Article

The article which inspired me to write on computer addiction is http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_gameaddiction.shtml

Computer Addiction

Obsessively checking email. Playing online games for 12 hours at a time. Placing more value on chat-room friends than real friends. Neglecting family, work and personal health and hygiene. Failing exams. These are symptoms of a newly surfaced phenomenon: computer addiction.

Other telling stories: In school: a student’s GPA scores fall and he keeps falling asleep in class. A JC1 student gets a mid-term warning because he is behind course work. Instead, he is spending nightly on the Internet communicating with all his friends, and appears anti-social.

At home: A mother has difficulty in getting her child to do chores when computer games occupy all after school time. A husband finds his wife increasingly neglects family duties, is irritable at family gatherings, and the STAR HUB phone bill has risen astronomically to an on-line service number. A teenager connects to the Internet at 9 pm and suddenly discovers it is dawn and he has not left the computer.

At a downtown office: An employee falls behind at work and a rising number of sick days raises questions about his value-addedness. A department head stays late nightly to meet deadlines. In-house computer monitoring use reveals he frequently accesses inappropriate sites, including gambling and pornography. An office supervisor suddenly resigns from her job. A lot of work is unfinished and the company asks her family to encourage her to return. They find her at home, hunched over a computer and completely oblivious to her surroundings.

These are examples of Computer Addiction, Internet Addictive Disorder or Cyber-addiction—like Pathological Gambling or Compulsive Shopping.

Few people are literally addicted to a computer as a physical object. They become addicted to activities performed on a computer, like instant messaging, viewing Internet pornography, playing video games checking e-mail and reading news articles.

Like other addictions, it affects other people -- family, friends, and co-workers. Spouses complain of loved ones neglecting them. Couples separate when one partner finds someone else on the Internet and leaves home. Like gamblers they compulsively keep investing time and money. They fantasize that the next connection will solve all their problems. Compulsive computer use can lead to divorce.

Computer addicts give different reasons for their habits. Obsessive chat room use or e-mailing might fill a void of loneliness, while excessive viewing of pornography might stem from relationship problems or childhood abuse.

Some doctors doubt it exists at all. Psychologists believe computer addiction is a compulsive behavior linked to an underlying condition. "Computer addicts” are really people who can't control their impulses, say these critics. Video-game addiction might be the result of fear-mongering -- scaring parents into thinking there's something wrong with their kids. Some critics contend that those obsessed with online gaming are similar to couch potatoes watching TV nightly: maybe they're just lazy.

Treatment choices include Cognitive Behavior Therapy, which teaches the patient to identify the problem, to solve the problem and to learn coping skills to prevent relapse. Often the treatment is helped by medication. Support groups are commended. In China, there are extremes: computer addicts are given electric shock treatment.

Thus in IT-enabled Singapore, we are just witnessing the tip of the iceberg: we are increasingly computer dependent for information, fun and entertainment. This affects Singaporeans of all ages. We should prepare with effective preventive and treatment measures.