An interesting and particularly significant news appeared in newspapers around the middle of February of this year, and concerns a theme that is currently felt in our society: the dependence on social networks.
A 15 -year -old boy from the province of Perugia was found by the police at the Florence railway station in State, after having disappeared from home a couple of days before.
Due to his disconnected and amnesia responses he presented (he did not remember his name), he was taken to the hospital, where the doctors diagnosed one Internet addiction; Subsequently, once he recovered, he himself admitted to “navigate” all night, especially on social network And on the chats, completely neglecting the school, which was also creating problems with parents.
There Internet addiction It is classified, in psychiatric literature, as an impulses disconnecting disorder and is a relatively recent topic; In fact, the term itself was coined by Ivan Goldberg in 1995.
It may concern different types of dysfunctional behavior online, among which the main ones are: dependence on porn (virtual sex, pornography, etc.), pathological gambling, dependence on social networks (and, therefore, from virtual relationships as in the case of the aforementioned person), video games, compulsive shopping, cognitive overload due to the constant and obsessive research of new information.
Fortunately, not all those who use the network for a long time become slave, and this dependence is more likely to develop in subjects with pre-existing psychological inconveniences (anxiety, depression, other dependencies), perhaps in stressful and/or particularly critical periods of life for negative events (mourning, separations, economic/working problems, etc.), also favored by the anonymity that the network offers and the sense of omnim. protection (on the web I can pretend both to be another person and that my real problems do not exist), reaching a real social isolation and losing contacts with reality.
A vicious circle is created that pushes to seek comfort, leisure, distraction and relief on the net, setting aside the real inconveniences, which in doing so are not resolved and recur shortly. The most evident psycho-physiological symptoms are headache, tachycardia, vision disorders, insomnia, mental confusion, amnesia.
Certainly the use of the Internet has undoubted qualities and, in recent years, has spread surprisingly, being part of our daily life, not only thanks to computers, but also through smartphones and tablets: wherever we are we can consult our e -mail, access the latest news from all over the world, communicate with everyone in real time, exchange information and images.
All this is very useful and practical, both in the private sphere and in the field of work; The important thing is the use we make of it, considering that the risk of abuse It is equally easy.
In fact, there are more and more cases of dependence which, even in the case of social networkare based on the usual mechanisms that regulate the classic dependencies already known (e.g. those of substances such as alcohol, drugs, etc.), such as those of pleasure and satisfaction.
Furthermore, we meet the phenomena already well known for tolerance/addictive (the need to increase the time in which it is connected to prove the same satisfaction), abstinence (intense psycho-physical distress if there is no possibility of using it) and craving, that is, fixed thoughts and uncontrollable desire.
Speaking of abstinence, a special term has been coined, nomophobia (from the English “no-mobile”), or disconnection syndrome, which occurs in employees when they cannot connect to the Internet for various reasons (there is no line, there is overload, they have left the smartphone at home, have the battery download, etc.) and is characterized by symptoms of anxiety and panicfor fear of no longer having information or remaining alone.
As for similar disorders, also in this case it is recommended to make use of a psychotherapy pathpreferably of cognitive-behavioral address Since it is truly effective, to help the subject resume control of his life in a lasting way, perhaps with the support of special support groups, which encourage him to abandon the old and harmful dysfunctional habits to develop new strategies and devote himself to pleasant alternative activities, limiting theuse of the Internet and learning to use it in a healthy way.
THE’abuse of social networks It does not involve only young people, as we would be more led to believe, but also adults who, according to recent studies, spend on average 8-9 hours a day in front of a screen; In doing so, it is obvious that it remains less and less time to devote to other pleasant activities, to themselves and real relationships with others.
It happens that dependence leads to neglecting the study or work, to postpone appointments or leave out basic activities of life, even going so far as to “forget” to eat and/or sleep.
The subject lives in a parallel and unreal worldwhere everything seems possible and, certainly, more beautiful and attractive; On the other hand, precisely because it is a timeless universe or defined space, the person feels free to do everything he wants, even if prohibited or reprove in reality (e.g. bullying, violence, pornography, etc.), also because he knows he can benefit from anonymity and a certain impunity.
The sense of relationships, such as friendship, is distorted and loses that depth and seriousness that should distinguish it: everyone has many “friends” and trusts with semi-unknown, losing sight of the “vis à vis à vis”, the concrete sharing, the exchange of looks, smiles and hugs that convey heard emotions, replaced by the “smileys” (emoticons) often in the fleshateer.
Even within the couple relationships Problems and discussions are often born, up to the rupture, since social networks can be very useful in remote relationships to always keep in touch, but still create critical situations, first of all the habit of chatting secretly, for sexual purposes, with people other than the partner, known or not, and perhaps seeking later a meeting (with all the dangers he can bring, especially for teenagers and women, to go to an appointment in the dark. the other person).
However, even without reaching extreme cases like these, there is always the risk of moving away and let the relationship cool, because we prefer to devote yourself to virtual contactsinstead of who we have next; Another situation that tends to occur is the temptation of Continue the partner continuouslythanks to new technologies (e.g. geolocation, the hours of the latest access, crossed checks, etc.) to check if it is sincere, and give free rein to its suspicions of jealousy.
In this case we can mention another recent news of the Tuscan news, which concerns a diligent boy who has tried to adapt his brother -in -law online, through a false profile of a woman accompanied by attractive photos, to test his loyalty and, if necessary, to warn his sister.
It has also emerged a particular use of those social network which specifically concern the photographs, which seems above all involve the young female young people, namely the habit, which comes to a real fixation, to publish images of every moment of their day (e.g. what has been eaten for breakfast, the clothes that are worn, etc.) and of their body, often adequately modified with special filters and/or programs to always appear in perfect form, which at the end really prevents you from living and being “present”. Mentally and emotionally, at the moment it is spending, to the activity we are doing, to the people we have close.
A further disadvantage of social networkif used without criteria, may concern the loss of privacy, as many subjects tend to publish, and sharing sensitive data, personal information and images without filters, which can fall into the hand of anyone (danger of the so -called “identity theft” or the most banal but annoying cloning of the credit card if you do online in unwanted sites) and, in any case, to remain on the net and be seen ab Aeternal.
- Behavioral addictions
