SHORT STORY----Addicted to the internet------
Once upon a time there lived a guy called Leo. One day his parents bought him a Laptop and got him internet connection..............................
Present day--His mom threatens to burn down the Laptop. He doesnt seem to hear
THE END
(Work of fiction. Any resemblance is purely coincidental)
Growing up I lived in the middle of nowhere. I didn't have many friends with the same interests and my parents had just split up. I was pretty lonely, so I start chatting in the teen chats on msn. It was fantastic to socialize in the convenience of my home (people make me anxious) and eventually it became my only real method of interaction with the world. I learn on the internet, make friends on the internet, and sometimes even take college classes online.
I don't know if I'm addicted. People say I am, but I'm fine going without my phone for a whole meal or movie. I don't need to take constant pictures and upload them to Facebook. I can also go camping and enjoy myself without worrying about what's going online.
It's just when I'm home, alone, that I need something to distract myself with. Maybe it's the same reason other people can't put their technology away?
oh my god this is terrible for me. as soon as I open my eyes to the moment I close them, first and last thing I see is my phone. I cannot stay off and idek how like I'm addicted to facebook and I could go days just staying home and being in facebook and its sickening to me because I can't take a bath or be out with friends or eat or go to the movies or anything without checking my phone every other minute and its terrible
Well, reddit is my addiction. Its my way of avoiding thoughts and procrastinating. If I want to avoid thinking about or doing something, I open up reddit and browse for hours on end, because of the hundreds of subreddits there are. I have cut out Facebook and other social networks, but they have been replaced by reddit. I still spend the same amount of time on the internet. This is hoping that I can try to stop using it to control my anxiety.
@navyWriter2553 I do the same.
Ok am not good at speaking and opening up about me i like to listen more .anyway my story started from childhood icant rememmber a time iwasnt on tv am always waching tv and then came the magical world of internet iwas hooked from the first click i even had neck problems and wrist pain due to long hours of browsing waching moves and seires on my faverit web sites . Ispend about 8-5 hours on internet daily ....am addicted
@Laura
I literally spend all day everyday online in front of my computer. I've known I have a problem with the internet for awhile, but decided that it was fairly harmless. For the most part it was until I found myself playing around with my iphone in bed to check this or that.
I have started booking time into a schedule for more off line activities. I leave my phone in the living room now and use an alarm clock for waking up instead of an alarm app on my phone.
I've a long way to go and the irony of me writing about this on the internet is not lost on me. :P
I got the first experience of the internet shortly after I was separated from my parents and put to orphanage. (As cruel as it may sound, life is life, there are millions of other factors in my life too.)
Naturally, it was my safe haven and escape, I just didn't know how to communicate with people in the orphanage. Communicating with my parents was all I knew.
Nowadays I have anxiety and sometimes take too little steps outside the comfort of my own home.
When I am outside of my four walls, I don't think about internet so much, I could do without it. When I am socializing face-to-face, there is MUCH less of a chance I'd think about the internet.
Even so, I have very recently started to use my smart phone more when I am outside. Especially when on the bus, nothing to do (or so I think) and the phone just in my pocket. (I recently started to have my phone on my pocket, there was a call I was anticipating that day.)
Don't get me wrong, the smart phone could be necessary, for example to look at the public transportation schedule. Or the location of something. Etc etc. But I have to limit that before I get to hooked on my phone. It is scary, this habit is certainly developing.
What could really hook me to the Internet is social media. I am worried what others think. It is the the system of positive reward AND of what I presume is the negative feedback.
I might have a computer addiction, I am not sure. But what I certainly have more accurately is the social media addiction.
1) I wait for response.
2) I create threads for recognition.
3) Time and time again I check if I got some likes or feedback.
When somebody reacts unfavorably, sometimes even criticizes, insults, is harsh or dislikes my posts or it is just a social media situation I don't interpret well, it adds a significant amount of fuel to the fire for the above.
I got very addicted to the internet mostly when I was 13 and the very worst was at 15. I had massive depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety.. none of this has been diagnosed at this time btw. This also kept me from making friends. And the worst? I was a binge eater. I ate my feelings all the time, meaning I was very overweight specially for such a short woman (I'm 4'10). Let me tell you internet is terrible for mental issues , this is, if you are addicted to it.
The worst thing about my internet addiction was that I spent my teen years on tumble and the community of mental illness is terrible... the romantization of it... the non diagnosis about them too... very bad.
Nowdays is much better. I use internet but for the better. To be here on 7cups, on blahtherapy aswell, youtube, to talk to my long distant boyfriend and to even learn languages.
Is a matter of truly balancing things. Because addiction, no matter what kind, is always too much and not healthy.
I was so lonely and felt so desperate that I turned to complete strangers on the internet. I poured out my heart and soul to these people. I told them everthing about my depression and anxiety. I didn't realize that a lot of the time I was being abused by them. I've been internet-raped several times because I didn't realize. I got hacked by guys looking for something to score. They made me afraid and alone and start turning away from my real friends. I'm still struggling. 
@IowemylifetoTOP
The sudden rushed intimacy of online relationships has somewhat soured me to making friends online. I find what is forged fast and furiously, tends to die just as quickly.
I fell in love with a woman online, we met, it was horrible, and now we make it a point to never talk about it. We still call each other friends, but we have this big looming mess of a relationship that deeply hurt both of us.
Which is sad because she is still a remarkable person who didn't deserve any of that mess. She's not blameless for it mind you, takes two to tango and all that, but I don't think she nor I deserved what we ended up doing to each other.
I'm trying to make blocks of time where I avoid my phone and computer, so far I've had very little success with it. I have a holiday coming up where I aim to force the issue with good scheduling and keeping myself occupied with other things to make it a habit.
I was maybe 13 or 14 when I discovered the wonders of the internet. I began emailing random people. I'd collect email addresses from chat rooms.
Then I started emailing musicians, a lot.
I was warned that I was going to cross the wrong person one day, but I didn't believe it.
My parents took the internet out of the house because I wasn't even getting school work done, I was on so much.
My internet access at school even got blocked several times because I was on it so much.
When I became an adult and moved out of my parents house, I got internet. My life got so out of control, but I didn't admit it.
About four years ago, I began attending concerts/shows on the local music scene in a nearby city. I began messaging those people too. I did cross the wrong person who didn't like me messaging him, or the amount I was messaging others on facebook. Eventually, he blocked me on facebook. The next time we crossed paths, he sat me down and gave me a heart to heart. He was so concerned about what I was doing. I had made a fake email account and impersonated my support worker. He caught me and cut me off. A few months later, he found out I was still constantly messaging people so he had me banned from an establishment I found out later he worked at (I tried recently to get unbanned, but the current manager sees me as a threat so I gave up).
I realized when I got banned that I hit rock bottom. I realized that my life wasn't that great. I spent grades 7-10 in detention and barely passed my classes enough to graduate because I spent so much time online. I spent time in detention because I never got my homework done. I lost several potentional friendships because of my addiction.
In the three years that followed, I did get help. I saw several councelors. I'm now in a mental health support group in my town. I took up the guitar and writing. The individual who I had the falling out with will say hi to me now when we cross paths. He told me that I can attend his shows if I don't play on my phone all night instead of being present.
With that being said, I still feel the shadow creep up. I have relapsed a few times. However, I have great people in my life now who are willing to give me a good shake when I do relapse. My parents said they know when ive relapsed cuz my self care and my house start getting neglected.