, while others are more subtle and insidious. Even seemingly innocuous advances such as the elevator, remote controls, credit card gas pumps, dishwashers, and drive-through everything, have all had unintended negative effects. They all save time and energy, but the energy they save may dissuade us from using our physical bodies as they were designed to be used. In short we have convenience ourselves to a sedentary lifestyle. Technology is amoral; it is not inherently good or evil, but it is impact on the manner in which we live our lives. American’s love technology and for some of us this trust and blind faith almost parallels a religious fanaticism. Perhaps most of all, we love it Running Head: Virtual Addiction because of the hope for the future it promises; it is this promise of a better today and a longer tomorrow which captivates us to attend to the call for new better things to come. We live in the age were computer and digital technology are always on the cusp of great things-Newer, better ways of doing things (which in some ways is true). The old becomes obsolete within a year or two. Newer is always better. Computers and the Internet purport to make our lives easier, simpler, and therefore more fulfilling, but it may not be that simple. People have become physically and psychologically dependent on many behaviors and substances for centuries. This compulsive pattern does not reflect a casual interest, but rather consists of a driven pattern of use that can frequently escalate to negatively impact our lives. The key life-areas that seem to be impacted are marriages and relationships, employment, health, and legal/financial status. The fact that substances, such as alcohol and other mood-altering drugs can create a physical and/or psychological dependence is well known and accepted. And certain behaviors such as gambling, eating, work, exercise, shopping, and sex have gained more recent acceptance with regard to their addictive potential. More recently however, there has been an acknowledgement that the compulsive performance of these behaviors may mimic the compulsive process found with drugs, alcohol and other substances. This same process appears to also be found with certain aspects of the Internet.  In other words, they use the Internet like a drug (Greenfield, 1999). In addressing the phenomenon of Internet behavior, initial behavioral research (Young, 1996, 1998) focused on conceptual definitions of Internet use and abuse, and demonstrated similar patterns of abuse as found in compulsive gambling. There have been further recent studies on the nature and effects of the Internet. Cooper, Scherer, Boies, and Gordon (1998) examined sexuality on the Internet utilizing an extensive online survey of 9,177 Web users, and Greenfield (1999) surveyed nearly 18,000 Web users on ABCNEWS.com to examine Internet use and abuse behavior. The later study did yield some interesting trends and patterns, but also raised further areas that require clarification. There has been very little research that actually examined and measured specific behavior related to Internet use. The Carnegie Mellon University study (Kraut, Patterson, Lundmark, Kiesler, Mukopadhyay, and Scherlis, 1998) did attempt to examine and verify actual Internet use among 173 people in 73 households. This initial study did seem to demonstrate that there may be some deleterious effects from heavy Internet use, which appeared to increase some measures of social isolation and depression. What seems to be abundantly clear from the limited research to date is that we know very little about the human/Internet interface. Theoretical suppositions abound, but we are only just beginning to understand the nature and implications of Internet use and Running Head: Virtual Addiction abuse. There is an abundance of clinical, legal, and anecdotal evidence to suggest that there is something unique about being online that seems to produce a powerful impact on people. It is my belief that as we expand our analysis of this new and exciting area we will likely discover that there are many subcategories of Internet abuse, some of which will undoubtedly exist as concomitant disorders alongside of other addictions including sex, gambling, and compulsive shopping/spending. There are probably two types of Internet based problems: the first is defined as a primary problem where the Internet itself becomes the focus on the compulsive pattern, and secondary, where a preexisting problem (or compulsive behavior) is exacerbated via the use of the Internet. In a secondary problem, necessity is no longer the mother of invention, but rather convenience is. The Internet simply makes everything easier to acquire, and therefore that much more easily abused. The ease of access, availability, low cost, anonymity, timelessness, disinhibition, and loss of boundaries all appear to contribute to the total Internet experience. This has particular relevance when it comes to well-established forms of compulsive consumer behavior such as gambling, shopping, stock trading, and compulsive sexual behavior where traditional modalities of engaging in these behaviors pale in comparison to the speed and efficiency of the Internet. There has been considerable debate regarding the terms and definitions in describing pathological Internet behavior. Many terms have been used, including Internet abuse, Internet addiction, and compulsive Internet use. The concern over terminology Running Head: Virtual Addiction seems spurious to me, as it seems irrelevant as to what the addictive process is labeled. The underlying neurochemical changes (probably Dopamine) that occur during any pleasurable act have proven themselves to be potentially habit-forming on a brainbehavior level. The net effect is ultimately the same with regard to potential life impact, which in the case of compulsive behavior can be quite large. Any time there is a highly pleasurable human behavior that can be acquired without human interface (as can be accomplished on the Net) there seems to be greater potential for abuse. The ease of purchasing a stock, gambling, or shopping online allows for a boundless and disinhibited experience. Without the normal human interaction there is a far greater likelihood of abusive and/or compulsive behavior in these areas. Research in the field of Internet behavior is in its relative infancy. This is in part due to the fact that the depth and breadth of the Internet and World Wide Web are changing at exponential rates. With thousands of new subscribers a day and approaching (perhaps exceeding) 200 million worldwide users, the Internet represents a communications, social, and economic revolution. The Net now serves at the pinnacle of the digital industrial revolution, and with any revolution come new problems and difficulties.