Research Paper on Internet Addiction

This is my second draft of my research paper, I am finished with writing this today will work on it more tomorrow, will update this when I am done with it. :)

Andrea Baker

Brother Johansen

Research Paper

Sally is staring at snow piling on her lawn outside of her window.  She can hear the television in the background declaring what she was hoping for; that school has been cancelled for the day.  She checked her Facebook to see what all of her friends are going to do, it turns out that all of them have already made plans and somehow forgot to invite her to come along.  Before she knows it she starts to play various online games and it seems as if her entire day has slipped through her fingers.  Now imagine this happening to you every single day.  Anyone can have internet addiction, but people who are experiencing loneliness, depression; A.D.H.D [attention deficit hyperactive disorder], etc., are more likely to experience it.  This is a very recent problem and it hasn’t been listed in the DSM, but they plan to put it in the newest edition.  If someone experiences internet addiction they should seek for help from other people. Internet addiction is something that must be prevented from a young age and if not then it should be controlled with certain methods.
            Most of the things that we do on the internet, such as gaming, release dopamine into our brains pleasure center, thus making obsessive pleasure seeking behaviors.  Internet companies use this fact to exploit their customers, so that they can make more profit [6].  Thus resulting I games on Facebook such as Farmville, Cafe World, Words with Friends, etc., and advertisements on gaming sites personalized to you.  This makes it hard to leave the site because you need to level up to get to your next bonus.

When someone you are close to, or even if you are addicted to the internet can make your life hard to live.  When you know someone with it you should be willing to help them out and not just shrug it off like it is nothing, like it doesn't even matter to you.    In order to get over the addiction you need to tackle the things that are causing your addictions.   We should be learning from a young age the negative effects that the internet can have on you, and that the internet should be used for your benefit. 

Addiction to the internet isn't like the addictions that you usually hear about, such as alcohol and drugs; it is a behavioral disorder and is most common with people who have compulsive tendencies.  This addiction is newer, because the internet has only been around for 30 years which is far shorter than any other kind of well-known addiction.

Gaming sights can be appealing because they can receive achievements, such as leveling up, defeating monsters, gaining skill levels, they may feel that their achievements in the game are more important than their achievements in real life.  Another reason why some people like the internet more than real life because it is easier for them to make friends, it is risk free and you don’t have to think about the real person  but only of their avatar, profile picture.  This could be a good thing, making it easier for shy people to get used to talking to people; so that when they meet real people they will know how to handle the situation.  This can also be a bad thing because it causes people to spend too much time playing games instead of interacting with people in real life. 

One of the main causes of having internet addiction is loneliness, and someone can be lonely even if you have a lot of friends; it is a state of mind.  Anyone can get help from someone they love or a therapist, they will be willing to help you.   When someone is addicted to the internet they may experience negative emotions when they don’t have the internet accessible to them.  If addiction is causing someone to neglect their relationships with the people who they are close to, then you should try your best to prevent it every way possible to quick the addiction.

Getting over internet addiction by yourself is not an easy task, because you will set limits for yourself that don’t really help you, but make you happy for a short time.  Their needs to be someone who helps you set difficult goal and help you keep them by having them check on your progress routinely. The internet can be used for a lot of good things such as family history, teaching, charity, business, spreading your beliefs, being connected to the whole world, sharing your ideas, research, etc. Some people tend to be addicted to the bad parts of the internet instead of the parts that will actually help them, such as pornography, social sites, on-line gaming. 

Some of the most popular online games are World of Warcraft, Steam and Runescape.  World of Warcraft has 10.2 million subscriber’s [1], while Runescape has 200 million accounts and is in the Guinness World Records for being the world’s largest free MMORPG (Massive Multi Online Role Playing Game) [2], but a lot of these accounts could very well be mods or inactive.  Steam’s top games are Dota 2 with 73,647 players and Team Fortress 2 with 35,982 players. [3] With so many people playing these games the companies are gaining profit but the players are not gaining anything necessarily from these games. 

