Internet has made its way into most of our house today. It is a valuable asset for research, news, communication, leisure and learning. With online video games, social networking sites, chat rooms, everyone especially the teenagers are getting addicted to it. Unfortunately, internet surfing can be a very bad habit.
Internet addiction is a very destructive problem faced by many teenagers today. Spending too much time with the internet can prevent teenagers from social and educational progress. Additionally, severe addiction to online surfing can distract one person from performing his/her responsibilities.
A research in china showed that internet-addict teens are more likely to develop depression. The study involved 1,041 teenagers who are free from depression at the start of the research. 9 months later their psychological states were reassessed. Researchers found out that 84 of them were suffering from depression and those who were excessive internet users were one-and-a-half times more prone than moderate users.
Researchers believed that the reasons behind the depression were the direct effect of lack of sleep due to late night surfing and stress from playing online games. The result suggests that a normal teenager free from mental health problems, but uses the internet excessively could develop depression in the long run.
According to the background information of the study, pathological use of the internet is identified as a problematic behavior with signs and symptoms similar to those of other addictions. In other studies, they found out that teenage boys are usually the pathological user of the internet, but the author said that the number of girls who shows addictive internet behavior is on the rise.
Internet is a two-edged sword; it can have both favorable and unfavorable consequences. The internet is a great place for learning and researching new things. And though it is considered a safe and easy way of keeping in touch with friends and family, it’s very clear that internet addiction is a very bad and unhealthy habit. It can promote a sedentary lifestyle that might lead to other illnesses -aside from depression.
Furthermore, it limits the social growth of a person, depriving a person to experience new things and to spend time with family and loved-ones. It can also expose teenagers in horrific activities like sex and drug-addiction. With these favorable and unfavorable consequences, it is important that we fully understand the risks and dangers of the internet for us to find a well-balanced real and virtual life.
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