A guidebook to beating internet addiction and screen overuse and for living a fuller life There’s no escaping it―we live in a digital world. We work, play, socialize, and learn online, and the Internet provides many amazing opportunities. Unfortunately, because of our basic biology, we’re all susceptible to overuse and addiction to screens. Video games, social media, porn, and even scrolling online, taps into that pleasurable dopamine reward system. So, when is it time to log off or put the phone down and get help? Overcoming Internet Addiction For Dummies gives you the information, resources, and the self-assessment tools you need to discover how much is too much, along with practical suggestions on what to do about it. Learn how to take back control of your time and attention—or help your kids or loved ones get control of theirs. This comprehensive, user-friendly overview of Internet addiction is full of helpful and proven methods to help foster a healthy, balanced, and sustainable life with screens. Discover the basic biology of addiction, including why children and teens are especially susceptible. Become aware of the cognitive, psychological, and physical effects excess Internet and screen use. Learn how social media, video gaming, and Internet pornography could be getting in the way of real-time living. Find out why smartphones are not smart for you to use all the time. Understand the science of how and why you can become addicted to your screens so you can unplug more easily and use your time for what matters most. Empower yourself and your children to build a positive relationship with the Internet and digital technology. This book can help you and your loved ones plug back into life and show you where you can find information, resources, support, and treatment. Overcoming Internet Addiction is about taking back control of your time and attention and learning to manage your screen use, so it doesn’t manage you.

This book presents a new, evidence-based cognitive behavioral intervention for the prevention and treatment of Internet addiction in adolescents. It provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of research regarding phenomenology, diagnostics, epidemiology, etiology, and treatment and prevention of Internet addiction as a new behavioral addiction. The book is divided into two sections. The first part of the book explores various bio-psycho-social factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of symptoms in young individuals. Chapters in the second part of the book discuss the PROTECT intervention to reduce Internet addiction in adolescents. PROTECT aims to modify risk factors and maintenance factors, specifically, boredom and motivational problems, procrastination and performance anxiety, social anxiety and maladaptive emotion regulation. The PROTECT intervention is a low-intensity approach which uses comprehensive case examples in order to increase cognitive dissonance and treatment motivation. In addition, PROTECT contains cognitive behavioral intervention techniques such as psychoeducation, behavior activation, cognitive restructuring, problem solving and emotion regulation. Topics featured in this book include: Adolescence and development-specific features of Internet addiction. An overview of modifiable risk factors and maintenance factors of Internet addiction. Environmental factors that affect the development of Internet addiction. Online and offline video gaming addiction. Social network addiction. Strategies that work in prevention and treatment. Internet Addiction in Adolescents is a must-have resource for researchers, professors, clinicians and related professionals as well as graduate students in clinical child, school, and developmental psychology, educational policy and politics, and social work as well as related disciplines.

Do you spend hours every day playing online games? Are you always on social media, ignoring your real life friends and family? Have you lost your job or your relationship? Have you tried to cut back on your screen time, only to fail miserably? Sadly, Internet Addiction is a real problem for millions of people around the world. As a new addiction, there is little help for those who feel trapped in this addiction. In this book, you will learn why you are addicted to electronics, and what you gain from them. You will begin to make goals for your life while renewing real-world relationships. You will start to structure your life not around electronics, but around real-world activities. You will learn how to combat urges to be online and fight negative thoughts that shame and condemn you. The techniques used in this book have helped hundreds of people who are addicted to electronics. It is time to fight this addiction and take your life back.

