The latest addiction to trap thousands of people is the Internet, which has been blamed for broken relationships, fobs loses, financial ruin and even one suicide. Psychologists now recognize Internet Addiction Syndrome (IAS) as a new illness that could cause serious problems and ruins many lives. Special help groups have been set up to offer suffers help and support.
Psychologists have described many worrying examples, including one man who took his own life after borrowing more than £14000 to feed his addiction, and a teenager also had to receive psychiatric treatment for his 12-hour-a-day habit .” This illness is not a fake , and it must be taken seriously,” said an expert in behavior addiction at Nottingham Trent University.” There are not sad people with serious personality defects ; they are people who were fine before they found the Internet.
ISA is similar to other problems like gambling, smoking and drinking: addicts have dreams about the Internet, they need to use it first thing in the morning: they lie
to their partners about how much time they spend online: they wish they could cut down, but are unable to do so. A recent study fond that many users spend up to 40 hours a week on the Internet;although they feel guilty, they became depressed if they were made to stop using it.
Almost anyone can be risk. Some of the addicts are teenagers who are already hooked on computer games and who find it very difficult to resist the games on the Internet. Surprisingly, however, psychologists say that most victims are middle-aged housewives who have never used a computer before.