There are some people who make a living of playing video games and posting their commentary of them onto YouTube.  Some of my favorite YouTube gaming channels are Pewdiepie and ChaoticMonki, a.ka. Cryotic, who are both very witty and fun to watch. Pewdiepie has 2,944,353 subscribers and is the 11 most subscribed person on YouTube, and is gaining 13,000 per day [4], this is his full time job and he makes his living off of it.  ChaoticMonki has 292,307 subscribers and is gaining around 2,000 per day [5] and posting YouTube videos is also his full time job.  Even though some people can manage playing video games into a job, means that video games aren’t all that bad they serve a purpose but we shouldn't get addicted to them because there are far greater things in life. 

  A good way to get over this addiction is to do something that is productive, for example if you are addicted to video games; it is not very hard to find out how to make them.  Try going to your local library and finding books on how to make games and finding someone in school who is an expert in making video games.  All you need is to be patient because it isn't easy and you won’t make a masterpiece the first time that you try. If you keep making video games, and perfecting your idea, you can find a job in that field. 

Addictions to anything mean that you are dependent of that object.   Spending a whole day playing video games means, that you are addicted, not necessarily if you don’t really do that all the time, it could just be that was the only day you could do that and you never get to play video games on a regular basis.  However, if you find it hard to keep up with your responsibilities because you feel that you need to beat another level than that could be a problem.  If you need to play a certain video game to be happy, if that is the only thing that can make you happy, than this may mean that you are addicted. 

You should never diagnose others or yourself with mental illness, and Internet addiction is a part of this and if you know someone that exhibits these traits, don’t just say their addicted, you should talk to them and tell your concerns; let them know that you care about them, don’t ignore them.   You have probably heard someone say that they will finish playing a game in an hour, but in reality they don’t finish for another couple of hours.  Not everyone is the same; everyone deals with addiction in different ways and needs to be helped in different means.  Curing internet addiction starts with you wanting to, not because someone is telling you to. 

            Internet addiction is a very new disorder and hasn’t even been put into the DSM [Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel or Mental Disorders [7]] yet, it is classified as a behavioral addiction.  There are several ways to cure it, such as going to a therapist or having someone helps you set goals and monitor what you do on the internet, or using your time in a more timely matter.  It is also a good idea to start with small step and gradually get to even bigger steps.  The internet can be used both for good things and bad things.  Internet addiction is something that must be prevented from a young age and if not then it should be controlled with certain methods.

  Bibliography

 [7] "American Psychiatric Association DSM-5 Development." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. <http://www.dsm5.org/Pages/Default.aspx>.

"Brigham Young University - Idaho." Brigham Young University - Idaho. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://ssc.sagepub.com.byui.idm.oclc.org/content/30/4/403.full.pdf html>.

[5] “ChaoticMonki.” Vidstatsx. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://vidstatsx.com/ChaoticMonki/youtube-channel>.

[6] "Exploiting the Neuroscience of Internet Addiction." The Atlantic. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. <http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/07/exploiting-the-neuroscience-of-internet-addiction/259820/>.

Impact of Internet Literacy, Internet Addiction, Symptoms, and Internet Activities on Academic Performance. Sagepub. 29 Nov. 2012.

<http://ssc.sagepub.com.byui.idm.oclc.org/content/30/4/403.full.pdf+html>.

“Internet Adiction: Symptoms, Evaluation, and Treatment.” netaddiction. 29 Nov. 2012

< http://www.netaddiction.com/articles/symptoms.pdf>.

[4] "Pewdiepie." Vidstatsx. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://vidstatsx.com/PewDiePie/youtube-channel>.

[2] "Runescape." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Nov. 2012. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuneScape>.

[3] "Steam: Game and Player Statistics." Steam: Game and Player Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. <http://store.steampowered.com/stats/>.

[1]"World of Warcraft Subscriber Numbers Dip 100,000 to 10.2 Million." WoW Insider. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/09/world-of-warcraft-subscriber-numbers/>.

