"Internet addiction" is "Internet addiction syndrome", and its English abbreviation is IAD. The basic symptom is that the time spent surfing the Internet is out of control and the person cannot stop. He can skip meals and sleep, but he cannot stop surfing the Internet. Even if the patient realizes the seriousness of the problem, he still cannot control it. It often manifests as depression, dizziness, trembling hands, fatigue, loss of appetite, etc.
There are three commonly used criteria for determining Internet addiction: first, playing games online for 4 to 6 hours every day for more than a month, which seriously affects work and study; second, thinking that Internet addiction can bring happiness; third, Physical symptoms will occur if you are not online, such as headache, sweating, irritability, etc., but as soon as you sit in front of the computer, these symptoms will disappear immediately.
[Reposted from Iron Blood Community/]
The American IAD criteria for evaluating Internet addiction:
1. Spend more than 144 hours online every month, that is, 4 hours a day above.
2. Internet-related things keep popping up in my mind.
3. Unable to restrain the urge to surf the Internet.
4. Going online is to escape reality and get rid of anxiety.
5. Don’t dare to tell your relatives about the time you spend online.
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6. Problems with academic work and interpersonal relationships caused by surfing the Internet.
7. The time spent online is often longer than expected.
8. Spend a lot of money to update network equipment or access the Internet.
9. Spend more time online to be satisfied.
As long as the answer to more than 5 items is "yes", it means Internet addiction.
1. Investigation
[Reprinted from Tiexue Community/]
On the morning of November 22, 2005, the China Youth Network Association released my country’s first youth network in Beijing According to the survey report on addiction problem, "China Youth Internet Addiction Data Report (2005)", the survey shows that the proportion of Internet addiction among teenagers nationwide is 13.2, and that in Beijing is 23.5, ranking second in the country after Yunnan.
Hao Xianghong, Secretary-General of the China Youth Network Association, said that this survey was conducted in 26 provincial capital cities and 4 municipalities across the country through on-site questionnaires and online questionnaires, and was also conducted on China Youth Daily, People's Daily Online and Sohu An online survey was conducted online, and more than 22,500 valid questionnaires were collected. The survey found that Yunnan has the highest degree of Internet addiction, with a ratio as high as 27.9, followed by Beijing with 23.5 and Shanghai with the lowest ratio of 8. "This shows that the proportion of Internet addiction is not directly related to the level of economic development and geographical location!"
According to the survey, the proportion of Internet addiction among men is higher than that among women, and the proportion of Internet addiction among minors is higher. The phenomenon of Internet addiction among college students and vocational high school students is the most worrying. Among them, the proportion of Internet addiction among junior high school students, unemployed or unemployed people, and vocational high school students all reaches more than 20%; while the proportion of Internet addiction among government/institution staff and high school students Relatively low. The older you are, the lower the rate of Internet addiction. The highest proportion of Internet addiction among young netizens aged 13 to 17 years old, while the lowest proportion of Internet addiction among netizens aged 30 to 35 years old. Internet addicted groups focus on playing online games.
The report also defines the criteria for evaluating Internet addiction. Tao Hongkai, a distinguished professor at Central China Normal University who participated in the survey and an "Internet addiction expert", said that the length of time spent online should not be used as a criterion, but should be based on the impact that the Internet brings to young people's study, work or real-life interpersonal interactions. Come adverse effects as standard. The report also listed three characteristics of Internet addiction: always thinking about going online; feeling uneasy, depressed or at a loss whenever the Internet line is cut off or unable to access the Internet for other reasons; feeling that being online is more difficult than in real life. Happier or more self-actualized.
2. Internet addiction has many bitter consequences
Internet addiction not only causes children to neglect their studies, but more importantly, it causes a series of deep-seated social problems, such as mental illness, dropping out of school, and suicide. , crime...
[Reposted from Iron Blood Community/]
Drop out: 80% of college students who dropped out have Internet addiction
It is reported that the Communist Youth League Committee and the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing A survey report conducted by middle school students in eight districts of the city shows that there are as many as 136,500 middle school students who are dependent on the Internet, with an average usage time of about 9 hours per week and more than 21 hours during holidays.
