That’s shorthand (I’m none too crazy about describing “things one likes to do with one’s time” quite so dramatically as “addictions”) but you all know what I mean, I think.
But there are periods when I’ll spend the whole day with my laptop jacked in to the internet, and sometimes I find I’m checking out one site after another and finding nothing of particular interest and (where I would hope I’d just get down to work or something) I cruise the full gamut of the same internet sites again. And again. Then I’ll comment on something that I was thoroughly uninterested in two hours earlier, but hey, it’s a slow day and you take what you can find.
So I get caught up in the fairly boring subject for a bit, and then --I cruise the whole cycle all over again. Throughout I’m reading my e-mail and if absolutely nothing surfaces, I can find some letter to answer, or I can find e-mails that slipped past my “junk” filter and delete them.
The similarity to an addictive substance is that some part of my brain is frantically signalling to the part that’s hooked on this boring stuff “Hey, come on, stop it already, you’ve got a busy life to run here” but the addictive part says, “Hey, chill out, this is fun.” and they duke it out for an hour or two.
I’m very close to having a problem here. The only question is Is this turning into a problem, or has it already turned? How would you judge if you’re wasting too much time staring at a monitor screen? Has anyone done this and sharply cut back on their computer use? Does anyone think this sounds perfectly healthy?
I think you should check into Betty Ford Clinic immediately.
I mean I do the same thing, but I can stop anytime I want. No, really. I can.
OK, seriously, if you don’t think it’s a problem and it’s not keeping you from going to work and paying the bills and stuff like that, then it’s not a problem. You’re simply doing what you enjoy just like anyone else with a hobby.
When Guild Wars first came out my friends and I would sometimes come home from work, meet online, and play until we had to get ready for work the next day. There were several weekends where we met on Friday night and we were only signing off to nap for a few on Saturday afternoon (only to meet up again later that night). I’m sure many would think I had a HUGE addiction problem going there - but everything got done, I never missed work (and, due to the grace of coffee, I was still able to do my job well even after the allnighters), etc – so it never even occurred to me to think I had a problem.
So, I guess MHO is that it’s only a problem if you think it is.
Addiction is generally recognized as a compulsion to continue behavior in spite of adverse consequences. The first trick is figuring out what “adverse” means. Most people agree that if it interferes with your job, your health or your relationships and you can’t stop doing it, it’s probably an addiction. If there are other consequenses that you consider bothersome (like calloused fingertips or less time outside or arguments within your psyche), but you can’t stop doing it, it’s probably an addiction.