Since re-engaging this site I now have a problem (I didn't know where to post this but figured this would do). Basically I constantly check the Internet now. I try and go watch a TV show or something but I find myself thinking about the Internet and then have to go check it before I can resume my show. For example in a half hour show I check about 3 times so it's on average three times per twenty two and something minutes.. As you would suspect, maybe once in three hundred times of checking will their be something new to see when I go to check.

Just wondering if some other people had/have this issue since joining the site and what they're doing about it, or how they're trying to approach it. I know this may seem ridiculous, and I agree, but I can't stop checking now.

[allimsaying]

FERFA, some things you say are so like me, and hey, Im normal, right? I know what you mean, I want to give you a deep reply, but, then I'll need to come back and check!

Sometimes, I know this is wrong, but the people at PC can be like those virtual pets, you want to see how thier doing, if their growing, or wilting. I know you're not pets but I somehow feel like I need to make sure you have enough sunlight, water, hope, etc... I do the checking thing too. I tell myself I have to let people here be, to grow or not grow, that Im not the shop owner and Im not responsible for what happens or how things go for others... but I still feel the need to check.

[Big Mama]

FERFA I am the same way. It concerns me do I have an internet addiction. No I have a caring addiction. I also am alone and have a huge need to connect. And fall apart easily and need things to keep my mind off of it. So here I am time and time again.

[Pikku Myy]

FERTA you are fine.... I have also been looking for several friends here for the past year... and just recently learned the lady who REALLY relped me in 2009... is an beautiful angel now!!!! But for you... just keep checking... and give yourself 1 hour per day.... Know you don't like hugs... so Happy Day!!!!

I was looking for maybe some options of what to do about it but I guess it must just be a willpower thing. You guys nailed it with the wanting to connect to people and stuff. It's very possible that my loneliness contributes to me checking compulsively. Going to really work on it starting today and just check after every episode of something or every half hour. Thanks for the responses.

Thanks for your refreshing honesty, you are definitely not alone. This is a world wide behaviour, that is where the phrase "A watched pot never boils" came from. They were so hungry, ready to put their meat or eggs into the water to get the hunger satisfied. What are we hungry for? Lots of things. I go through phases where I cannot seem to get off the internet, and phases where I go weeks not wanting to open the lid to my laptop. It is a phase in your life my friend and you are using the internet to satisfy something, I suppose. My hunger is for knowledge, camaraderie, and most of all, direction. When I go through things psychologically, processing various things, I distract myself by doing "stuff" on the net, and I've been obsessive too. You are not alone.

Dear FERFA,

I had this exact problem during the 2008 presidential campaign season. Writing quite steadily for several political websites, along with another project that required my attention to the internet, I found myself checking various sites every five to ten minutes, and rereading several articles with a frenetic fortuity in the event that there had been an addendum to the original composition. Rarely was this the case and I was left with the frustration felt by a child waiting for their first party guest to arrive.

Additionally, the problem that both you and I experience is aggravated by the fluidity of these types of websites. They are in a continuous cycle of change, and motion. This lends to us an unrealistic expectation that what subjects, or threads that we, ourselves, are keen to have had additions attached, should transform as rapidly as does the site, as a whole, but this simply is not the case.

The way in which our situations differ, FERFA, is good news for you, because I think that you hold a better opportunity to more competently, and successfully quell this obsessive need you have described. While it was for me, imperative that I have the most recent, "to the second," information to properly construct my articles, your job, health, and mental well-being do not honestly depend on knowing that something has changed the very second the thread or message has been posted.

After the elections I was still kept quite busy with political news, and although I did not require the urgency of understanding the events within moments of their occurrence, I was addicted with a compulsive need to continue the cycle I had started before the elections. I was not only guiding myself into an unneeded madness, but the fanatical exercise was folly, for so much of my time was wasted "checking in," that my speed and proficiency stumbled on sentences that when strung into paragraphs, reached dead-ends as often as conclusions.

What ultimately cured me of this addiction? A simple timer. I created for myself, a set of rules and allowed myself one quarter of every two hours to peruse the internet. During the hour and part I was not electronically shackled, I had to be about something meaningful or constructive. It mattered not if it were penning the next article, brainstorming, or even doing laundry, the point was I was accomplishing something for a determined amount of time.