The second edition of this successful book provides further and in-depth insight into theoretical models dealing with Internet addiction, as well as includes new therapeutical approaches. The editors also broach the emerging topic of smartphone addiction. This book combines a scholarly introduction with state-of-the-art research in the characterization of Internet addiction. It is intended for a broad audience including scientists, students and practitioners. The first part of the book contains an introduction to Internet addiction and their pathogenesis. The second part of the book is dedicated to an in-depth review of neuroscientific findings which cover studies using a variety of biological techniques including brain imaging and molecular genetics. The third part of the book focuses on therapeutic interventions for Internet addiction. The fourth part of the present book is an extension to the first edition and deals with a new emerging potential disorder related to Internet addiction – smartphone addiction. Moreover, in this second edition of the book new content has been added. Among others, the reader will find an overview of theoretical models dealing with Internet addiction, results from twin studies in the context of Internet addiction and additional insights into therapeutic approaches to Internet addiction.

This is the first book to thoroughly examine how early and easy access to the Internet and digital technologies impacts children and adolescents. Experts in the field examine the research that shows the social, cognitive, developmental, and academic problems that can result when children spend excessive time in front of screens. As a whole. the book provides an invaluable resource for those who need to assess, treat, and prevent Internet addiction in children and adolescents. Internet Addiction in Children and Adolescents: Provides tools that help predict a child’s level of risk for media-related problems. Examines how to diagnose and differentiate Internet addiction from other psychiatric conditions. Explores evidenced-based treatment approaches and how to distinguish pathology from normal development. Shows how to create inpatient treatment programs and therapies to address media addiction. Highlights the psychological, social, and family conditions for those most at risk. Evaluates the effects of the excessive use of electronic games and the Internet on brain development. Explores the physical risks that result from excessive media use and strategies for combating the problem. Examines school-based initiatives that employ policies and procedures designed to increase awareness of excessive media use and help educators identify students who misuse technology, and strategies of intervention and communication with parents. Identifies signs of problem Internet behavior such as aggressive behavior, lying about screen use, and a preference for screen time over social interactions. Outlines the risk factors for developing internet addiction. Provides strategies for treatment and prevention in family, school, and community settings. Practitioners and researchers in psychology, social work, school counseling, child and family therapy, and nursing will appreciate this book's thorough review if internet addiction among children and adolescents. The book also serves as an engaging supplement in courses on media psychology, addiction counseling, abnormal psychology, school counseling, social issues, and more.

This essential book questions the psychological construct of Internet Addiction by contextualizing it within the digital technological era. It proposes a critical psychology that investigates user subjectivity as a function of capitalism and imperialism, arguing against punitive models of digital excesses and critiquing the political economy of the Internet affecting all users. Friedman explores the limitations of individual-centered remediations exemplified in the psychology of internet addiction. Furthermore, Friedman outlines the self-creative actions of social media users, and the data processing that exploits them to urge psychologists to politicize rather than pathologize the effects of excessive net use. The book develops a notion of capitalist imperialism of the social web and studies this using the radical methods of philosopher Gilles Deleuze and psychoanalyst Félix Guattari. By synthesizing perspectives on digital life from sociology, economics, digital media theory, and technology studies for psychologists, this book will be of interest to academics and students in these areas, as well as psychologists and counselors interested in addressing Internet Addiction as a collective, societal ill.

