Is it true that internet addiction changes the brain as much as cocaine or heroine? originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Michelle Roses, MS Substance Abuse and Addiction Counseling, on Quora:
It’s true. All process (behavioral) addictions, including Internet Addiction Disorder changes your brain.
The Internet, like any addiction, changes the brain by creating new neuropathways which replace other, healthier neuropathways for pleasure, or prevent someone from developing healthy neuropathways. This is one of my favorite videos, by Paula Hall, which explains it perfectly. It’s about sex addiction, but, neurologically, all addiction is the same, whether it is behavioral or substantive.
The reason Internet addiction is so severe is all the senses are stimulated. The sound of the computer humming, visuals of the screen’s images, sounds and touch of the keyboard and mouse, smells in the room all are part of the addiction stimulus.
If you tend to eat or drink a particular thing or smoke, your taste and oral touch can become part of the stimulation as well.
The dopamine released is your drug and you will return again and again to get more of it. Here are some signs of Internet addiction:
- Feelings of guilt
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Dishonesty
- Euphoric feelings when in front of the computer
- Unable to keep schedules
- No sense of time
- Isolation
- Defensiveness
- Avoiding doing work
- Agitation when you can not get internet time
Dr. Kimberly S. Young has created a questionnaire based on other disorders to assess levels of addiction. It is called the Internet Addict Diagnostic Questionnaire or IADQ. Answering positively to five out of the eight questions may be indicative of an online addiction.
- Are you preoccupied with using the Internet? Do you think about your previous or future online activity?
- Do you have the need to be online longer to be satisfied?
- Have you made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to cut back, stop or control your Internet use?
- Do you become moody, restless, irritable or depressed when you stop or decrease your Internet use?
- Is your time spent online longer than what you originally planned?
- Did your online use negatively affect a significant relationship, education, career or job?
- Do you conceal the extent of your Internet usage from your therapist, family or others?
- Does the Internet serve as an escape from problems or relief from a bad mood?
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