I am addicted to the internet.

[Phillycat]

For a long time now, I’ve been saying, “I’m addicted to the internet” and knowing that I wasn’t actually kidding. I am 100%, knock-down junkie-fix-craving hooked on the fucking internet. Which just goes to show I can get addicted to anything.

Let me clarify. Here’s my day. I wake up, turn over (at the moment, while I’m still in the States, my Macbook sleeps with me), and get online. Check email, Twitter, my three blogs, and Facebook. Get up, pee, shower, come back in the bedroom, check email, Twitter, my three blogs, and Facebook while I’m getting dressed. Drive to work, log on, check email, Twitter, Facebook, my three blogs, Flickr, New York Times online, BBC online, NPR online, several political message boards, and begin the daylong process of reading everything in my Google Reader feed. I am currently subscribed to 78 sites, many of which update daily, some of which update several times per day. Stuff like I Can Haz Cheezburger might send me 10 updates per day. I almost never have more than 2 or 3 things waiting to be read because I read feeds all day long. Most of the time, I have nothing to read waiting.

I leave work (at noon at the moment), drive home, get my Macbook, take it downstairs, and prepare and eat lunch in front of the computer. I spend the afternoon online, obsessively checking for updates on all the sites mentioned above. I am incredibly bored during this process because there is hardly any new content, but I find it almost physically painful to log off.

By evening, I usually get myself embroiled in some pointless and often angry political discussion here or elsewhere because I have nothing better to do online, and god forbid I put the fucking computer down. Before I go to bed, I check everything one last time, or more accurately 5 or 6 last times before I log off.

On days when I have something scheduled that I need/want to do, I feel amazing because I’m offline. I feel grateful for anything that takes me away from the computer. My mind clears and I am less angry and depressed. Some days I take the computer to Starbucks to write, somewhat because it’s a conducive atmosphere for writing, but even more because they make you pay for internet access (which is quite a fucking cheek considering they charge you 5 dollars for a fucking coffee) and I refuse to pay it, so the internet is banned to me. That doesn’t mean I don’t check 15 or 20 times while I’m there to see if there’s a wireless connection.

If you aren’t familiar with drug addiction, you’re just going to have to trust me that what I’ve written above is addiction, plain and simple. And it is actually (can you believe this) making my life unamanagable.

So.

As of today at 12 noon, I am going offline for one week. I will make one exception - I will check my email, because I’m still (FUCKING STILL) waiting for the notice that my visa is approved, and also because that’s often how my husband and I communicate while I’m gone. But email is not one of the things I can spend hours or even minutes doing, anyway. I check it and go away. But other than email, I am banning myself from the internet. Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, DU, other message boards, news sites, everything. If anything very important happens in the world, I sure hope someone emails me, because otherwise I’ll never know.

Wish me luck. I am terrified. I’ll see you on February 3rd. Or maybe not!

[Drunken Girlfriend]

1. Internet addiction

My computer had a virus for the first time a few months ago,
and I could not afford to get it fixed right away.

I went without the Internet for about 3 weeks,which is not long,
but seemed like an eternity to me.lol

And although I love cable a lot,I actually think if I could only
choose one luxury,it would be having the Internet.

I am always on the prowl for new sites to excite me,
yet I notice I always go back to the same 5 or 6 sites.

I guess I am a creature of habit.

I think the Internet has such universal appeal,because it's a form
of communication we can all relate to,especially for a social misfit like myself.lol

If I am away from home,I enjoy the fact that I am away from the computer,as I do find it slightly unhealthy for me to be on it constantly.

But as soon as I get home,the first thing I do is check my email/Facebook messages.

Here are a few sites that I frequent daily,if you are interested in checking them out.

http://drunkenstepfather.com
http://youtube.com
http://yahooanswers.com
http://plentyoffish.com
http://perezhilton.com

P.S,it could be a lot worse....lol

[BarenakedLady]

2. Good luck

I've been trying to stay away from the computer lately. It seems to depress me and make me anxious. I haven't been in the mood to play my online game either (and I've been playing that for 4 years!)

[Kali]

3. well one addition to the addiction symptoms is interferring with your life and personal relationship

and yes I think it can be addictive - same as any other.

[MrCoffee]

4. Good luck!

And good luck with the visa thing

[Inchworm]

5. I'm still in denial

Thank you very much :)

Good luck on your mission though.

:hug:

[LynzM]

6. Good for you for imposing a break on yourself.

It does sound like you are addicted to the point where it's affecting your life, moods, etc. :hug: Getting away physically (out into the woods, where you cannot check, etc.) seems to help me remember that there's life outside the internet, too.

[Schema Thing]

7. Yikes. Good luck, and I needed to read that.

The sad thing is that I have the same problem but use a much smaller slice of the net to get my fix... which makes it all the more pathetic.

[Haole Girl]

8. I wish you all the luck

I know I couldn't take an entire month off!

:hug: