Question by eyedocwood: Internet Addiction?
Wondering if anyone has any experience treating internet addiction and if so what methods were used. Are SSRI’s often used for this type of behavior?

Best answer:

Answer by Pam Ragland
Dear “Eyedocwood”,
Internet addiction is one of the fastest growing addictions today, because it is so available. I have experience with addictions of all kinds. I include Internet Addiction in my book “The 7 Whys of Addiction: The Hidden Secrets that Cause Addiction and The 3 Keys to Finally Be Free of Them”, because it is so prevalent today.

It helps to understand how addictions happen to understand this addiction & how to treat it. First, all addictions are an avoidance mechanism.

They can start out harmless enough. What happens with any addiction, internet included, is it starts as a simple habit. It may be the habit of surfing the internet or playing games at night for example. Then, when it is truly an addiction, it progresses & has a greater impact on your life. I created a scale to explain this (in my book) I call “ACS” or the “Addiction Continuum Scale” because every addiction is a progression. It starts out as a simple habit and progressess over time.

How quickly it progresses into something more harmful to you depends on why you have the addiction in the first place and how aware you are of the process.

SSRI’s shift the neuro transmitters in your brain. These are your brain’s reward centers… So, from that perspective IF you are feeling pain you then avoid with your addiction, you may feel better.

However, these do nothing to determine the reason you are avoiding in the first place. They are a patch, and will never cure an addiction. This is like treating your cough with cough medicine when you have lung cancer. It treats the symptom not the cause. In fact, sometimes they are like putting a lid on a volcano which later explodes. I know those who love prescription drugs as a treatment won’t agree with me, but this is what I have observed.

I recommend getting rid of the triggers, and changing your habits. I talk about this more in a free report, and my book. Both are available in the source list if you would like more information.

Make no mistake, any addiction gone untreated will get worse. It is simply a matter of how fast.

Warmly,
Pam Ragland

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