Outline for my essay

So the following is my outline for my research paper, should I make any adjusments?  

Feel free to leave a comment :3

v  Introduction

§  hook

§  Thesis Statement

v  Body

Ø  Explanation of Addiction              

§  Definition on Internet Addiction

§  Science behind Addiction (any kind)

Ø  Drawbacks of being addicted to something

§  Explanation

·        Example (me)

§  Details

Ø  Positive outcomes of addiction

§  Job opportunity

§  Social aspects

Ø   Youtube

§  Pewdiepie

§  Cry

§  People can make money off of this

Ø  Why is it addicting

§  Statistics of games played online

·        World of War craft

·        Runescape

·        Steam

Ø  How we can go about fixing the problem

§  Groups set to helping

§  Getting someone to help you

Ø  Why Internet addiction is different from others?

v  Conclusion

§  Summary of my Points

§  Restate Thesis Statement 

Improved Introduction

Here are my attempts at making a good intro :)

(1)             Imagine yourself waking up in the morning thinking what you want to do that day, but you can’t think of anything that needs to be done.  You go onto your computer and decide to play a video game for a couple minutes while you are trying to think of something productive to do. In-between killing monsters, chatting with other players, and gaining achievements you look at your cellphone hoping somebody texted you, but no one ever does.   By the end of the day, the only productive thing that you have done is make a bologna sandwich, and you go to bed disappointed in yourself.   Imagine this happening to you every day, it is normally coupled with mental diseases such as A.D.H.D, loneliness, depression, etc.  Internet addiction should be prevented at a young age and if not than it should be fixed by getting help from others, and by finding something that is more productive.  

(2)               Imagine yourself looking out the window first thing in the morning and there is a blizzard raging outside of the window.  In the front room you can hear your family talking over the soft cackle of the fireplace, as you walk over there your sister runs over to you. She grabbed your arm and tells you that school is cancelled while she is jumping up and down.  Shortly following this announcement she proceeds to run outside, to be picked up by her boyfriend to go sledding in the local park.  Your parents ask you if you are going to hang out with your friends, but you avoid the question and slowly stalk off too your room.  You don’t want to admit to anyone but the truth is that you don’t have friends and you don’t want to go anywhere by yourself because you are awkward around other people.  You sit on the desk in your bedroom and start playing a video game and talking to your online friends who treat you nicely, unlike the people at your school.  Before you know it your mom is calling you for dinner, you wonder where the day has gone; but you don’t care.   Internet addiction is something that needs to be controlled by asking for help by the people close to you.   

The Introduction for my research Project

Internet Addiction is a behavioral disease that is normally coupled with people who have mental disorders such as depression, loneliness, A.D.H.D, etc.  This is a very recent problem and it hasn't been listed in the DSM, but they plan to put it in the newest edition.  If someone experiences internet addiction they should seek for help from other people.  Some people get addicted to online gaming sites because they think that getting achievements online is better than there average life where they never accomplish anything of worth, or so they think.  Internet addiction should be prevented and if not than you should figure out how to get over it and find something else to do with your time that is more productive.  

Explanation of this blog

I am making this blog for my English class research paper, I am doing it on internet addiction because I want to learn more about it and I find it interesting.  If you find it interesting too, this is the right place for you, I will post my assignments on here and eventually my paper.  If you are interested in writing research papers as well feel free to send them to me, and I will tell you want I think about it. Also Feel free to tell me what you think about my research as well!

Summary

I am researching Internet addiction, why you ask well because I want to learn more about it and to understand why some people turn to the internet to escape their problems.  You see the internet can be used for good things and bad things such as social media which could be good because you can talk to your friends that you never see, and it can be bad because you use it to make friends with people you have never met before.  The internet should be used, as well as everything else in moderation; yet there are still people who addicted to it.            

In my research I have found an article that was published on August 1, 2010 so it isn't the most up to date article but I believe that it conveys some very important points about internet addiction.  Internet addiction has not yet been identified as a disorder that is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM), but it is a common disorder that deserves to be in the DSM-V.  Throughout this article it is trying to explain what causes internet addiction, it gives countless examples of statistics from other sources. There are three different kinds of internet addiction, excessive gaming, sexual preoccupations, and e-mail/ text messaging.  These all have things in common such as excessive use, feeling negative emotions when they don’t have a computer, the need for new computer equipment, poor achievement, social isolation, fatigue, and lying, etc.  There are some arguments were people say that internet addiction isn't a disorder on its own but is a side effect of other disorders, such as ADHD, anxiety and depression. In this article it said that people can become addicted to the internet, because it provides a way to relieve stress.  This article also says that people who are addicted to the internet are also have a higher probability with people who have social anxiety, and family violence exposure.This is the article that I was summarizing :)  http://ehis.ebscohost.com.byui.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail?sid=0fe1d3b7-fb8a-40ea-8c60-76b1fcac6478%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&A

Preview

Internet addiction is a very new behavioral disease, it should be taken seriously.  Anyone can have it, but people who are experiencing loneliness, depression; A.D.H.D, etc. are more likely to experience this.   In order to get over the addiction you need to tackle the things that are causing your addictions.   We should be learning from a young age the negative effects that the internet can have on you, and that the internet should be used for your benefit. 

Some people may be addicted to the internet through gaming, because you can receive achievements; and they feel as though they are more important in the game than in real life.  Another reason people like the internet more than real life because it is easier for them to make friends, it is risk free and don’t have to think about the real person.  This could be a good thing, making it easier for shy people to get used to talking to people; so that when they meet real people they will know how to handle the situation.  This can also be a bad thing because it causes people to spend too much time playing games instead of interacting with people in their real life.

  You see one of the main causes of having internet addiction is loneliness, and you can be lonely even if you have a lot of friends; it is a state of mind.  I think that you can treat this by confronting your problems with those you love or a therapist.   The people who experience internet addiction suffer negative emotions when they don’t have the internet.  Is internet addiction only bad when it only affects you, or when it affects the lives of the people around you?

 If the addiction is causing you to neglect the relationships with the people who are close to you, then you should try your best to prevent it every way possible to quick the addiction. It may not always be possible to do it by yourself, most of the time people need help to get over it.  You can’t necessarily get over internet addiction by yourself, because you will set limits for yourself that don’t really help you, but make you happy.  You need someone to help you set difficult goals and keep them by having them check on your progress routinely. 

The internet can be used for a lot of good things, but people tend to be addicted to the bad parts of the internet instead of the parts that will actually help them.  Another good way to get over your addiction is to do something that is productive, like if you are addicted to video games, maybe you can learn how to make your own video games via the internet.  Or even better going to your local library and finding books on how to make games and finding game designers in your neighborhood and have them teach you how to make them.   If you figure out how to make video games well, you may get a job in that field, and learn even more about it.

 Addictions to anything mean that you are dependent of that object.  How can you tell that you are addicted to something?  Spending a whole day playing video games means, that you are addicted, not necessarily if you don’t really do that all the time, it could just be that was the only day you could do that and you never get to play video games on a regular basis.  However, if you find it hard to keep up with your responsibilities because you feel that you need to beat another level.  If you need to play a certain video game to be happy, if that is the only thing that can make you happy, than this may mean that you are addicted. 

I remember from psychology class that you should never diagnose others with mental illness, and Internet addiction is a part of this and if you know someone that exhibits these traits, don’t just say their addicted.  If you think that someone you love has this than you should be able to talk to them about and tell them your concerns; let them know that you care about them, don’t ignore them because most of the time when people are addicted to something it usually means they have much bigger problems behind that.

  Some more excuses that people give would be that they will only be on for one hour, but often times they lose track of the time and forget to go to their engagements.  In this Preview I have been talking about specifics but you have to remember that everyone is different and just because someone exhibits these traits doesn’t necessarily mean that their addicted but it could mean that they are in pain and don’t know how to deal with their problems.