Like it or not, computer addiction is an equal opportunity affliction: It's suffered by the young and the old, the meek and the bold. It strikes women as often as men, students and retirees, and people from all walks of life, income status, and intellectual levels. The only difference seems to be in the types of content a person is addicted to, but they all have one thing in common: the computer is the delivery mechanism.
Easy Addiction
Part of the problem lies in the fact that people no longer need to know much about how a computer actually works. The user friendliness of programs and the ease of surfing the Internet have made computer access more available than ever before, and that trend will continue. That means more and more people will have access to computer use, and the attendant possibility of getting hooked.
Social Interaction Disorder
The most vulnerable are people with underdeveloped social skills, whether they are shy and introverted or geeky sorts of people who have problems with social skills. The computer allows them to engage in a certain form of social interaction without having to leave their homes, and they get a feeling of power and competence from being able to navigate effortlessly though cyberspace. They can also be much less inhibited when there is no actual face to face contact with other people they meet online.
Children at Risk
More and more, however, the concept of who is likely to become computer addicted is changing. With computers becoming increasingly easy to use, addicts are coming in a wider and wider variety. Some of the most vulnerable of the new addicts are the quite young. They become addicted to the colorful multimedia presentations, music, video games, and animation available on the World Wide Web, and spend an inordinate amount of time surfing rather than developing normal social interactions. It's a problem that's still in its earliest stages, but it will eventually become much better known and accepted as more and more parents begin to admit that their kids are addicted to computer use.
Some studies have shown that children can become so addicted that their craving for being on the computer is every bit as strong as some of the better known drug addictions. They crave a fix, and go through all the classic symptoms of withdrawal when computer usage is limited or taken away altogether. There are some who argue that children outgrown the addiction in time, but the Internet is still a relatively new phenomenon, so the long-term effects still haven't been well documented.
It's a brand new world out there in cyberspace, and the roads aren't well lit. There are very few roadmaps, and a huge amount of territory is yet to be explored. However, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't take precautions, both for ourselves and our loved ones, as we begin to find our way through the most radical change in communication the world has ever seen.
Jeanette Fisher helps home makers create homes for healing and happy living. In her research on happiness, she found that many people today suffer from depression and one big recent problem is computer addiction.
The Other Side of the Coin: Positive Computer Addiction
More information about Design Psychology Expert Jeanette Fisher
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Life Beyond Computer Addiction