According to reports, a survey of four regular colleges and universities in this city showed that about 50 people drop out of a university with an enrollment of about 5,000 students every year, and 80% of the dropped-out college students are related to the Internet. It is related to addiction, which is mainly manifested as being addicted to the Internet for a long time, leading to absenteeism or too many "failing" subjects.
Mental illness: Teenagers obsessed with video games suffer from mental illness
According to Shi Jianguo, director of the Shaanxi Provincial Mental Health Center, excessive obsession with video games can cause serious damage to the body and mind. A domestic student survey shows that 89% of students have experience playing video games, and 6.5% of students are addicted. The addiction rate of boys is higher than that of girls. The clinical manifestations of video game addiction are:
Physically, patients are addicted to video games for a long time, have difficulty controlling it, have sleep disorders, and are overly excited. Once they stop gaming activities, they are unable to engage in anything meaningful.
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Psychological aspects: slow logical thinking, a sense of alienation from real life, low mood, pessimism, loss of self-esteem, self-confidence, etc.
Behavioral aspect: The personality of patients with game addiction has changed significantly, and they have become cowardly, weak, inferior, self-blame, and have lost the trust of friends and family. In order to continue gaming activities, they will do whatever it takes. There may even be computer rage disorder, that is, once the computer crashes or malfunctions, you will become depressed and anxious, and turn to vent your nameless fire on the computer or others. The rage will not stop, and in severe cases, you will smash the keyboard and mouse to pieces, and then have suicidal thoughts.
Crime: 19 young people bloodbathed Internet cafes
Only because of a virtual weapon in an online game, the two sides had a quarrel online, and then the conflict escalated. 19 young people in Anshan City, Liaoning Province held a Various murderous weapons were used to "bloodbath" the Internet cafe where the other party was located. Five innocent people were hacked and three people were seriously injured and passed out on the spot.
Early pregnancy: Unmarried mother seeks childcare fees from netizens
Due to impulsive online dating, Lu Yan (pseudonym) accidentally became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter without telling her boyfriend Liu Wei (pseudonym) , who knew that her boyfriend was indifferent to the mother and daughter. Yesterday (14th) morning, the Shanghai Pudong New District Court ruled in the first instance that Liu Wei should pay 4,800 yuan in supplementary child care fees for the first 24 months of his daughter, and 250 yuan in monthly child care fees starting from May this year until her daughter can live independently.
[Reposted from Iron Blood Community/]
3. Causes of Internet Addiction
Three factors induce "Internet addiction"
Famous Education Tao Hongkai, a scientist and distinguished professor at Central China Normal University, said that we should not look at Internet addiction patients with a very heavy heart and believe that the children will change. Nowadays, many parents feel afraid of their children. They are afraid that their children will not go to school, and they are afraid that their children will not become successful. Fear will lead to resentment, and resentment will lead to hatred, which creates a kind of emotional opposition. This will not help solve the problem at all, because parents have emotional contagion on their children. If you are anxious, your child will be more anxious. If you are irritable, your child will be irritable.
First of all, there are problems with many parents’ educational methods that cause their children to become Internet addicts. Many parents only know how to restrict their children's access to the Internet, but do not know how to divert their children's attention from the Internet and cultivate new hobbies in their children. Parents should not easily label their children as being autistic or having psychological problems. Never do this. In fact, we should believe that they understand the truth and tell children how to treat computers and networks correctly, such as "Computers are tools, not toys", "Being able to play with computers is not a hero, but being able to use computers is a hero", etc.
Secondly, there are many students who are relatively poor in studies and become addicted to the Internet because they are not recognized by others.
They do not experience the joy of successful learning in their daily study life, but by playing games online, they can obtain virtual rewards, gain self-affirmation, and vent the depression caused by unsuccessful learning.
