Internet Addiction and Mental Health

One of the sources from an article called, "Is the Onslaught Making Us Crazy" by Tony Dokoupil. Answer these questions: "Does the internet make s crazy"? Identify several mental disorders correlated with heavy internet use. Does heavy internet use cause depression and mental health? What does he identify as not making us crazy? What are several pieces of evidence Dokoupil provides that support the idea that spending a lot of time online is negatively affecting some people's behavior? Why is the internet/social media/online entertainment world so addiction? How does the emotional reward work? How do the physical rewards work? Name Professor’s Name Course Date Internet Addiction and Mental Health Internet is a crazy and wonderful place. It has always changed the way we work, live, and learn. However, when a person cannot find a balance between their time online and offline, it can cause mental health problems. Internet addiction is an emerging problem among internet users. This problem arises due to the quick rise of the internet; therefore, causing fears to the increasing numbers of individuals who are becoming unable to get by without routinely going online. This is something that happens to most people, especially with the rise of social media apps. Human interaction has crossed borders, and that is something that is seen when people use the internet through social networking sites to interact. This crossed borders means that people use the internet to socialize with friends and family all around the world through social media. Heavy internet use affects the behavior and mental health of people leading to criticism, anger, and resentment. In his article, “Is the Onslaught Making Us Crazy?” Tony Dokoupil argues that these people are prone to internet addiction, obsessive-compulsive; and depression. In his article “Diagnostic Stability of Internet Addiction in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder: Data from a Naturalistic One-year Treatment Study.” Bipeta et al. (14) argue that internet addiction is becoming more and more regarded as an emerging mental disorder with significant harmful consequences. Bipeta et al. argue that people who prolong the duration of internet use are ‘ego-syntonic,’ related to pleasure. They make this argument based on the fact that people who especially the ones that enjoy online entertainment and social networking sites display behavioral addiction. Some of the people I have seen who entertain themselves through the internet exhibit some kind of addiction. For example, one person spends most of his time online to watch movies, play online games, and chat with friends and family through social apps. Also, mental health experts categorize internet addiction as an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Bipeta et al. states that OCD is a moderate to severe mental health state that leads to an urge to take part in repetitive behaviors and thoughts. One person I know who has OCD experiences unwanted urges like washing hands, and he also has violent thoughts. These urges and thoughts make him to take part in psychological acts (called compulsions) and other behaviors so that he can get rid of them. Veale and Roberts argue that he reason why these compulsions occur is to reduce or prevent anxiety and distress ...