A study on internet addiction among adolescences

Introduction: As the Internet progressively becomes part and parcel of our lives, Internet addiction disorder has received much attention. The general reasons and consequences of this disease can be similar to that of alcohol addition, drug abuse, and obsessive viewing of television. Persons who are addicted to internet may come from all walks of life and as a result they are suffering in the main aspect of everyday life in situations such as school, family, work and relationships, emotional problems like depression and anxiety. Though it is used for education, entertainment, social networking, and sharing of information, its excessive use among adolescents is becoming a major concern. Internet addiction is an impulse control disorder and develop an emotional attachment to on-line friends. Hence the cordial relationship in the family and the society is curtailed. As a result, many of them have turned out to be very aggressive and engage themselves in various types’ unhealthy practices. Blue whale game (suicide game) is one example for this. Hundreds of deaths were reported to be connected to the so-called "suicide game". Aims & Objectives: Since internet addiction has received much attention in present day situation, it is an urgent necessity to consider obsessive internet usage as a complete and distinct mental illness. With this background the present study was conducted to study the internet use and addiction among students of higher secondary schools. Material & Method: The internet addiction test ( by Dr. Kimberly Young) which is the reliable and validated measure of severity of internet addiction, was conducted in 200students of Higher Secondary Schools of Prayagraj city, of which 111 were male students and 89 were female students. Students were in the age group of 16-19 years. Based upon the six point scale, the response that best represented the frequency of the behavior described in the 20 items was selected. The severity of internet addiction was found out. Results: Approximately 57% of the students were suffering from mild Internet addiction, 38% were suffering from moderate Internet addiction, 0.5% were suffering from severe Internet addiction and 4.5 % were suffering from no Internet addiction.Conclusions: Internet addiction in Students of Higher SecondarySchoolsare increasing and requires timely remedial action. Comprehensive program for students should be carried out to increase awareness of internet addiction.