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These days, the internet is inescapable, but it’s important to watch for signs of internet addiction. It’s the core of so many things we do on a daily basis, from communicating with friends and family to paying the bills to entertainment, and for many people, it’s a key part of their work or schooling, too.
In fact, the average internet user spends over six and a half hours online every day.
So, as commonplace as it is for people to be online for many hours each day, how do you know when you or a loved one has crossed the line into addiction?
It can be hard to know where that line is. These 10 habits are things that might seem normal or innocent, but they could actually be signs of an internet addiction.
1. Misuse of Money
There are so many ways to spend money online: gaming, shopping, paid entertainment content, and more. In moderation, spending money on things you enjoy can be fun and not harmful.
But if someone spends more money than they can afford or uses the funds meant to pay for bills, food, or other necessary items on Internet use or gaming, or if they spend so much money online that it causes them to have hardships like working an extra job, this is one of the common signs of internet addiction.
2. Lying
If you have an extremely hard time getting off the internet, you may be addicted.
As is the case with many addictions, a key sign that a person is addicted is attempting to hide their activities from others.
In the case of an internet addiction, that might include lying about:
- How much time they’re spending online
- How much money they’re spending online
- What they’re doing online
- Claiming they’re doing something else when they’re online instead (such as claiming to go to the gym, but spending that time on their phone instead)
Many friends and family members either don’t realize this is happening or, if they do discover it, they think it’s a fairly innocent lie, but it is a strong sign that something is wrong.
3. Attempting and Failing to Stop
One of the key hallmarks of addiction, whether it’s addiction to the internet or to alcohol, drugs, gambling, or something else, is being unable to stop when you want to stop.
This is a sign that you’ve lost the ability to control your actions when it comes to that addictive activity or substance, so if you try to diminish your internet use and you can’t, you may have an internet addiction.
4. Relationship Problems
When a habit is negatively affecting relationships that are meaningful to you, it’s a sign that you may have an addiction. Internet use is no different.
An internet addiction could damage your relationships because:
- You spend less time with the people you love because you’re spending too much time online
- You’re preoccupied with online activities so you aren’t mentally present with your loved ones, even when you’re not actively online
- The way you treat people is influenced by what you’re seeing online (for example, you watch too many videos about husbands/wives cheating so you become suspicious that your spouse is cheating, even if there’s no indication of this in “real life”)
- The results of your online activities could cause issues with your loved ones, like excessive spending
If your internet use is harming your relationship in any of these ways, especially if you see these issues happening in multiple relationships in your life, it could signal an internet addiction.
5. Lack of Control
Have you ever looked at the clock and realized you’ve been online for hours longer than you thought? We all lose track of time every once in a while.
But if this is happening to you regularly, or if you tell yourself you’re only going online for an hour and you aren’t able to stop after an hour, this could mean that your internet use has become an addiction.
6. Medical Problems
Excessive internet use can cause problems for your health in numerous ways. You might develop problems from the physical actions you’re doing, like a perpetually sore neck from straining your neck down toward your phone or carpal tunnel syndrome in your wrists.
Or, you might see a decline in your health because of the time you sit sedentary online, like unwanted weight gain (or unwanted weight loss from skipping meals to spend more time online), a loss of physical conditioning from skipping workouts to go online, high blood pressure from the stress that your internet use is causing, and so on.
A common indicator of addiction is when you know that a habit is harmful to your health but you do it anyway. So if you’ve noticed these issues and know that they’re coming from your internet use but you haven’t been able to change your habits despite this, you may have an internet addiction.
7. Withdrawal
Someone who is addicted to the Internet and cannot go online might experience “anxiety, moodiness and compulsive fantasizing about the Internet” as withdrawal symptoms (ADF). If your loved one cuts down on their online time significantly and they start struggling with these symptoms, it may mean that they’ve developed an addiction.
8. Compulsive Need
A person with an internet addiction will feel a compulsive need to be online, rather than just a desire when it suits them. For example, if someone goes online at work when they are not supposed to in order to feel less anxious, this is a sign of addiction, not enjoyment.
Or, they may instinctively pick up their phone and go online frequently without consciously deciding to, like when there’s an ad during a show they’re watching or when they stop at a stoplight while driving.
9. Thinking About It All the Time
It’s normal to, every once in a while, look forward to coming home from work and relaxing on social media for a bit.
But if you find yourself constantly thinking about going online, planning out what sites you want to check, and wondering what you’re missing on various sites or apps, and these thoughts are persistent throughout the day or make it difficult for you to focus on other things, you might have an internet addiction.
10. School/Work Problems
Part of determining whether a habit has become an addiction is determining if it has had a negative impact on your daily life.
If you’re using the internet so much that you aren’t meeting your obligations at work or at school, or if you’ve been in trouble for being online at work or school when you weren’t supposed to be, and you continue taking these risks knowing that they’re causing issues, you may have crossed the line into an internet addiction.
What Should You Do if You See Signs of an Internet Addiction?
An internet addiction can happen to anyone, and it can be difficult to recover from because, unlike drugs or alcohol, you probably have to use the internet every day for work or school. But the right therapist can help you regain control of your internet use and get back to using it as the tool it’s meant to be.
Explore the Addictions.com online addiction treatment directory for providers who treat internet addiction in your area.
