How to Solve Internet Addiction

I. Introduction

Do you play online games uncontrollably or keep checking social media? If you can’t live without the Internet within a second, you might have Internet Addiction. In fact, there are 3 million users who use the Internet as one of the most important tools of communication. With advanced technology, smartphones are considered as a means of socializing with each other. However, some might find that they are unable to control their behavior by looking at their smartphones. What’s more, the reason why they keep browsing the Internet unconsciously is that they try to cease the feeling of insecurity. Therefore, one of the diseases of modern civilizations - Internet Addiction comes out, which causes those who are addicted to the Internet to feel anxious when they stay away from the Internet. It is normal that more and more people will feel nervous all around the world nowadays because of the condition of keeping browsing the Internet. We made a survey to examine this phenomenon that people can’t live without the Internet, which excludes working and studying (see Figure 1). In Figure 1, zero means the respondents don’t rely on the Internet totally while five means the respondents rely on the Internet strongly. As you can see, Internet Addiction leads to a big problem. Hence, people should be aware of this problem and prevent it as soon as possible.

Figure 1 (Levels of the respondents rely on the Internet except for working and studying)

II. Background

Over-reliance on the Internet would cause a serious problem---- Internet Addiction. According to Joseph Johnson (2021), over half of the world's population has access to the Internet, which means that there are currently near 4 billion internet users worldwide. The widely used internet has become a trend throughout human society nowadays and has positively and negatively affected our daily life. Though the Internet could make our life more convenient by providing easier access to information, it can also lead to problems for mental health. For some people, going online becomes an addiction when they have a difficult time balancing their time online and offline. According to our survey (see Figure 2), about 22.4% of the respondents spend over 10 hours a day online, excluding working and studying. People who are addicted to the Internet often experience negative emotions and face problems with a mood disorder. Besides, people who are addicted to the internet may also experience negative feelings or psychological conditions upon being prohibited from accessing the Internet. When being separated from the Internet, they would become anxious and incapable of enjoying whatever they’re doing and may exacerbate the symptoms of depression. Figure 3 shows how anxious will the respondent be when they are separated from the Internet, and 0 means the respondents have no anxiety at all while 5 means they feel very anxious. Our survey result shows that over 50% of them feel either anxious(4) or very anxious(5) when they are separated from the Internet (see Figure 3). Additionally, Internet addicts tend to have poor performance as they have difficulties fulfilling personal and professional obligations due to time-consuming online activities. As people become too overly dependent on the Internet, they might waste their valuable time and neglect the priority of tasks. For example, if a student always surfs the Internet, he or she would neglect his or her homework and study and eventually fail on their academic performance. Thus, Internet Addiction is a severe issue around the world that we need to solve as soon as possible.

Figure 2 (Hours of using the Internet per day, excluding work and study)

Figure 3 (Anxiety level when being separated from the Internet)

III. Solutions

According to our survey, the respondents provide several methods to

solve Internet Addiction effectively. From the respondents’ perspective, they reckon that doing other activities such as dancing, exercising, and playing instruments are also a good way to help Internet addicts to stay away from the Internet (see Figure 4). According to Douglass and wikiHow website (2021), “Regular exercise can help keep you healthy, boost your mood, make you more self-confident, sleep better, and much more.” In addition, cultivating new interests is another way to help addicts put more focus on real-life instead of virtual life. Making a goal and accomplishing it may increase your confidence. Some respondents also suggest limiting the usage of the Internet by restricting access and limiting the data flow (see Figure 4). Meng et al. (2020) suggest that reduce Internet access and limit recreational Internet use could prevent Internet addiction. In other words, restrictions on Internet access helps to reduce the possibility of Internet Addiction. Several apps and software, such as “FocusBooster” or “Think” might help fight back against the constant distractions of our digital lives. Besides this advice, there are also some solutions suggested by experts.

Figure 4 (Respondents’ suggestions to help Internet addicts)

One possible way to overcome Internet Addiction might be following behavior principles. A simple way to describe the “behavior principle” is that the addicts build their self-discipline for the purpose of controlling the usage of the Internet. Behavior principles include admitting the problem they encounter, making a schedule to follow, and overseeing themselves strongly. When it comes to admitting the problem, addicts would be more focused on this issue and then they would resolve problems. What’s more, once they pluck up the courage to solve Internet Addiction, they should manage and distribute the usage of time wisely and precisely. In this way, they can track the time they use on the Internet and adjust the schedule in order to fit their condition. The most important thing is they should follow a daily routine to supervise the time management specifically. According to the International Psychology Clinic (IPC), “Time management is the key to resolve Internet Addiction issues. You need to make a timetable and make time for several other things along with using the Internet.” These methods provide the way to improve their lifestyle, to follow their daily routine, and to help break away from Internet Addiction. The research we made investigates how effective the respondents think that making a schedule can solve the Internet Addiction problem (see Figure 5). In Figure 5, zero means the respondents think that it wouldn’t be effective if making a schedule while five means they think it would be effective. As you can see, only 29.9% of respondents considered that behavior principles can help addicts. From the respondents’ perspective, they reckoned that it is too hard for the heaviest addicts to follow the routines they make because the heaviest users can’t control themselves originally. In terms of the treatment, behavior principles only concentrate on the surface rather than deeper parts such as emotional impacts. It might be only useful for the lightest addicts who have minor ailments. Through practicing these behavior principles, people still could fight back against the constant distractions of our digital lives.

