Category Archives: Parents

Internet Addiction Disorder- What is it? What treatment is available?

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Melissa Killeen

Internet Addiction Disorder- What is it? 

Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is sometimes referred to as Problematic Internet Use (PIU),[i] Compulsive Internet Use, (CIU),[ii] Internet overuse, problematic computer use, pathological computer use, or I-Disorder,[iii]. IAD is excessive computer use which interferes with daily life.[iv]

Melissa Killeen

Melissa Killeen

Habits such as reading email, playing computer games, or binge viewing every Twilight movie or entire seasons of Breaking Bad are troubling only to the extent that these activities interfere with normal life. Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) is often separated by the activity involved in the compulsive actions, such as video or online gaming; online social networking;[v] blogging; online stock trading, online gambling, inappropriate Internet pornography use, reading email;[vi] or Internet shopping.[vii]

Cyber-Relationship Addiction has been described as the addiction to accessing and using social networking platforms such as Facebook, Linked In, or online dating services such as Match.com and creating fictitious relationships with others through the internet. Along with many other meet-up platforms, such as Tinder or Siren, (mobile phone apps using a GPS that create a way to meet new people), finding online friends has been made very easy, yet very dangerous because there is no way to check the backgrounds of these fictitious friends. These virtual online friends start to gain more importance to the addict, eventually becoming more important than family and real-life friends.

Most, if not all “Internet addicts”, already fall under existing diagnostic labels.[viii] For many individuals, overuse or inappropriate use of the Internet is a manifestation of their depression, anxiety, impulse control disorders, or pathological gambling. According to the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery’s director Kimberly S. Young,[ix] “Internet addicts suffer from emotional problems such as depression and anxiety-related disorders and often use the fantasy world of the Internet to psychologically escape unpleasant feelings or stressful situations.”[x] More than half are also addicted to alcohol, drugs, tobacco, pornography or sex.[xi]

What kind of treatment is available?

Corrective strategies to thwart an Internet addiction include using software that will control or block the unwanted content, such as porn or gaming sites from an individual’s computer, addiction counselling, and cognitive behavioral therapy.[xii] One might consider placing time limits on smart phone or computer use, such as no smart phone use during homework time or no computer use after 9pm. The major reasons that the Internet is so addicting is the lack of limits and the absence of accountability by parents, teachers, and health professionals.[xiii] Professionals generally agree that, for Internet addiction, controlled use is a more practical goal than total abstinence.[xiv]

Families in the People’s Republic of China and South Korea have turned to unlicensed training camps that offer to “wean” their children, often in their teens, from overuse of the Internet. An internet addiction treatment center was started in Delhi, the capital city of India by a nonprofit organization, the Uday Foundation. In 2009, ReSTART, a residential treatment center for “pathological computer use”, opened near Seattle, Washington. The Ranch, a treatment center in Nunnelly, TN, that focuses on behavioral addictions has an internet addiction program. Dr Kimberly Young directs a treatment program called the Internet Addiction Program as part of the Behavioral Health Services Dual Diagnosis Unit at Bradford Regional Medical Center in Bradford, PA. Dr. Maressa Orzack, has treated addictive behaviors at the Computer Addiction Services unit at the McLean Hospital, in Belmont and Newton Center, Massachusetts. The Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery has an Internet Addictions treatment track with locations in Peoria, Normal, Harvey and Springfield Illinois. New Beginnings offers treatment for Internet Addiction with facilities in many states.

For those that are not exactly sure they need treatment for an Internet addiction, there is Online Gamers Anonymous, (OLGA, and OLG-Anon). Founded in 2002, by Elizabeth (Liz) Woolley after her son, Shawn Woolley, committed suicide while logged into EverQuest.  OLGA is a twelve-step, self-help, support and recovery organization for gamers (OLGA) and their loved ones (OLG-Anon) who are suffering from the adverse effects of addictive computer gaming. It offers resources such as discussion forums, online chat meetings, Skype meetings and links to other resources.[xv]

References used in this blog

[i] Moreno MA, Jelenchick LA, Christakis DA (2013). “Problematic internet use among older adolescents: A conceptual framework”. Computers and Human Behavior 29: 1879–1887. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.01.053.

[ii] Meerkerk G.-J.; et al. (2009). “The Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS)”. CyberPsychology & Behavior 12: 1–6. doi:10.1089/cpb.2008.0181.

