Treating Internet Addiction...In China

While visiting Houston for work and relaxing in my hotel room, I turn on the TV and come across a very interesting documentary on PBS about internet addiction treatment centers for adolescents in China.

Boot camps, that is.

This particular treatment center is apparently officially backed by the Chinese government and run by a branch of the military. The kids are brought by their parents, most of them forcefully and under false pretenses, and must remain at the facilities for a minimum of three months. Their internet addiction is treated like any serious drug addiction-intense individual/group/family therapy sessions, physical conditioning, and isolation techniques if the individual shows resistance to the treatment. All done with the explicit intent of breaking the individual's defences and dependence on the computer while attempting to get them to engage socially on a physical rather than virtual method.

Some of the kids featured in this documentary were severely addicted to the internet, some bragging about staying online playing World of Warcraft 300 hours non-stop. Many kids would be in denial of their addiction and its effects on them and their families. It is truly amazing how their addiction to the internet mirrored any given drug addiction...alcohol, cocaine, meth, you name it.

I considered internet addiction a phenomenon. I'm starting to consider it a disease.

During a particular family therapy session the counselor identified trust issues between a kids and his parents. The father said he was particularly tough on this kid's, threatening him andsometimes beating him. She made a statement that cut deep into the reason for this kid's behavior issues: "fear...is the basis of distrust."

It's amazing to watch these children's show typical withdrawal symptoms and behaviors, such as denial, defiance, withdrawal, and isolation.

For one particular teen followed in this documentary, he showed I the end a glimmer of hope and possible understanding of the depth of his affliction but the documentary ends there and doesn't say how he turned out. Thankfully I can find out more about this program online at PBS.org; I'll update this blog with more info once I come across it.

As for my personal opinion on these types of treatment options, I cannot say I agree or disagree with them. As with most types of situations, it depends on the severity of the problem at hand. I will say this is a very novel way of treating internet addiction that might be worth looking into and perhaps implementing here in the U.S., if it isn't already available here.

Troubling statistics on smartphone usage

I came across this short article on ABC News about some recently released statistics from the Pew Research Center on American's smartphone usage; statistics that pretty much sum up what I've felt was the current state of affairs regarding smartphone usage.

Click here to read the article.

I can tell you I'm in that 7% group that use their smartphone as their primary internet source. That's not because of my economic situation or lack of other Internet sources.

For me is about choice.

I could pay for home internet service, but my cell phone service provider actually gives me truly unlimited data plus a fair amount of mobile hotspot and/or tethering. I don't watch tv except for my local channels which I get through my digital tv antenna. I either rent movies from Redbox or rent/buy them from the Google Play Store. (The later allows me to download movies to my phone so I can watch them offline. That's a godsend on long flights with no Wi-Fi onboard!)

So what say you...are you dependent on your smartphone for your internet needs? If so, is it by choice or other extenuating circumstances? Sound off in the comments section below.

National Day of Unplugging

Starting at sundown today (3/6/2015) through tomorrow at sundown is National Day of Unplugging.

This is a real thing...and it's a good thing!

I'm addicted, you say...

Sometimes people judge others without realizing they are guilty of the same behaviors. Addicted people don't see their own addictions and are quick to condemn others all the while being completely hypocritical.

Let's all stop and analyze our own behaviors before we call out others...better yet, let's let live and let live and not call out others.

Glass houses, people.

Internet Dependence

Oh I'm sure I can live without the internet.

I can quit at any time.

Just...one more check of my Twitter/Facebook/Google+/Ello/LinkedIn/Reddit/Feedly feed streams before I go to sleep and I'm good...

On second thought...

Smartphone App To Track...Smartphone Addiction!

To paraphrase from Dream Theater's This Dying Soul:

“Hello blog, so glad to see you my friend. It's been a while.“

Came across an article this morning on a neat little app that will most definitely help any of you who feel you suffer from mobile internet addiction.

Instant for Android (Google Play) aims to be your one stop app to gauge your smartphone addiction and even set limits on it. There have been other apps that supposedly gauge your smartphone addiction by tallying the number of times a user unlocks their phone; this app goes further than that. It allows the user to see how many times and for how long they used a specific app or apps on their phone, (say, for example, Facebook.) It also allows user to set limits on smartphone usage, as well as some fitness tracking functionalities (like walking/traveling) and even interfaces with Google Wear peripherals.

The app is free to install but it does require a subscription for the more advanced app tracking features. When I return from vacation I'll install the app and report back on it. 

If the app is all it's hyped up to be, I know this will be a great tool to track-and if need be, curb-my mobile internet addiction. As smartphone addiction is becoming more widely recognized as a growing trend, apps like Instant will become indispensable in raising awareness if this troublesome a phenomenon.

If any of you have this app or something similar to it let me know in the comments below.

You can read the full article here:

Android Central: Instant for Android lets you track your smartphone addiction levels

Apparently it's getting worse...

It's been nearly a year since I posted anything to this blog.  Life got in the way.  I apologize for the extended absence.  It is my sincere hope that I will maintain this blog updated in a more timely and consistent manner.  (I'm happy to announce that things are finally on the up-and-up.)

Since my absence I thought that perhaps mobile internet addiction had waned somewhat.  That things had somehow stabilized and people would not let their lives be consumed by their mobile devices.

Apparently I was wrong.