Sunday Times 2
Are you addicted to the internet?
Do you stay up late into the night using the internet? Are you grumpy or anxious when you can’t log on? Do you need to use the internet more and more to feel satisfied?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be suffering from internet addiction, say experts.
Researchers at the University of Kentucky, in the U.S., believe that somewhere between 0.3 per cent and 38 per cent of the population is addicted to the internet.
They say that the addiction is characterised by excessive use, and symptoms include changes in mood, preoccupation, inability to control the amount of time you spend on the internet, and diminishing social life.
A four-year-old girl from South East England is currently being treated for iPad addiction after her parents noticed that she became 'distressed and inconsolable' when the iPad was taken away from her
They add that internet addiction can be difficult to detect, with the problem much more widely diagnosed in Europe and Asia than it is in the U.S.
The researchers claim that treatment of internet addiction is also much more advanced in Europe and Asia and that treatment tends to aim to teach people how to use the Internet in moderation, not how to abstain altogether.
The American Academy of Paediatrics has also recently published guidelines regarding children using the internet.
It says excessive social media use can lead to attention problems, school difficulties, sleep and eating disorders, and obesity.
It also encourages parents to help their children learn to use the internet in moderation by having rules including not allowing a computer in the bedroom, and only allowing a certain amount of ‘screen time’.
The news comes after experts warned that parents who allow their children access to tablet computers risk encouraging the development of addictions.
There were reports recently that a four-year-old girl from South East England is currently being treated for iPad addiction after her parents noticed that she became ‘distressed and inconsolable’ when the iPad was taken away from her.
Dr Richard Graham, who runs a technology addiction programme, told the paper that he thinks there are many addicts of her age.
He told The Telegraph: ‘The child’s mother called me and described her symptoms. She told me she had developed an obsession with the device and would ask for it constantly.
‘She was using it three to four hours every day and showed increased agitation if it was removed.’
The UK’s first rehabilitation centre for people with technology addictions opened in London in 2010, run by Dr Graham.
It is a private hospital which offers treatment to people with Internet and social networking addictions.
© Daily Mail, London
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