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Internet addiction More and more people are affected by online addiction
Social networks and online games are no longer just a pastime for hundreds of thousands of people. They are online addicts, can not live without the virtual exchange. Not only nerds are affected by online addiction, but increasingly also older people and women. On Thursday, experts in Frankfurt discussed the causes and treatment options of online addiction.
Virtual self-help group for people with online addiction
According to experts, online addiction, the internet addiction, can affect anyone. This is also confirmed by Benjamin Wockenfuß, initiator of the first moderated virtual self-help group for internet addicts, "webC @ re", in an interview with the news agency "dpa". Addicts also increasingly included older people and women. More than one in four, who participated in the nationwide flagship project last year, was already 30 to 40 years old, the therapist reports. One in five was therefore over 40 years old. About 30 percent of the participants were women. Almost as many referred to the social networks as an addictive substance.
More and more people are affected by online addiction. Image: jd-photodesign - fotolia In addition to Facebook & Co. also electronic sports games, which is about money, increasingly a problem. "Against the background of gambling addiction, they bring a new facet," said Wockenfuß. Internet gambling would entail special risks of computer addiction, confirms also Andreas Gohlke of the gambling ambulance of the University of Mainz opposite the news agency. As further risks, the expert calls more than 500 online friends and at least 2.6 hours of computer games daily.
Up to one million people are online addicts in Germany
Hundreds of thousands are now addicted to the Internet in Germany. The Managing Director of the Hessian State Office for Addiction Issues (HLS), Wolfgang Schmidt-Rosengarten, refers in conversation with the agency to a two-year-old study commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Health, which speaks of 560,000 addicts. In Hessen alone, about 41,500 people suffered from online addiction. "The phenomenon has become increasingly strong in recent years." Other experts even go from even higher numbers to one million, reports Wockenfuß.
Online addiction is not officially considered a disease. But: "Experience shows that online addiction has just as serious effects on those affected, such as alcohol or drug addiction," emphasizes the head of the Technical Health Insurance Hesse, Barbara Voß, told the news agency. Frequently, those affected also suffered from further addictions.
Addictiveness: Social networks enable fast, positive feedback
"We are social beings and want quick feedback," explains Dong-Seon Chang from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen in an interview with the agency. "Interacting with other people stimulates the reward center in the brain." And the Internet has another advantage: "We get a quick, positive feedback online much easier." The addiction risk also exists in this, according to the expert.
Schmidt-Rosengarten then know that the characteristics of an online addiction are comparable to those of other addictions. "Increase in dosage: the person concerned sits longer and longer in front of the screen. Attention narrows, the social environment and hobbies are neglected. "The addict adheres to his behavior despite problems at school or in the job and in his social environment. He loses control. "Just as little as the alcoholic can say, I only drink one beer, the internet addict can say I'm only playing for an hour."
Failures and rejections in the real world, but positive feedback and reward in the virtual world
"There is a real and a virtual self, and the two differ greatly," explains Wockenfuß the problem. "In the real world, I experience rejection and failure, in the virtual reward, recognition and success." The more complicated and unattractive the real world becomes, the more the virtual world becomes home.
Many Internet addicts also suffered from depression, attentional, compulsive and social disorders added Gohlke. "The desire and longing for a simple, relaxed reward was the mainspring of almost all users of webC @ re," reports Wockenfuß. Why many turn to the self-help group explains the expert with the desire for a regular life. "Many wanted to finish their studies or not get kicked out in the job after the second warning." In addition, access to the group is just a mouse click away.
An effective strategy against online addiction is to "encourage what I can do well online, also try it offline", says Wockenfuß. According to Gohlke, abstinence is not practicable. Rather, an attempt is being made to regain control. (Ag)