The internet can be a tool that, in some cases, leads to serious addictions and mental disorders.
This is the conclusion of the Hellenic Society for the Study of Internet Addiction Disorder. Dr. Konstantinos Siomos, an aknowledged psychiatrist, presented during the report of the data.
It is true that the recognition of internet addiction started in 2008. Dr. Konstantinos Siomos stressed that “Greece is the second country after England in terms of internet addiction“. This remark based on a recent survey conducted in collaboration with nine universities in European countries.
The president of EEMEDED spoke to APE-MPE and said that based on research data, internet addiction seems to have increased in recent years in Thessaly. A doubling of rates has been identified in Larissa over the same time period.
Troubling data
A survey conducted in 2014 produced interesting results. Around 10% of fourth year medical students at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki showed signs of addictive behaviour to computer games. This weakness was usually the reason to low academic performance or failure.
Per data provided by the Vice President of the EEMMED, psychiatrist Dr. George Floros, and related to a study published in the scientific journal Computers In Human Behavior in July 2018, usually, the rates of addiction symptoms ranged around 25% Europe-wide and 37.7% among Greek users.
According to Mr. Siomos, people with chronic internet dependency are mostly adolescents or children who spend an excessive amount of time each day on the internet and playing computer games for recreational purposes. The symptoms they show are multiple. Between them are depression, lack of other interests, dysthymia. The list includes attention deficit with hyperactivity and difficulty adapting to the school environment, etc.
“We need to understand the following. In the interaction between man and the computer or social media, the circuit of immediate reward is activated.” Mr. Siomos stated describing the influences that the particular use of the Internet has on the brain. “A like on Facebook, a good or a bad comment on social media, but also a success in a computer game “raise” or “lower” dopamine (the hormone of joy) from the slant core of the brain and thus the model of immediate reward works”.
Mr. Siomos mentioned another interesting thing about addiction: the severity varies among people of different genders. Boys are more likely to experience it than girls.
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Author: PC-GR
The World of Technology
