An addiction rarely memtioned is upsetting me a whole lot

[Stuart G]

Last edited Mon Mar 7, 2016, 01:28 PM - Edit history (1)

Internet Addiction, and addiction to this site, and some others....

Spend too much time sitting looking into a screen. Sometimes it is here at this site, (often) but I can go from place to place on the internet. Reading this and that, or just looking at .."stuff"..most very unimportant...

I'd like to hear what other people think about this. I am considering ..just considering..giving up the internet. It would change a whole lot.....Don't know yet.....Setting limits, does not work...but I will continue trying..thank you if you read this..

Oh...and this is not a joke, it is real.!!!!
.sometimes I cannot stop typing on the internet, and surfing around from here to there....can't leave the computer....sorry if this upsets anyone. But.....


Any responses would be appreciated...Stuart

[notawinger]

1. I know what you're saying

I feel I spend to much time on the internet as well. I can't stay away!

[Stuart G]

2. Welcome to Democratic Underground and.........

good luck...this place is often very hard to leave...

Stuart

[notawinger]

3. Thank you

I hope to find comfort among those who understand the pain of addiction and families torn apart by addiction.

[progree]

4. I'm going to try moving my browser icon to a desktop folder

to make it a 2-step process to start the browser. That way it will slow me down and make me think a bit, "do I really need to go on the Internet now?"

Thanks for your post. It got me thinking.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. I had withdrawals when our service was out for 2 days...

To be fair, since we have no tv/radio, we were cut off from the world entirely.
But it was internet we got antsy for.

I have never ever gotten hooked on tv, as many people say they have been, and cutting the cord years ago was no problem.

Computer is different, and since we have retired, and have no obligations outside the home, Mr. Dixie and I spend a lot of time on our computers.
To the point where I find myself wondering if it is not hypnotic or something.

OTOH...we are both serious readers and gatherers of information and the internet meets that need so well, so we could just be greedy about wanting to stuff our brains as much as we can,
We have no social obligations, esp. since family members are so far away, and we live in a red state, so most socializing is very casual.

I have developed a routine of getting up every 30 minutes ( internet alarm clock is so cool) and walking around the house, doing a few chores,
to make sure my legs don't fall off.

Maybe try that???

[Stuart G]

6. I believe you said it,,"I was wondering if it is not hypnotic or something..."

That is it...kind of like there is a deep mental involvement in the site, or what I am reading. If I am posting something here in DU, and checking out the sources and adding ideas, it is total involvement in that idea, like researching a favorite idea. I sit in front of the screen as long as necessary to finish that thread or idea. The alarm can go off, well screw the alarm..(yes, I have one right near the mouse I work with)..I am getting a little better, but not much.

I try to time myself, but I go past the time limit, almost always. To me, the internet is addicting, and it is communicating, and it is like a library with all kinds of books and magazines, and it it a weather report, (with radar that is up todate) and it is music and some entertainment, and it can be a radio too. It is a place to find out what is going on with friends, and even a place to look at stuff I shouldn't look at. I have files of jokes, and stories and etc.....but.. there is an alternative...........

Call the internet provider, and cancel it in my home....that would mean I get weather reports and some news from the radio or TV..then if Iwant to use the internet, and check up on stuff,....I have to get in my car, and drive to the library..(approximately 4 minutes) and use theirs. Not having the internet as a news source all day, would be drastic, since I am retired and love the news..but most of the time, as we all know, instant news in totally unnecessary..

Spending a couple of hours a day at the library would be enough...So after each 45 minutues, I get up and walk around there..This is just an idea..who knows if it can be done....but this I know.......

sitting too much is extremely dangerous for me.. and that is what I have been doing....

Thanks for reading this..........Stuart

[progree]

7. For me, it is keeping me from accomplishing many things on my to-do list

In particular, my house is a mess and chipping away at it even just 2-4 hours a week (beyond the everyday stuff like keeping the kitchen and the bathroom clean) just isn't getting done. Dealing with lots of stuff that should be thrown out

[Stuart G]

8. I agree completely..... Today it happened again..

I got taken in an hour ago, when I put up a story in latest news about a woman being shot in the back by her son who was sitting in the back of her car while the two were riding....

I thought it would be done in 15 minutes, so before it was over and I made some changes and some comments, I had spent an hour and 15 minutes on one story....And I had planned to clean up my house which is also a mess...got to go and take a walk

.........

[notawinger]

9. I love to read

The internet provides endless material, I am always online doing something it could be a game or twitter or facebook just online.

[Stuart G]

10. So do I, and all kinds of stuff too...but..

In the so called "old days"...if you wanted the benefits of this kind of reading..that is going from magazine to book to advertisements, back to magazines, and so on, you had to go to the library.

All the newspapers were there, old ones, all kinds of periodicals, just about everything. One huge difference. If you wanted a magazine, you had to get up, and walk around to find it. then.......sit down and read it, then put it back, and do the same thing again.

Yes, at a large library, a person had the same variety, (no there was no online dating, but there were magazines that you could read that would give addresses, and names..and also newspapers to meet people) but....you had to look for it. Or, once you knew where they were, you had to go to several places to get what you wanted. Yes, you could sit there all day, but it was so common to get up and look for something else.

But........here at the computer, you have even more variety, and don't have to ever get up...Further, the search engines make the search so much easier. Google and Yahoo search for you, when before, you had to ask a librarian, or walk around to find it or find that..so ..research has changed dramatically. I used to teach research. I was a high school history teacher who taught how to do research papers. ..So much has changed. You just sit here, and it takes you from place to place to place..even giving you current events if you are tied into that news source. I was in the library using a computer when 9/11 happened. Others on the computers, said, "switch to this site, and you will see...something terrible is happening...."

It is very clear...while this is a tremendous, incredible advancement, by sitting endlessly, and not moving around and getting up, this so called "advancement" in the afore mentioned way, is going to cause people to want to stay seated endlessly, and consequently, by doing so......hurt a whole lot of people..Of course watching TV did the same thing. The United States is one of the heaviest nations in the world.. I recall having to get up and change channels. never again.....So, my time is up, got to get up and take a walk..
............Stuart............

[notawinger]

11. This is so true

It is all at our fingertips we never have to move. I must confess though, I have a wearable fitness device to prod me into getting my exercise. It still keeps me connected kinda crazy!!

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Stuart..I am back with another thought..

When I worked in the addictions field, a basic definition of addiction, and indeed on the addiction questionnaire, was..
" does your ___________ bother you or anyone else ( friends, family, job, etc)"

another definition was .." an addiction is something you cannot quit and stay quit from".( thus the compulsive factor)

Of course, by that definition, air is addictive, so we naturally have to add another part of the definition which is...
" an UNhealthy relationship with _____________"

As you can see, this really expanded the idea into what we later came to know as food, relationship, and sexual addiction.

And possibly computer addiction?