Valleywag: internet addiction

X-Files star in rehab for Internet porn addiction

Melissa Gira Grant — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:40:00 PDT

A little tear, please, for David Duchovny's broadband account. He's willingly severed his high-speed hookup so he can head to treatment for an addiction to Internet porn. Duchovny copped to rumors that he was a "sex addict" when he checked himself in last week.

We're not ones to throw a word like "addiction" around lightly at Camp Valleywag, and we'd never rob a nerd icon like Duchovny of some dignity on his way to dry out. But come on, you're wondering too: What kind of Internet porn is Duchovny into? Log your suspect sites in the comments. (Photo by Andy Johnstone/Pacificcoastnews.com)

What's your Internet-addiction symptom?

Nicholas Carlson — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:20:00 PDT

"The switched on are switching off," reports the Sydney Morning Herald's Jill Serjeant, who interviewed Internet addicts to ask them how they're fighting back. All very interesting. But we prefer the bits where her sources talk about their symptoms— like how they sometimes blog in their dreams or on the toilet. It helps us feel normal. Check out the whole list below and then, please, share with us your tales of hitting rock bottom.

"I have dream blogged. I have surfed the Internet in my dreams sometimes."
"If I start hearing imaginary incoming message chimes on my computer when I am out in the backyard, it tells me I have spent too much time online."
"I would wake up six hours later and find I was watching videos of puppies on YouTube. I associate that kind of time loss with blackouts when you're drunk."
Some addicts take their laptops to the bathroom.
Some text while driving.
Others check their email during dinner.

(Photo by tacvbo)

The first step is admitting you have a problem

Owen Thomas — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:20:00 PDT

"I now need Twitter more than Twitter needs me." — TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington, who has sent 572 Twitter messages so far in April, taking a rare moment for personal reflection. Michael, there's help for Internet-application addiction. [TechCrunch]

Publicity-starved Portland doctor pimps Asperger's symptoms as Internet addiction

Jackson West — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:00:00 PDT

"Dr. Block says about 86 percent of Internet addicts have some other form of mental illness, but that unless a therapist is looking for it, Internet addiction is likely to be missed." By "other form of mental illness," we're guessing Asperger's sufferers like BitTorrent's not-so-adorably quirky founder Bram Cohen. [Canada.com] (Photo by Irina Slutsky)

Now we're even more addicted to the Internet

Nicholas Carlson — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:20:02 PDT

Jerald Block, M.D., writes in the American Journal of Psychiatry that excessive use of the Internet — Internet addiction — results in a loss of a sense of time and the neglect of basic drives. But his report isn't all good news.

According to the Guardian, Block uncovers symptoms of Internet addiction including:

Withdrawal, including feelings of anger, tension and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible;

The need for better computers, more software, or more hours of use;

Negative repercussions, including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation and fatigue.

Not sure any of this is really bad. At least not for us. More arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation and fatigue, please! Some of us need pageviews.

Internet addicts sent to bootcamp

Mary Jane Irwin — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:13:29 PST

You think you spend too much time on the Internet? In Korea it's common for youths to log on for 17 hours a day. Beyond skipping school to be online, people have started dying from exhaustion. That's why the South Korean government has set up Internet-addiction counseling centers and treatment programs. Its latest effort is the Internet Rescue Camp that subjects campers to physical challenges, like ropes courses, in the hopes that it will help them kick the Internet habit.

The Internet is officially better than sex

Mary Jane Irwin — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:30:23 PDT

Reuters is pimping a study conducted by advertising firm JWT concluded that one out of every five people sacrifices sex to spend more time online. More than a quarter of the surveyed say they interact less with friends and acquaintances in face-to-face situations. JWT concluded that we've turned into a bunch of "digitivity denizens," people who opt for Wi-Fi over television and have intertwined their online and offline lives to the point where a fifth of the populace can't go without the Internet for more than a couple of days. Fifteen percent can't last unplugged for more than a day. Of course, JWT only polled 1,011 people — most likely interrupting a really rocking World of Warcraft guild meeting. (Photo by Lucas)

Send troubled teens to China's happy fun Web bootcamps!

Owen Thomas — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:40:19 PDT

China is treating Web-addled youngsters the way they deserve — with medication and military-style training, CNBC reports. This is such a good idea. Such a good idea. And at $40 a day, the country's Internet-addiction clinics are a bargain compared to most summer camps. Offshoring, anyone? "Those bad behaviors, some can be corrected," promises clinic director Tao Ran. Parents, if you can't pry your troubled teenager away from World of Warcraft, it's time to pony up for roundtrip airfare to Beijing.