TORONTO: Is internet addiction a growing problem?

TORONTO: Cam Adair finally realised that
his addiction to video games was out of control when it made him consider
ending his life.

“I
struggled with it for 10 years,” he says. “I dropped out of high
school, never went to college, and pretended to have jobs to deceive my family.

“I
eventually wrote a suicide note, and it was on that night that I realised I
needed to get help. I’m now 3,860-day-free from my gaming addiction.”

Mr Adair,
a 32-year-old Canadian, has gone on to become the founder of Game Quitters, an
online support group for people struggling with gaming addiction. It now has
more than 75,000 members around the globe.

While
technology, and specifically the internet, has helped to keep the world running
during the coronavirus lockdowns, he says it has been difficult for people like
him.

“The
pandemic led to me spending more time than usual watching Twitch [a live
streaming service that focuses on people playing computer games], and
YouTube,” says Mr Adair.

“Much
of that [YouTube] content was game streamers and games too, both of which can
be strong triggers to relapse and play. Thankfully I was able to stay away from
a relapse, but I know many people in the Game Quitters community who did
unfortunately relapse during Covid.”

The US
National Library of Medicine now classifies gaming dependency as part of wider
internet addiction. It defines this as “excessive or poorly controlled preoccupations, urges or behaviours
regarding computer use and internet access that lead to impairment or
distress”.

While
many would argue that it is not as serious as alcoholism or drug addiction, it
can still be debilitating for sufferers. And Dr Andrew Doan, a neuroscientist
and expert on digital addiction, agrees that the lockdowns have exacerbated the
problem.

“Stresses
in life leads to cravings for behaviours and escape mechanisms,” he says.
“The pandemic has increased stress in people’s lives, and a convenient way
to escape is using entertainment digital media, such as gaming and social
media.

“Excessive
use to escape stress is a risk factor for the development of addictive
behaviours.”

To help
combat internet addiction, a number of tech firms have produced tools that can
be used to help block or limit access to the web, or gaming websites.

Linewize
is one such product aimed at children, or – more specifically – their parents.

The
website and app allow parents and carers to remotely limit and monitor the time
children can spend on gaming sites, or the internet overall, be it via the
kids’ smart phones or laptops.

Linewize
also contains the usual “parental locks” that prevent access to
pornography or violent material.

Teodora
Pavkvic, a qualified psychologist, and digital wellness expert at San
Diego-based Linewise, says that young people are particularly susceptible to spending
too much time online. This is something that parents of teenagers would be
quick to agree with.

“Managing
time online in a digitally healthy and balanced way requires highly
sophisticated cognitive skills that don’t fully develop until we reach the age
of 25.”

She adds:
“Online platforms are built to extract and maximise our time, attention
and data, and so that – combined with the many sneaky dangers that lurk online
– make it exceptionally difficult for children to engage with the online world
in a measured, safe and responsible way.”

For
adults, internet addiction can also blur into gambling addiction, with betting
apps and websites fuelling the latter.

BetBlocker
is an app that allows people to block their access to tens of thousands of
gambling websites and apps for a user-determined period of time.

Once the
restriction is activated, the person cannot access the gambling platforms until
the restriction expires.

The
BetBlocker app – which is free – can also be controlled by someone’s partner,
friend, or parents.

“The
ease of access to remote gambling is unquestionably the biggest challenge that
anyone with a gambling addiction will face today,” says BetBlocker’s
founder Duncan Garvie.

“Everyone
is walking around with a casino, or bookie, in their pocket, and it is very
easy to play discretely.”

Users can
block gambling sites for hours, days, or weeks. And people can also use the app
to block other websites, such as gaming ones.

“This
is intended to help users, by creating a restriction during known periods of
vulnerability,” adds Mr Garvie, who is based in Edinburgh.

GamBlock
is another app that can be used in a similar way to prevent access to gambling
websites. The Australian firm’s chief executive David Warr says “we are
not anti-gambling”. Instead the focus is on helping problem gamblers.

Dr Doan’s
expertise in video games addiction has partly come the hard way – he used to be
such an addict himself.

“During
medical school at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine [in
Baltimore], and during my residency training, I was playing 80 to 100 hours of
video games per week, for about 10 years,” he says.

The
author of a book called Hooked On Games: The Lure And Cost Of Video Games And
Internet Addiction, he says that the internet should be seen as two separate
parts.

“I
break down digital media into two broad categories – digital sugar verses
digital veggies. Digital veggies, such as online therapies, can be utilised to
help people manage their stress and reduce their risk for addictive behaviours.

“[Whereas]
the excessive usage of digital sugars like gaming, pornography and non-work
related social media can increase the risk of addictive behaviours, in
particular when these activities are used to escape daily stressors.”

Dr Doan
fears that given the amount of time we now all spend online, we will see more
gaming and internet addictions.

However,
Cam Adair is hopeful that tech firms such as Linewize, BetBlocker and GamBlock
can play an important role in helping to alleviate the problem. And it is
important to stress that anyone concerned about any form of addiction should
contact their doctor.

Mr
Adair’s work has been published in Psychiatry Research, and he is now an international
speaker, talking about addiction.

“Asking
for help saved my life,” he says. “I was deceptive, withdrawn,
isolated, hostile and unreachable during my addiction. Now I’m happy, content,
and able to cope with normal life’s stresses.”