Overcoming Internet Addiction For Dummies. David N. Greenfield

of the Internet, in part, comes from its ability to dissociate you from real life and to become a digital drug by impacting dopamine levels in your brain.

Recovering from Internet and Screen Addiction

      You cannot change anything in your life unless you have honest self-appraisal and feedback. The problem with addiction is that often, self cannot accurately see self, and people have a great capacity for denial and self-deception when engaging in addictive behaviors that impact their brain reward centers.

Recovery always begins with honest self-evaluation, often with some objective data to help you accurately see what you’re doing online. With substance as well as behavioral addiction, there are well-established methods for assessing overuse and life impacts from an addiction. However, there is no simple answer for how much is too much, nor is there an easy fix. As I note throughout this book, addiction is complex and involves mind, body, and spirit — impacting many aspects of your functioning; that said, everyone has a different bottom line where they can no longer ignore the fact that their screen addiction is hurting their life in some way. The following sections introduce two options for recovery: self-help and professional help.

      

One thing you do have with Internet addiction is a digital footprint; that is, everything you do online and on your smartphone can be tracked, and you can see how much time you spend, what websites and apps you use, and what content areas you seem to have a problem with. This feedback can be critical in helping you start the process of recovery by seeing what you’re doing, much like keeping a record of the foods you eat when attempting to eat better or lose weight. There are many aftermarket apps and programs that can record, track, block, and monitor your Internet and screen use. Most cellphone manufacturers and service providers have apps that offer a great deal of detailed information on your use. Several companies also produce software that you or an IT professional can install on all your screen devices that can give you accurate and detailed data, which provides you with total usage information and any problem content areas (see Chapter 11 for more options regarding self-help resources).

      

Don’t be surprised when you look at your usage information and find that it is much greater than you recall it being or that you were aware of. This is normal and is part of that dissociation and time distortion that I talk about earlier in this chapter. It’s essential that you get accurate feedback about your use; otherwise, you’ll be unable to take control of your screen time.

      Exploring self-help options

      Self-help options (covered in Chapter 12) have always been a substantive part of any addiction recovery and treatment plan. The most well-known is Alcoholics Anonymous, but there are 12-step and recovery/support programs for nearly every addiction; there are even specific support groups for pornography and sex addiction, including Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, Sex Addicts Anonymous, and Sexaholics Anonymous. There are also many support and self-help groups for Internet and technology addiction. Groups like Game Quitters, OLG-Anon (On-Line Gamers Anonymous), and others that focus on video gaming and other forms of screen use can be useful, but beware that many of these groups are themselves online. Some might argue that this defeats the purpose, but my experience suggests that some help is always better than no help, even if it’s online. (COVID also gave us new reliance on the utility of telemedicine mental health and addiction treatment.)

Self-help books and resources can be invaluable in making desired changes in any behavior or addiction. When I first started my work in Internet addiction in the late 1990s, only one self-help book (Caught in the Net, published in 1998 by Dr. Kimberly Young) was available, and my book Virtual Addiction was the second, published in 1999. Now, literally dozens of books and resources have been written, and a great deal of medical and scientific research has been conducted on the subject. We know a lot more about this new addiction than we did 25 years ago (see Chapter 12 for more on self-help strategies).

      Getting professional help

      Sometimes self-help and support groups aren’t enough to make the changes you need in your life. Breaking an addiction can be hard, and any behavior change can sometimes be made easier with professional help. My recommendation would be to find a psychologist, psychiatrist, or therapist who has experience in addiction and addiction medicine, preferably with a background in Internet, video game, or screen addiction. Don’t be afraid to ask questions regarding their experience (and expertise) in this area, and be wary of any doctor or therapist who underplays the issue and tells you it isn’t a real problem.

      

For the last 20 years, I supervised psychiatry residents and taught courses on Internet addiction and sexual medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry. I have trained many doctors and therapists on how to treat this issue, so please make sure you find someone who has had some training and/or experience in this specialty area. See Chapter 13 for more about finding professional help.

Raising Tech-Healthy Children

      At least two generations have now been raised on Internet and screen technologies. I wish I could unequivocally say that this been a good thing. The Internet and digital screens are unquestionably a great innovation and have changed the world in many positive ways, but there have been some negative changes as well. There are clear brain and behavioral changes from excessive screen use. It seems the Internet can change the way you think, or at times make thinking less important. It also impacts your ability to delay gratification and may impact social and empathy development, and there is growing evidence to suggest that today’s youth have developed mental health problems from excessive smartphone, screen, and social media use.

However, perhaps the biggest issue with children and teens is the incredible amount of time they spend on their devices and the way it impacts their real-time social interactions, physical activity, and relationships. This life imbalance is palpable and can cause real issues in overall health and well-being. This is not to say that everyone who uses Internet and screen technologies needs treatment or even has a problem, but some of the data is certainly a cause for concern.

      

The goal is to teach children responsible and sustainable use of technology and how to use their screens in limited and balanced ways. See Chapter 15 for more information.

Balancing Technology with Real-Time Living

      Anything in excess can produce negative health issues, and the Internet and screen technologies are no exception. Health issues relating to screen use have been well established and may involve reduced and poor sleep, increased stress and elevated cortisol, repetitive motion injury, and neck and back problems. There have been reports of thumb, finger, and upper-back problems from excessive screen use, as well as eye strain and difficulties focusing. Some reports of more serious medical issues include elevated blood pressure, blood clots, weight gain from sedentary behavior, and heart rate issues from dehydration; in extreme cases, people have died.

      Health is in large part determined by balance in your life; screens and all the content you endlessly consume online may interfere with that balance. But balance is key. It can be hard to maintain because it involves conscious choices, but it is necessary for healthy living. After treating hundreds of patients with Internet and video game use issues and having used the technology