I set my alarm faithfully, so that I would not forget, and considered the internet a reward for having worked that section of time. This was helpful, and over time I discovered that I often chose to complete what I was working on, unrelated to the internet, rather than rushing to my "prize."

The blessing of Psych Central, FERFA, is that whether you check it every fifteen minutes, or every fifteen hours, all that you 'missed' will still be available for you to read, respond to, and enjoy. I would imagine it would be that much more rewarding, as you would have the opportunity to have a long relaxing visit with your 'friends', rather than having already seen almost everything, and again be disappointed by the little noticeable change.

This is my suggestion to you. Invest a little in a timer that you can carry if you haven't already access on your phone or other means. It seems so simple, like child's play, but it made all the difference in my work, mood, and sense of accomplishment, which aided in my mental health.

Good luck to you, whichever way you choose to treat your "check-itis." It is a nasty little virus you have, To treat it quickly, before it can cause any more damage, would be wise.

With understanding, and in friendship,

-Fleeing Bellocq, Muse of the Mission District

Thanks for the posts gals. I think the timer is an excellent idea and I'm going to try that. I absolutely think that it'll be easier than yours because it is a site where nothing really changes, it stays the same post etc all day there might just be more responses on it. For me though it's not so much about the forums as it is the chat. You know, that constant wanting to connect with people even virtually is so strong, and knowing that you could be missing a conversation or something is what draws you to come back and check who's online. I used to be annoyed because my friends were like this with Facebook when it first came out. After we'd gone somewhere the minute we came back they literally raced to the computer to check, and checked thereafter constantly. I had no draw, and never really have which makes me think it's entirely the desire to connect with people. The timer however is like a law telling me when I can and can't connect. I like the idea of that so I can relinquish power to a device so I don't have to think about it.

Thanks as always for the replies much appreciated.

[IowaFarmGal]

I have this problem too. Sometimes I think maybe I need to stay off the internet.

[D157R4C73D]

Go to youtube and look up the Ted talk on Internet addiction by Gary Wilson.

It's an eye opener, and I wonder if I'm suffering from similar effects at the moment. The talk is specifically about porn, but porn isn't the only thing that effects people in that way. Simply searching on Google activates the reward centers of your brain.

Originally Posted by D157R4C73D

Go to youtube and look up the Ted talk on Internet addiction by Gary Wilson.

It's an eye opener, and I wonder if I'm suffering from similar effects at the moment. The talk is specifically about porn, but porn isn't the only thing that effects people in that way. Simply searching on Google activates the reward centers of your brain.

That talk was very interesting for sure. Today is March 1st, so it would be a good day to start for the 90 days. I mostly just want to do it as an experiment. I don't have any problems, and don't really watch that much porn (10 mins a day on average) but I really wonder if it would get me more motivated to meet girls etc. One assumes they still masturbate, just not using porn correct?

As for regular sites I think I'm going to set certain times a day I check. Going to say when I first wake up, I get to look at all my sites, then 6 hours later be able to check again, and then 6 hours after that. I know that once I am forced to quit the Internet (Vacations for example) I easily forget it, and it actually takes me a while to get back into the groove of the Internet when I get back.

I hope when you posted this you didn't post it cause you thought I was wildly addicted to porn cause I look like "That guy" lol. Thanks for the info though it was very informative and scary as hell. I'm an open book so I apologize if my candidness offends anyone.

[D157R4C73D]

Originally Posted by FERFA

I hope when you posted this you didn't post it cause you thought I was wildly addicted to porn cause I look like "That guy" lol. Thanks for the info though it was very informative and scary as hell. I'm an open book so I apologize if my candidness offends anyone.

Nah, I just posted it because I know a lot of this stuff is all related to the reward center of the brain. Also, like the guy said, they couldn't find anybody that didn't look at porn for their control group. It's pretty ubiquitous, so it's a safe assumption most guys online are watching it.

[Big Mama]

90 days is along time, but I find encouragement from you to do the same. Maybe I'll only check the computer every 3 hours. Gotta start somewhere.