[iii] Rosen, L. D. et al. (2012). iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession with Technology and Overcoming Its Hold On Us. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230117570

[iv] Byun, S; et al. (2009). “Internet Addiction: Metasynthesis of 1996–2006 quantitative research”. Cyberpsychology & Behavior 12 (2): 203–7. doi:10.1089/cpb.2008.0102. PMID 19072075.

[v] Masters K. (2015). “Social Networking Addiction among Health Sciences Students in Oman“. Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal 15 (3): 357–363. doi:10.18295/squmj.2015.15.03.009.

[vi] Turel, O. & Serenko, A. (2010). “Is mobile email addiction overlooked?” (PDF). Communications of the ACM 53 (5): 41–43. doi:10.1145/1735223.1735237.

[vii] eBay Addiction”. Center for Internet Addiction, web site: Net Addiction http://netaddiction.com/ebay-addiction/Retrieved 2015-11-16

[viii] Hooked on the Web: Help Is on the Way. New York Times, Dec. 1, 2005.

[ix] Young, K. (2009). Issues for Internet Addiction as a New Diagnosis in the DSM-V. Washington, District of Columbia, US: American Psychological Association. Retrieved from PsycEXTRA database.

[x] “Frequently Asked Questions”. Netaddiction.com. Retrieved 2014-01-30.

[xi] “Frequently Asked Questions”. Netaddiction.com. Retrieved 2014-01-30.

[xii] “University of Notre Dame Counseling Center, “Self help – Lost in Cyberspace”. Retrieved 2009-11-11.

[xiii] “Internet addiction and lack of accountability”. internet-addiction-guide.com. 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2011-07-06.

[xiv] Young, Kimberly S. (2007). “Treatment Outcomes with Internet Addicts” (PDF). CyberPsychology & Behavior 10 (5): 671–679. doi:10.1089/cpb.2007.9971. Retrieved 2014-03-13.

[xv] Wikipedia, OLGA accessed on Nov 16, 2015- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On-Line_Gamers_Anonymous

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On the Nature of Addiction and the Loss of Hope

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Melissa Killeen

Guest post by David Chapman

The normal state of a productive and happy human existence includes a sense of hope. Dave Chapman block golf shirtThe  nature of addiction exhausts all sense of hope. The sense of hope is based on the understanding that the process of productive effort usually results in some observable, measurable improvement in the quality of one’s life and the lives of those important to the individual. The nature of having an addiction means the loss of this hope.

“I will restore my own sense of hope. I know if I exert control over my environment and my actions I will regain control of my life and I will have reason to be hopeful once more.”

If I chop some large amount of dry wood and keep it dry, my family and I will be warmed throughout the winter, our ability to survive the winter and the possibility of our thriving in the spring will be augmented. The hope of minimizing suffering, increasing comfort and sustaining enhancements in the quality of our lives is significantly based on the belief that the productive effort is worthwhile and that similar efforts in the future will also be worthwhile. 

The act of putting rational expectation – hope – into productive effort is based initially on trial and error. As demonstrated by observation and experience, it is then continued in the manner found to be most efficient.

I contend that addiction is more than chemical dependence. It is significantly, I believe, fueled by a sense of hopelessness resulting from the brutalization of our rational, reasonable expectations.

Children who are raised in emotionally-irrational or physically-violent households have their natural sense of hope altered and sometimes, sadly, destroyed altogether. Hope is similarly damaged in an adult body politic where effort goes unrewarded beyond a level of primitive sustenance and/or when participation in the political process is deemed to be futile and ineffective.

When we attempt to adjust our behavior to what we think are the demands or desires of those exerting control of our physical and intellectual environment, but those irrational behaviors continue, the ensuing sense of hopelessness – hopelessness based on rational observation – will continue and can threaten to become permanent.

The addicted personality may be able to overcome a physical addiction. However, until a sense of rational hopefulness is restored and we can believe that our thoughts and actions will have a beneficial impact on our lives, the spiritual addiction will probably not be overcome.

