"Hey, its time to shut the computer down," you hear a voice coming from the other room. There was a time you used to respond and care, but the was a long time ago. After all there is a game to be played and you and your cyber buddies have made it to the next round hoping to conquer cyberspace or at least this small piece of it.

Internet Addiction: Are you for Real?

Internet Addiction is not an officially recognized addiction, yet it has been said to cause tremendous damage in marriages, families, and work. The hard part about identifying Addiction is that it manifests itself in so many different ways. Some people become addicted to gaming and others to Cyber Sex and still others to chat rooms. These activities become more and more time consuming, drawing the person into a virtual reality, which ends up holding them hostage from the real reality existing around them.

There is a clear escape mechanism at play with Addiction and in a sense that is what makes no more unique than another type of addiction. Yet, despite the similarity to other addictions, Addiction is unique in the sense that the as a medium is not dangerous in the slightest. Those that have succumbed to some sort of Web dependency have no way to over dose on the Internet, rather Web addicts suffer social reclusion, financial loss, and a distorted sense of reality.

Who is at Risk?

The more society becomes "wired" to the the more people will become pulled into a world largely made up of zeros and ones. The scary thing about Addiction is that it can affect almost anyone. Although there is a comparison to substance abuse, the fact that anyone can become an addict even if they don't have a predisposition to addictions, separates it from other addictions.

Leading research indicates that as the number of people who use the increase, so do the numbers of web dependents. Although many people spend a lot of time on line those that have developed a dependency usually are involved with Chat Rooms and Multiple User Platforms. There are far

less dependents who have succumbed to Addict just merely searching the news, information, and financial websites. Of course there are always exceptions, but it is clear the websites that offer some sort of virtual social interaction, whether it is sexual or just friendly appear to have a stronger possibility in drawing their users into a cyber-addiction.

Trends Seen to Continue

Most Therapists see more and more people becoming web dependent. As websites increase their interactiveness, offering more and more social interaction with others in like minded circumstances it will be virtually impossible to stop the increase in those suffering from an Addiction. The vicious cycle of use and depression and increased depression leading to more use seems like a downward spiral set to engulf millions. So how does society cope? People need to be informed and secondly keeping track of the hours one spends on the can also help, but perhaps the most effective way in dealing with controlling use is to make sure to develop a life in the "real world." The more one strengthens their "real world" relationships and activities the less they will desire to escape to the "virtual world"of the Internet.