Figure 5 (Levels of the respondents consider making a schedule can solve the Internet Addiction problem)

Besides self-control, psychotherapy may also be helpful to those who suffer from Internet Addiction. The research shows that 29 out of 67 respondents think professional medical systems can effectively solve the Internet Addiction problem, while 21 people remain neutral (see Figure 6). Common treatments for Internet Addiction are similar to the treatment of any other types of addiction, involving Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT). To begin with, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a short-term and problem-focused type of behavioral treatment, which is commonly said to be the most effective therapy for Internet Addiction. During the process, those patients will learn that their perceptions would influence their responses and their thought process would guide their behaviors and actions. Through the treatment, the therapist applies techniques such as relaxation or exercise to raise patients' awareness of their behavior patterns. Generally, CBT will help those addicts to realize their addictive feelings and actions and learn methods to prevent a relapse. Another common treatment is Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), which concentrates on strengthening the connection and social relationships with their friends, parents, and other people who, most of the time, are their support groups. Thus, this type of therapy aims to find new methods of interaction through applying interventions, including modeling practice, role-playing, development of communication skills, and encouragement on influencing others. In many cases, multimodal treatments, which means combining and applying different treatments to the patients at the same time, have been employed to treat Internet Addiction Disorder. These two means of psychotherapy not only can help addicts get back to normal as soon as possible but also could solve the problem from both psychological and physical levels.

Figure 6 (Levels of the respondents consider professional medical system can solve the Internet Addiction problem)

By comparing these two methods, we reckon that psychotherapy would be a better one. While seeking assistance from a professional medical system might cause more time and money than planning a schedule, psychotherapy could fundamentally solve Internet Addiction. Several researchers question whether treatment is even necessary for Internet Addiction Disorder at all, as they consider the disorder a "fad illness" and suggest that it often resolves itself over time. Studies have shown that self-corrective behavior can be achieved and successful. Such corrective behaviors include software that controls Internet use and types of sites that can be visited. However, one of our respondents comments on the reason why he supports medical treatment: “I think a person with any kind of addiction can not control himself or herself easily, so making a schedule may not be more effective than a professional medical system, because it needs self-control.” Moreover, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is broadly agreed by researchers as an effective treatment for Internet Addiction. Young (2007) research the effectiveness of CBT on Internet Addiction. Among 140 clients, most of them were able to manage their presenting complaints by the 8th session of CBT treatment, and most were able to fully manage their symptoms by the 12th session. Thus, Internet Addiction could be effectively managed on both physical and psychological aspects by efficiently practicing CBT treatment with other psychotherapy. In this way, Internet addicts can improve their conditions gradually.

IV. Conclusion

Still, Internet Addiction is undergoing around the world. It is impossible to prevent people from using the Internet to communicate, to socialize with each other. Commonly, with advanced technology, people in this modern era often use their smartphones to browse the Internet. Thus, it leads to the problem of Internet Addiction since people keep connecting to the Internet without notice gradually. In order to solve this disease, there are two solutions that can be taken advantage of: one is behavior principles and the other is psychotherapy. However, we found that these two solutions help different levels of addicts. For behavior principles, it might not work for the heaviest users since behavior principles tend to self-management rather than coercive force. Hence, this solution can’t help both the heaviest and lightest users. As for psychotherapy, it takes care of emotional and physical parts simultaneously. Consequently, psychotherapy might be a better way to solve Internet Addiction. In this way, we could experience the real world beyond the screen once we understand how to deal with our Internet Addiction. Nonetheless, people in this modern society should manage their own time wisely, preventing Internet Addiction.

References

Douglass, T., wikiHow. (2021). How to Overcome Internet Addiction.

Retrieved from: https://www.wikihow.com/Overcome-Internet-Addiction

International Psychology Clinic (n.d.)10 Tips to overcome Internet Addiction.

Retrieved from: https://theinternationalpsychologyclinic.com/10-tips-to-overcome-internet-addiction/

Johnson, J. (2021). Global number of internet users 2005-2019.

Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/273018/number-of-internet-users-worldwide/

Meng, S., Dong, P., Sun, Y., Li, Y., & Chang, X., Sun, G., Zheng, X., Sun, Y., Sun, Y., Yuan, K., Sun, H., Wang, Y., Zhao, M., Tao, R., Domingo, C., Bao, Y., Kosten, TR., Lu, L., Shi, J. (2020). Guidelines for prevention and treatment of internet addiction in adolescents during home quarantine for the COVID-19 pandemic. Heart Mind, 4(4), 95-99.

Retrieved from: https://www.heartmindjournal.org/article.asp?issn=2468-6476;year=2020;volume=4;issue=4;spage=95;epage=99;aulast=Meng.

Young, Kimberly S. (2007). Cognitive Behavior Therapy with Internet Addicts: Treatment Outcomes and Implications. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 10(5), 671-679.

Retrieved from: http://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2007.9971

Douglass, T., & wikiHow. (2021, June 3). How to Overcome Internet Addiction. wikiHow. https://www.wikihow.com/Overcome-Internet-Addiction.

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