Addiction Essay Sample – Types of Internet Addictions

The Internet is considered as one of the most important foundations of the modern society. Its creation and introduction to the world during the late 19th century has brought about a large heap of development as to how humans perceive the importance of communication, connection and information. Ever since the time it has been released for public use, the Internet took into account several points of development and evolutional advancements that redefined the way humans operated with their everyday activities.

While there are many advantages that could be found in relation to the creation and development of the Internet, there are also some particular downsides to the matter. One of which is the way the Internet has affected the overall function of the human society and how individuals intend to cope with the changes that this particular aspect of technology offers them with.

Health experts have been alarmed that at the onset of the growing demand for Internet connections established in private homes, there is also a distinct increase of number of people getting obese, some depressed and others simply losing track of the daily physical exercise that they are supposed to nourish their bodies with (Caplan, et al. 265). Could these situations be directly related to the use of the Internet? Relatively, through research, it has been found out that at least 45% of those suffering from such ailments are notably found to have very addictive behavior towards the Internet. What types of Internet addiction could result to such harsh health-status results?

One type of Internet addiction is social network addiction. Considerably the most common of its form, this addiction entails the condition by which Internet users tend to spend long hours staying connected with friends or simply browsing through profiles of both known and unknown people featured in the walls of their social network websites. Considerably, the interest on what is happening with others’ lives is spurred on by the desire to be connected and to belong especially in offline conversations with friends (Caplan, et al. 265). While it is healthy to desire a sense of belongingness, being overly concerned about it could be harmful to one’s health as such an act takes away so much time from doing more important things in one’s daily life routines.

 Another type of Internet addiction accounts for pornography and cyber sex. With the amount of information on sex and pornography made free for access online, users become accustomed to getting what they want online if they have no way getting it from a human partner (Young 17). For others, although they are already in a committed relationship, the satisfaction and the freedom that the Internet provides when it comes to accessing photos, videos or even chat rooms that offer cyber sex fills the fleshly cravings that one might develop through time. This is morally and mentally damaging to the user, at some point, such condition often leads to other issues that involve health and mental problems if not affecting how the user’s relationship with others is constituted.

 Among the other types of Internet addiction that are not included in this discussion, gaming addiction appears to take the third spot in being the most common source of health issues that Internet users develop. Gaming addition could also include gambling games online where the users’ often bet huge amount of money and property just to be able to construct a name that could be trusted online for betting. With desperation to win, online gamers often bet their entire savings and other properties that plunge them into more financial problems (Zhou 405). With much stress and tension, others develop particular ailments that affect their health’s integrity. Some of the symptoms that bring about such health disturbance include lack of sleep and lack of concentration.

 With all the types of Internet addiction noted in this discussion, one might ask, is Internet really that beneficial for human use? As one technological critic puts it, technology is made and developed to provide ease to human responsibilities (Young 203). As technology advances, it is the human being that should know how, when and why he would be using such an offer from technology. The reaction and the results of one’s use of the Internet come from his own decisions and actions. Relatively, the perception that users develop regarding the Internet affects the very result that their actions would have upon their attitude, their mentality and their physical health.

Works Cited

Caplan, Scott E., and Andrew C. High. “Beyond Excessive Use: The Interaction between Cognitive and Behavioral Symptoms of Problematic Internet Use.” Communication Research Reports, vol. 23, no. 4, 2006, pp. 265–271., doi:10.1080/08824090600962516.
Young, Kimberly. “Internet Addiction: Symptoms, Evaluation, and Treatment.” Innovations in Clinical Practice: A Source Book, vol. 17, 1999.
Zhou, Yan, et al. “Gray Matter Abnormalities in Internet Addiction: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study.” European Journal of Radiology, vol. 79, no. 1, 2011, doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2009.10.025.