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The Use and Abuse of the Internet

Why is the so Internet addictive? To answer this question, let's look for a moment at the nature of gambling which may have a lot in common with the Internet. Few people would argue that gambling is potentially addictive for some people.
Just look at the presence of Gamblers Anonymous (GA), support groups for family members of gambling addicts (GAMANON), and the numerous programs sponsored by private and governmental agencies. Even state lottery commissions and casinos offer assistance! In Connecticut there are advertisements for help glued onto the lottery machines! Clearly, gambling addiction is a real phenomenon and there are those individuals who, for whatever reason, find themselves gambling well beyond their means, in a compulsive and self-destructive manner. This behavior has tremendous implications on the quality of their relationships and their health. People can lose their house, car, family, and job, all the while continuing to find themselves gambling. They may be in a casino, betting on a sporting event, playing the stock market, lotto, or simply playing bingo—all for the purpose of receiving that "hit." All of these behaviors most likely involve an elevation of the neurochemical Serotonin that we experience as a temporary sense of exhilaration. This process is short-lived, but very intense, pleasurable, and habit forming. We know that most people like to experience pleasurable things, as well as to stop unpleasant things. We also know they will repeat experiences they see as pleasurable. Normal life seems dull compared to the excitement of the addiction "hit" and many addictions get their start from a general sense of boredom. Boredom can present you with a very uncomfortable feeling, a sense of being ill at ease, which many people try to escape from. I believe that many self-destructive behaviors get their start this way. They are initially an attempt to solve a problem (boredom), but in the process, the addiction develops, beginning a new problem.
We don't like to feel uncomfortable and we don't have time to feel bad. Feeling bad requires us to think, feel and perhaps do something that might take some effort to change our life. This can be a hard thing for many of us to do. The reasons why this is so hard are complex. It probably involves an expectation in our culture that we shouldn't have to feel bad at all ; and if we have to feel bad, it should not be for very long. Addictions may, in part, be the result of a society that has lost its ability to heal itself. A society with no tolerance for pain, and no patience to change. Addictions are a way of separating us from our inner experience and this is done with the implicit approval of everyone we meet, including the media. No one wants to feel anything , least of all, anything uncomfortable. So we go on and try to numb our discomfort in a wide variety of ways, with the Internet being the latest. That is not to say that the Internet is all bad; it certainly is not. It has made a huge contribution towards improving the quality of our lives. It is both a mode of communication, and a virtual place to communicate to; it is not simply a communication tool by any means! However, the Internet's addiction potential is simply the opposite side of the coin and represents a dialectic of the good it can do.