Cyber addiction is the dependence on the Internet to the detriment of the real world.
Cyberaddiction is a term that is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ). However, it is possible to understand its meaning if we analyze how the word is formed.
Cyber- is a prefix that refers to a link with computer networks . A computer network, meanwhile, is formed from the interconnection of a set of computers that exchange information. As for an addiction , it is a dependence on activities or substances that damage mental and/or physical health.
IT dependency
The concept of cyber addiction, in this way, refers to the dependence on a computer network . Specifically, it is associated with the disorder that a person suffers when they use the Internet excessively .
Cyber addiction means that the individual spends the entire day connected to the Internet through their computer , tablet, phone or other device. This reality affects their daily lives, interfering with social relationships, work or academic obligations, etc.
Pathology and debate
It is important to note that the existence of cyber addiction as a pathology is often a matter of debate. There are those who maintain that compulsive Internet use is an effect of another psychological disorder and not an addiction in itself or the origin of a pathology.
Beyond its acceptance as a clinical condition or not, it is understood that a person suffers from a cyber addiction when they move away from the real world to immerse themselves in the virtual one, suffer from dispersion of attention, lose track of time , take hours off their rest to remain connected. and becomes moody or distressed when, for some reason, she cannot be online.
Causes
Regardless of the category in which we can frame cyber addiction, we can identify a series of causes for such a tendency or behavior . First of all, we must remember that the Internet provides us with a different universe, with tools that are currently impossible in the real world, such as anonymity and the total modification of one's physical appearance. Behind the screen we can choose our gender or hide it, declare any age, ethnicity and even pretend to be people of another nationality.
For a person with problems that prevent them from interacting fluidly with their peers, the virtual world is undoubtedly extremely tempting. Starting a face-to-face conversation with a stranger, or even with our neighbors, can be very difficult for some, but the aforementioned possibilities that the Internet offers us make everything considerably easier, and can lead to drastic changes in the image we give of ourselves. .
Cyber addiction does not occur because of "not having anything better to do", but in any case because of not knowing how to do something better with our real tools . The typical insecurity of adolescence, the lack of energy that comes with depression at any age or conflicts with one's own sexual identity, among other problems, can lead us to seek refuge in computer networks, where we can hide them and present ourselves as normal beings or , why not?, exceptional. Once we taste the acceptance we crave in the real world, it is almost impossible to reject it.
Inattention and irritability are two signs of cyber addiction.
Signs
To know if we live with people who suffer from cyber addiction, we must be attentive to the following warning signs:
* sacrifice of rest in pursuit of Internet connection;
* lack of attention to issues considered important, such as work, study or interpersonal relationships;
* dispersion or lack of interaction with the environment, due to thinking about the network all day long;
* abnormal irritability, especially in people who used to be calm;
* Sudden euphoria every time the opportunity to connect to the Internet arises.