The third reason is that people want to go online to escape reality due to poor interpersonal relationships. Although many students have good grades, they are introverted, suspicious, and petty. They become addicted to the Internet without being able to solve problems in time, which seriously affects their study and life.
[Reposted from Iron Blood Community/]
4. Internet addiction treatment
The four typical symptoms of Internet addiction and their "prescriptions" (the cases in the article are all pseudonyms) :
Problem-type families teach children rationally
Type 1: Problem-type families. Xiao Sheng, 16 years old.
My parents have been separated for two years. He is addicted to Internet cafes and is unwilling to go to school. The mother now dares not go to bed first every night because she is afraid that her son will go online.
Diagnosis and treatment: Children often become victims of family problems, and the most prominent of these problems is the divorce of parents. Parents' divorce will definitely have a certain negative impact on their children, so parents should fully consider their own responsibilities before making such a decision. After parents divorce, their children's education is either missing or inconsistent, which is very detrimental to their development. Parents should rationally teach their children to face reality and survive the crisis.
Violent parents change the parent-child relationship
Type 2: Violent parents. Xiaoyong, 18 years old, a technical secondary school student. He has been online for 4 years. In order to access the Internet, he often coaxes money from his parents. His father often beats his children. Xiaoyong rarely communicates with his family except asking for money to access the Internet.
Diagnosis and treatment: Beating and scolding children is the worst method of parental education. In the traditional Chinese concept, children are their own, and it is natural to spank and scold them. The most common consequence of spanking children is that the children hate their parents, which can only lead to a deeper and deeper gap between parents and children. There is a famous saying in the United States, "A child comes to the world through his parents, but he does not come for his parents." Therefore, parents should never regard their children as their own possessions, but as independent A social person from his parents. Therefore, the first thing parents have to do is to change their understanding of the parent-child relationship.
Depressed children help them get out of the shadows
Type 3: Depressed children. Xiaolong, 15 years old, has dropped out of school because he is addicted to online games all day long. Except for eating and sleeping, he spent the rest of his time surfing the Internet. The doctor diagnosed him with "depression." Xiaozhi, 22 years old, often surfs the Internet after entering college, skips classes during the day, and has failed 15 classes so far. The hospital diagnosed him with "depression."
[Reposted from Jagged Community/]
Diagnosis and treatment: Children who come out of unhealthy family education often lose the correct direction in life, let alone ideals in life. Their potential is often severely dampened or distorted. How can such children not be plagued by all kinds of diseases? Depression is often caused by a child receiving a heavy blow, either from home or from school. Nowadays, only children are often surrounded by the love of their families. They have never suffered any setbacks since childhood, and they often run away from big blows. In such a situation, what parents can do is try their best to help their children come out of the shadows and never abandon them.
The most important thing when you have weak self-control is to choose
Type 4: Weak self-control. Xiao Ning, 19 years old, a senior high school student. Negative in studies, poor grades, and obsessed with surfing the Internet. Because of poor academic performance, I often feel sorry for my parents, but my self-control is too poor to manage myself.
Diagnosis and treatment: Many Internet addicts have this problem. They themselves know that this is not good and do not want to continue like this, but they can't help themselves when they come into contact with the computer. This is typical of poor self-control. We have to face many choices in life, choosing what is right and what is wrong, choosing what to do and what not to do, choosing what is pain and what is happiness. If the elements of life are simplified as much as possible, then the most important thing in life is choice. The higher the accuracy of the choice, the greater the success rate.
With the rapid development of the Internet in recent years, the number of teenagers addicted to the Internet has gradually increased. In psychological clinics, the number of visitors with emotional disorders, family conflicts, and social problems caused by excessive use of the Internet is also increasing day by day, which has attracted great attention from psychology, medicine, and social workers. Addiction, also known as dependence, includes substance dependence and behavioral dependence. At present, most scholars call Internet dependence "Internet addiction syndrome" (Internet addiction disorder, referred to as IAD). It is also called pathological internet use (PIU) and pathological internet addiction.