Dave Chapman is our guest blogger this week. Dave was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in the suburban town of Glen Ridge, New Jersey. He has been a shoeshine boy, a moving man, a golf caddy, a limousine driver, a truck driver, worked retail at The Home Depot, a life insurance agent, a stock broker and financial advisor. He studied the humanities and comparative literature at Ohio Wesleyan University. In addition to his motivational speaking and John Maxwell coaching affiliation, Dave is a freelance writer and teaches several classes in the Humanities as an Adjunct Professor at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Rutgers University. He can be contacted by email at: davechapman@wellsaiddave.com

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Addiction is a Symptom of Untreated Trauma

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Melissa Killeen

melissa-new-post“What is addiction, really? It is a sign, a signal, a symptom of distress. It is a language that tells us about a plight that must be understood.” — Alice Miller, author of Breaking down the Wall of Silence

I am a recovery coach. A recovery coach or sober companion is often called in to work with the most difficult addict, the chronic relapser. A chronic relapser is an individual that has been to several rehabs, often 7, 8 or 9 visits in less than five years. Who has not been able to put together 90 sober days, except in treatment. Whose family, spouse or children have given up on them. In reality, a chronic relapser is an addict that is acting out in their addiction. Their addiction is just a symptom of untreated trauma.

Often, calling a recovery coach is the last resort.

My first job, of course, is to make sure this person doesn’t drink, use or act out. And to find some redeeming qualities of this addicted person so I can approach healing the behaviors driving the addiction. This is the key point that brought me to the understanding that many of my clients have experienced some form of trauma, early in their childhood or adolescent lives.

I always ask the client for their story. I provide all of my clients the ACE study questions. ACE means Adverse Childhood Experiences. The ACE study is an ongoing collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente’s Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego. It started in 1976 with the purpose of finding more about childhood trauma, and the later-life health and well-being of participants. (For more information on ACE, see my blog post dated August 20, 2015). The ACE study poses such questions as: Did you move a lot? Did you ever go hungry? Did you experience a childhood that was less than nurturing? Did you ever have a moment that overwhelmed you? Did you live through an ordeal that changed how you think about people, places or things? The results of the ACE questions, and the addict’s story that comes after it, always profoundly moves me. I get a much more honest story than most clinicians, mainly because of these questions.

The reason it’s significant for me to identify and acknowledge trauma, is because research proves that trauma can activate behaviors that lead to addiction. My clients are using a drug or alcohol as a way of self-protection, of calming down, as life preservation. Everyone in the rooms (AA, NA meetings) knows addicts “use” in order to “numb out.” Well, let’s rethink that, turning it a bit to say: victims of trauma are really using a drug or drink to:

  • Stay safe: After trauma the addict’s own mind can feel like a danger zone, which makes being “out of it” feel safer than being in it.
  • Escape memories: Unwanted and unresolved memories have a way of popping up incessantly after trauma; addictions offer the mind a different area of, or reduced capacity for focus that helps suppress reminiscing.
  • Soothe pain: Substances or the adrenalin rush of self-destructive behaviors change the addict’s body chemistry, releasing endorphins and other mood enhancers that reduce discomfort.
  • Be in control: Sometimes, engaging in addictive behaviors can lead an addict to feel strong, resilient and courageous, an experience that is tremendously alluring when trauma from the past intrudes on the present.
  • Create a world the addict can tolerate: The intense feelings brought on by fear, memories and anxiety can make any moment seem overwhelming. The release of tension brought on by addiction-oriented behavior helps facilitate a manageable experience.
  • Treat yourself the way you feel you deserve: Trauma can leave an addict feeling less-than, worthless, hopeless, and damaged. The more self-destructive the addict behaves, the more it can feel like he or she is living in alignment with who they truly are. While this is false, it can help reduce feelings of otherness and disconnection.
  • Redefine who the addict really is: Trauma changes an addict’s identity all the way down to the core of their beliefs and self-definition. It can seem as if no one understands them. Engaging in addictions can help create a sense of community by connecting the addict to others who feel, see, think and behave as they do. Addictions can help the addict revise their self-perception by allowing them to engage in and act out behaviors that allow them to feel stronger, more courageous, capable, etc., than trauma has left them feeling.[1]

This puts the addiction-trauma link into perfect perspective for me, and I hope it opens some eyes for other addicts, alcoholics, and clinicians that are reading this post. Next week’s post will go on to explain the scientific research that backs up this discovery that addiction is just a symptom of untreated trauma.

Research used in this blog:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/about.html

Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, Posted on August 20, 2015 by Melissa Killeen, https://www.mkrecoverycoaching.com

[1] Trauma and Addiction: 7 Reasons Your Habit Makes Perfect Sense, by Michele Rosenthal. Published on March 30, 2015 in Behavioral Health, Living in Recovery, Living with Addiction and at http://www.recovery.org

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