Do You Suffer From BAD: Blog Addiction Disorder?

Posted on December 1, 2005

A New York Times article called "Hooked on the Web" says some specialists believe 6 to 10% of Internet users have an unhealthy addiction to the Internet -- and they are ready to offer addiction recovery services. Some are even calling it Internet Addiction Disorder or IAD. And, of course, blogging is listed as one of the addictive Internet activies in the article. How long before some mental health professionals come up with BAD or Blog Addiction Disorder and offer recovery services to boot?

Skeptics argue that even obsessive Internet use does not exact the same toll on health or family life as conventionally recognized addictions. But, mental health professionals who support the diagnosis of Internet addiction say, a majority of obsessive users are online to further addictions to gambling or pornography or have become much more dependent on those vices because of their prevalence on the Internet.
But other users have a broader dependency and spend hours online each day, surfing the Web, trading stocks, instant messaging or blogging, and a fast-rising number are becoming addicted to Internet video games.
Dr. Cash and other professionals say that people who abuse the Internet are typically struggling with other problems, like depression and anxiety. But, they say, the Internet's omnipresent offer of escape from reality, affordability, accessibility and opportunity for anonymity can also lure otherwise healthy people into an addiction.

This is not the first time blog addiction has been mentioned. Back in May we discussed blog addiction in a post that was later discussed on CNN. The problem with categorizing blogging or other Internet activities as some kind of addiction is that many people now spend a lot of their time working and communicating over the Internet. A better measure, as some experts in the Times article suggest, is whether or not the level has reached a point where it causing harm:

Several counselors and other experts said time spent on the computer was not important in diagnosing an addiction to the Internet. The question, they say, is whether Internet use is causing serious problems, including the loss of a job, marital difficulties, depression, isolation and anxiety, and still the user cannot stop.

A good measure may also be how much sleep you are getting. If your blogging and Internet use is so extreme that you are ruining your health due to lack of sleep then you need to reign in your blogging habit.