The clinical manifestations of IAD are: a psychological dependence on the Internet, constantly increasing the time spent online; gaining pleasure and satisfaction from Internet behavior, and feeling restless after going offline; spending little time in real life use the Internet to escape the real life environment; deny the damage caused by excessive Internet access to their study, work, and life [1].
[Reposted from Iron Blood Community/]
Recently, psychological experts from the three places across the Taiwan Strait held a consultation on the phenomenon of "Internet addiction" in Zhuhai ***, and they agreed that the mechanism of Internet addiction is similar to that of drugs. The addiction mechanism can also produce physical dependence symptoms, such as inattention, sweaty palms, irritability and other uncomfortable symptoms; Internet addicts are also very similar to gambling addicts, both of which have no effect of exogenous addictive substances. The impulsive behavior under the influence of Internet access can lead to academic failure, poor work performance, marital disharmony and even divorce. In serious cases, it can lead to crime.
At present, the treatment of Internet addiction syndrome at home and abroad mostly stays at "psychotherapy" or "group psychological counseling", and the curative effects are not the same. Relying on nearly forty years of rich experience in researching scopolamine and carefully analyzing the etiology and clinical manifestations of Internet addiction patients, our center has proposed a new "Internet addiction treatment" concept of drug intervention plus psychological counseling, and has cooperated with Southeast Business News , providing free treatment to 30 Internet addiction patients. The treatment status and follow-up results of the first batch of patients are now reported as follows.
1. Objects and methods
1. Cases
The first six patients to receive treatment all signed up voluntarily, organized by Southeast Business Daily. The oldest is 27 years old and the youngest is 16 years old. They all have a long history of surfing the Internet and have been surfing the Internet in Internet cafes for several days. Over the course of several nights, four of them had conflicts with their parents and ran away, and their physical condition gradually deteriorated as they stayed awake for long periods of time online.
Case 1: Patient, male, 18 years old, online name "Living Skeleton", hospitalized for 15 days. The patient was a student in a college and dropped out of school because of his addiction to the Internet. He is an addict of online games. When he cannot access the Internet for some reason, he will be confused and at a loss. He once set a record of being online for four consecutive days and four nights. During this time, he lived on only one pack of instant noodles every day. Self-reported (self) can realize the harm of doing so, but cannot control his impulse to go online. Because his parents were laid off and his family's income was low, he was determined to change himself from now on. He hoped to find a job to relieve his parents' worries after quitting Internet addiction, so he voluntarily signed up to come to our center to get rid of Internet addiction and receive hospitalization.
[Reposted from Tiexue Community /]
Case 2: Patient, male, 21 years old, from Yuyao, with the online name "Handsome Guy", hospitalized for 13 days. He was "deceived" by his parents to come to this center, and finally agreed to stay at the center for treatment of Internet addiction after the doctor's persuasion. According to his parents, he surfs the Internet all day long, has serious conflicts with his parents, and basically does not talk to them every day; he is addicted to the "Legend" game, often playing games until coming home at one or two o'clock in the morning, and running away from home many times to surf the Internet. He has lost count; when his parents didn’t give him money, he would sell his mobile phone to get money to use the Internet. He said, “When I really don’t have money, I feel comfortable going to an Internet cafe and watching others playing games.”
Case 3: Patient, male, 18 years old, with the online name “情满天飞”, hospitalized for 14 days. After graduating from junior high school, he did not continue to go to school because he was addicted to the Internet; because the owner of the Internet cafe did not take his money and asked him to bring more friends and classmates to the Internet, he was unable to extricate himself from being online all day long. He came to quit under the persuasion of his parents. addiction.
Case 4: Patient, male, 27 years old, salesman, the oldest among the first batch of patients, hospitalized for 13 days. Addicted to online forums and chats. I once lost my job due to surfing the Internet and couldn't control myself, so I asked for a long leave from my workplace to come for treatment, hoping to get rid of my Internet addiction with the help of a doctor.
