Wednesday, February 25, 2009

I A D internet addiction disorder

Internet addiction is now considered a clinical disorder rather than a bad habit, a kind of a psycho physiological disorder- Sharjeel KhanLast week for some official work I had to visit a nearby internet café 4-5 times, in that 4-5 days, everyday I found most of the users were same, age around 14-15 all boys. After 2nd or 3rd day I asked one of a boys who was sitting next to my computer system, if they were having vacations and why were they spending more than an hour in the internet café, his answer gave me a real shock 'no sir it is not our vacation, even these days our pre-board exams are going on. He was in 10th std. Then I asked him- is there some help in your studies by internet, he simply denied, he said I know it is wasting time, even our parents don't know that we are here, actually it is quite difficult to stay a single day without internet, if we don't log on the internet at least an hour daily, we feel there is something missing.Just after a week I read an article on IAD (internet addiction disorder). Internet addiction is now coonsidered a clinical disorder rather than a bad habit, a kind of a psycho physiological disorder, previously it was present in teenagers and youngsters but now it is very common in every age group, person suffering from it getting pleasure out of a computer is the same as getting pleasure from any other drug.According to psychologists "the more use of the internet by teenagers and youngsters can definitely disturb their social, academic, and occupational life in the same way as other addictions like gambling, consuming drugs, and alcohol etc. According to the experts Internet Addiction Disorder usually affects those who engage in these five activities: general cyber-surfing, online gaming, social networking, pornography and too much Internet shopping. Persons who suffer depression, loneliness, and the children whose parents don't have time to pay proper attention to them easily develop internet addiction like Cybersex, online gaming, online affairs. It is like if a person starts consuming alcohol even occasionally, but continues to increase its consumption, so one day he may develop an addiction and dependency on alcohol. So is the same with Internet addiction.According to a survey in India majority of the office workers who has internet facility use it for their own purpose, like visiting social networking sites, reading personal e-mails, online gaming, visiting pornographic sites and shopping online. In countries like America, China, Korea, Brazil, England, and Germany these countries have started Internet Addiction Rehabilitation Centers, for people who are suffering from internet Addiction problem. Persons who suffer from internet addiction, develop feelings of anger, tension, high depression when the computer is inaccessible, there were many cases when person who was suffering from this disorder getting violent when he was unable to get online, in some cases children assault their parents when they forcely got away them from internet.In India also many persons mainly school and college going children, executives and professionals who are working in others cities, persons who are far from their families are suffering from Internet Addiction. It is the duty of parents to pay proper attention towards their children, try to inculcate good values in them. In market there are many parental control softwares, download it in computers of your child. It blocks online games, Chatting, and unwanted materials that are not appropriate for children. Just try to keep an eye on them when they go outside, because prevention is always better than cure.