"I don't even help [my children] with their homework in the evening because I'm in the chat rooms, and I don't help put them to bed because I don't realize how late it is. I also don't help them get ready for school in the morning like I used to do because I'm checking my e-mail. And I just can't stop myself."-Raymond, an Internet addict. Internet addiction is real. Like alcoholism, drug addiction, or compulsive gambling, it has devastating effects on the lives of addicts and their families: divorce, job loss, falling productivity at work, failure in school, and, in extreme cases, criminal behavior. The problem has already reached epidemic proportions in the United States, and the number of "netaholics" continues to grow rapidly as more households and businesses go on-line. Yet, until now, no one from the mental health community has come forward with a specific description of Internet addiction and its effects or a strategy for treatment and recovery. In Caught in the Net, Kimberly Young shares the results of her three-year study of Internet abuse. Often using the words of the Internet addicts themselves, she presents the stories of dozens of lives that were shattered by an overwhelming compulsion to surf the Net, play MUD games, or chat with distant and invisible neighbors in the timeless limbo of cyberspace. Why is the Internet so seductive? What are the warning signs of Internet addiction? Is recovery possible? Dr. Young answers these questions and many more. She provides a questionnaire to help Net users determine whether they are addicts, and offers concrete steps to help problem users regulate Internet usage and devise a more balanced place for it in their daily lives. For Internet addicts as well as their parents, spouses, friends, and employers, Caught in the Net offers guidance on where and how to seek help from counselors, therapists, and other professionals who take this affliction seriously. For mental health professionals, this book provides insights into the nature and causes of Internet addiction and encourages counselors and therapists to expand their addiction recovery programs to address the specific problems of Internet addicts. "Think that computer addiction is a joke? Think again. This groundbreaking book is the first to explore on-line addiction in a serious way and to consider the effects on individuals and their families. Caught in the Net is an important book for anyone who spends mornings and evenings connected to the Net."-Clifford Stoll, author of The Cuckoo's Egg and Silicon Snake Oil. "An excellent account of the dangers of the burgeoning Internet industry. Dr. Young carefully outlines the traps into which people can fall and offers pragmatic self-help suggestions. Caught in the Net is valuable for both consumers and the professionals who deal with them."-Maressa Hecht Orzack, PhD, Founder and Coordinator, Computer Addiction Services, McLean Hospital Lecturer, Harvard University Medical School "I don't mean to spend all my time this way, but I can't stop. It's the only place my opinion matters and I feel important."-bobage38.automechanic.internet.addict "I feel guilty about it, but when I tried to break free, I simply didn't have the strength....I'm a long-time smoker, but I've found the craving to go on the Internet first thing every morning is stronger than my urge to light a cigarette."-marylouage40.motheroffour.internet.addict "When you're talking about the Internet, you're talking about power. It's the most powerful information tool I have ever known. When I explore the on-line world, I feel like that robot in the movie Short Circuit. I need more input! More input!"-daveage28.militarytelecommunicationsexpert.internet.addict "I feel the rush every time my mind gets connected to this intensely powerful information whirlpool. When I enter cyberspace, I become one with my mind. It's like Mr. Spock doing the Vulcan mind meld."-joshage29.computerprogrammer.internet.addict itt.edu and view her website at: www.netaddiction.com.

Addiction is a powerful and destructive condition impacting large portions of the population around the world. While typically associated with substances, such as drugs and alcohol, technology and internet addiction have become a concern in recent years as technology use has become ubiquitous. Psychological, Social, and Cultural Aspects of Internet Addiction is a critical scholarly resource that sheds light on the relationship between psycho-social variables and internet addiction. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as human-computer interaction, academic performance, and online behavior, this book is geared towards psychologists, counselors, graduate-level students, and researchers studying psychology and technology use.

This Special Issue presents some of the main emerging research on technological topics of health and education approaches to Internet use-related problems, before and during the beginning of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The objective is to provide an overview to facilitate a comprehensive and practical approach to these new trends to promote research, interventions, education, and prevention. It contains 40 papers, four reviews and thirty-five empirical papers and an editorial introducing everything in a rapid review format. Overall, the empirical ones are of a relational type, associating specific behavioral addictive problems with individual factors, and a few with contextual factors, generally in adult populations. Many have adapted scales to measure these problems, and a few cover experiments and mixed methods studies. The reviews tend to be about the concepts and measures of these problems, intervention options, and prevention. In summary, it seems that these are a global culture trend impacting health and educational domains. Internet use-related addiction problems have emerged in almost all societies, and strategies to cope with them are under development to offer solutions to these contemporary challenges, especially during the pandemic situation that has highlighted the global health problems that we have, and how to holistically tackle them.

This volume reviews the latest information about the treatment and prevention of major mental disorders that emerge during adolescence. It should be a primary resource for both clinicians and researchers, with special attention to gaps in our knowledge.