Case 5: Patient, male, 17 years old, a second-year computer major in a vocational high school, hospitalized for 14 days. Because he was addicted to online games, his academic performance dropped significantly, so he came to see a doctor accompanied by his mother.
Case 6: Patient, male, 16 years old, second grade student, hospitalized for 14 days. In the past, I had good academic performance and was ranked in the top three in the class. After becoming addicted to online games, my grades have now dropped to more than 20. I came for treatment accompanied by my mother (who is a teacher).
2 Diagnosis and laboratory examination
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2.1 According to the American IAD diagnostic criteria [2], the above 6 cases are all IAD .
2.2 The scores of the Anxiety Self-Rating Scale and the Depression Self-Rating Scale [3] showed that cases 1, 2, and 3 (all) had higher scores and (also) more severe symptoms of anxiety and depression.
2.3 There are no abnormalities in blood routine, urine routine, liver function, electrocardiogram, and chest X-ray, and the patient’s physical examination is in compliance with the indications for scopolamine treatment.
3 Treatment methods
The general treatment principle of drug intervention and psychological counseling is: break first and then build. The so-called "breaking" means to use drug intervention first, with a certain dose of scopolamine, injected once a day, or once every other day, for a total of 3-5 times. The purpose is to suppress the excessive excitement of the cerebral cortex, restore the body's balance system during sleep and rest, and interrupt the patient's compulsive online behavior. After that comes "Li", which mainly uses psychological counseling, traditional Chinese medicine auricular acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine conditioning, and outings for sightseeing and traveling. During the treatment of the first batch of patients, we took Internet fans out (many times) to visit Ningbo Grand Theater, Dongqian Lake, Ningbo University, Zhenhai Zhaobaoshan Fortress and other places to introduce them to history and humanistic knowledge. Conduct live conversations to bring patients into contact with real life, cultivate their other interests outside the Internet, appreciate their shining points, use the real world to correct their virtual world, make them realize the beauty of the real world and increase their sense of responsibility, thereby getting rid of their obsession with the Internet dependence.
Depending on the specific conditions of each patient, the total treatment course ranges from 10 to 15 days.
[Reposted from Tiexue Community/]
2. Results
1. Criteria for judging efficacy
When we discharge the patient, we based on the clinical Observation; the patient's self-reported degree of cognitive dependence on the Internet at this time; whether there are withdrawal symptoms such as irritability and anxiety; and the admission and admission comparison results of the Anxiety Self-Rating Scale and Depression Self-Rating Scale to evaluate the treatment effect. After the patients are discharged from the hospital, they are given a follow-up questionnaire by the center and are asked to send one back every two weeks to examine their long-term efficacy.
2. Situation at discharge
After treatment, the physical condition of the six patients improved significantly; they reported that they did not think much about the Internet and games now, and they did not think much about the Internet or games in the past when they could not access the Internet for some reason. The withdrawal symptoms such as irritability and anxiety disappeared; the anxiety scale and depression scale scores were significantly improved when discharged from the hospital compared with those at the time of admission; the patient reflected that his mood had improved significantly and he was determined to study hard and work with peace of mind in the future. Case 5: The patient turned his attention to using the receiver when he did not go online at the beginning. After three days of treatment, the patient improved significantly. The "living skeleton" who has been in treatment for the longest time said that he came more than ten days ago with the mentality of giving it a try, but today, more than ten days later, "many things have changed little by little." Now my thinking has changed, I want to get into work immediately, and the shadow of the computer in my mind is not as strong as before. The "handsome guy in the Hall of Fame" said that he didn't want to talk to his parents about his true feelings before, but now he feels that it's not possible not to. He has to have a good talk with them after he goes back and discuss how to learn computers and find a job. The patient mentioned in Case 4 said that he used to think that he was an adult and should have strong self-control, but for some reason he couldn't control the Internet, which seriously affected his work.
After this period of treatment and deep self-reflection, I now have the confidence to restrain myself and focus on work in the future. Several other cases also felt fine.
