A Soft Addiction? There was an article in this mornings paper about Soft Addictions. It included a quiz, which I copied here. Here are some questions to determine your level of Internet addiction -- just one of many "soft addictions" -- according to cyber-psychologist Kimberly Young, author of Caught in the Net. In answering the following questions, ask yourself how often you do the following: Response key A. Rarely B. Occasionally C. Frequently D. Often E. Always F. Does not apply 1. Stay online longer than you intended. 2. Neglect household chores to spend time online. 3. Prefer the excitement of the Internet to intimacy with your partner. 4. Form new relationships with fellow online users. 5. Check your e-mail before something else that you need to do. 6. See your grades or schoolwork suffer because of the amount of time you spend online. 7. Hear others in your life complain about the amount of time you spend online. 8. Let your job performance or productivity suffer because of the Internet. 9. Become defensive or secretive when anyone asks you what you do online. 10. Lose sleep because of late-night log-ins. When youre done, score yourself on a 5-point scale, with 1 point for Rarely responses up to 5 points for Always responses. The higher the score - more than 25 points is cause for concern -- the greater your addiction. For the full 20-question quiz which scores you automatically, go to http://www.netaddiction.com/resources/internet_addiction_test.htm But before you get yourself all upset at your score, a couple of psychologists who were also quoted in the article, say Its easy to confuse an addiction with a compulsive behavior. An addiction involves deception, denial and dishonesty. If you cant remember what you did, ate, saw or bought, thats a sign. But if youre doing the activity and feel more alive and vital, and youre learning, growing, clear, grounded and present, thats a passion. We shouldnt confuse the two. OK, I calculated that Ive got a soft(hearted) addiction for Worldsims and a very serious passion for writing sim stories.
I couldn't resist answering some of these questions. 1. Stay online longer than you intended. All of a sudden, it's midnight. 2. Neglect household chores to spend time online. What chores? 3. Prefer the excitement of the Internet to intimacy with your partner. You're joking, right? 4. Form new relationships with fellow online users. Well, of course! What's wrong with that? 5. Check your e-mail before something else that you need to do. Only if I'm waiting for a response to one I sent. 6. See your grades or schoolwork suffer because of the amount of time you spend online. Thank goodness I graduated before Al Gore was born. 7. Hear others in your life complain about the amount of time you spend online. Everybody I know is online (except see #3 above.) 8. Let your job performance or productivity suffer because of the Internet. Whoa, too dangerous. I need the job so I can afford to be online. 9. Become defensive or secretive when anyone asks you what you do online. I tell 'em I'm talking to my friends at Worldsims. 10. Lose sleep because of late-night log-ins. No, because I just put my head down on the keyboard and catch some zzzzzzzzz's. Although I'm joking around here, I do believe that some people have an obsession with the internet that can be a problem for their families. But there are all kinds of obsessions that people can have. And the vast majority of those obsessions have absolutely nothing to do with computers or the internet. Watching sports on TV comes to mind. Furthermore, I believe that the opportunity to talk to people all around the world, and make new friends, is a really fantastic experience, and it could not have happened without the internet.