3. Follow-up after two weeks
[Reposted from Tiexue Community/]
Case 1 patient’s “living skeleton” has been found after being discharged from hospital after systemic treatment A job. We followed him two weeks after discharge from the hospital and found him in the workshop where he worked. During the conversation, he said that before he was admitted to the hospital for treatment, the Internet was always the first priority in his mind, but now work is the first priority. Although it is very hard now, it is very fulfilling, and he hopes to develop his own skills through hard work.
Case 2 "Handsome Hall of Fame Boy", his parents took the initiative to call us to express their gratitude. According to his parents, his attitude towards his parents changed significantly after he was discharged from the hospital, and he took the initiative to tell his parents about the travels we took him to during his hospitalization. We conducted a telephone follow-up with him and his parents and learned that he had been working in a small factory for two weeks after discharge and was working very hard. Although he occasionally surfed the Internet, he was able to strictly control the time spent online in compliance with the doctor's recommendations when he was discharged. The salesman in Case 4 has been working since he was discharged from the hospital. He has not missed work due to playing games in the past two weeks as before.
Currently, except for Case 3, who has lost contact with us and cannot be followed up, the other two patients, Case 5 and Case 6, have also been doing well in the past two weeks. They go to school on time every day, concentrate on studying, and finish school. I only occasionally go online when I have free time after completing my homework, and I can log off in time as planned and take a rest on time. I no longer play games all night without sleeping like before.
3. Discussion
As we all know, there is a "reward system" in the human body. The material basis of this system is mainly dopamine, acetylcholine and other (multiple) neurotransmitters, which regulate the human body. Emotions can make people highly excited in a short period of time. Drugs, such as heroin, use exogenous substances to increase the content of dopamine and other neurotransmitters in the body, causing people to feel euphoric; while Internet, gambling and other behavioral dependencies use endogenous substances to increase the level of dopamine and other neurotransmitters in the body. content increases. Basile AS reported 4 that compared with normal mice, M5 receptor gene-deficient mice had significantly reduced dopamine content and their reward effects were significantly weakened; a group of mice treated with the M-receptor blocker scopolamine had a significantly lower dopamine content than M5 receptor gene knockout mice. Except for mice, it can also lead to a decrease in dopamine levels. This experimental result provides a reliable theoretical basis for the application of scopolamine to treat imbalances in the reward system5. Our center has been using scopolamine as the main treatment for heroin addiction in the past ten years. This is based on theoretical basis. It has treated more than 10,000 patients with remarkable curative effect and has been recognized by all walks of life [5]. The usage and dosage of scopolamine in the treatment of Internet addiction are different from those of heroin detoxification. The method is also slightly adjusted based on the principle of individualized treatment. Our preliminary clinical research has confirmed that drug intervention plus psychological counseling has certain efficacy in treating Internet addiction, and the treatment prospects are optimistic. At present, our research is still in the preliminary exploration stage, and the long-term effects cannot be evaluated yet. Internet addicted patients will still be exposed to the Internet after being discharged from the hospital. Whether they can resist temptation in the future and strictly control their Internet time, or their Internet addiction will relapse remains to be seen. Continue to observe and study.
According to a survey by the World Health Organization, 97% of Internet addiction patients in my country have not yet received due and scientific medical services. Our use of drug intervention is based on our understanding of the pathogenesis of Internet addiction. Internet addiction is a behavioral dependence. Long-term Internet use causes complex physiological and biochemical changes in the body (including the brain) through mechanisms such as reward or adaptation, leading to autonomic nerve dysfunction, Hormone levels are imbalanced and immune function is reduced. In fact, psychiatrists used drugs to treat Internet addiction a few years ago, but they used anti-anxiety drugs and anti-depressants. Our use of drug intervention also comes from practice. Many patients cannot be contacted and treated without drugs. The effect is better after taking drugs. The prospects of this comprehensive treatment plan of drug intervention and psychological counseling will be tested in practice and continuously improved and developed.
[Reposted from Jagged Community /]
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