How to get rid of computer addiction

Nowadays, many people can‘t see their life without a computer. It has became a device that everyone needs to have, there are those who even have more than one at their homes. This phenomenon has created something what we call "computer addiction". What can we do to stop it? How do we even get caught in it?

You have to admit, that computer plays a huge role in our modern society. It has a number of advantages. To start with, you can watch movies, listen to music, play video games, simply said entertain yourself. Moreover, you can surf the net, find data. Internet holds almost all information, so you can find anything that interests you. Furthermore, computer has many useful applications which you can use to write, make movies and videos, draw, edit photos, work, well do almost anything you can think of.

How do we become addicted

Computer addiction is the excessive or compulsive use of computers to the extent that it interferes with your daily life. This disorder may affect the following: social interaction, mood, personality, work ethic, relationships, thought process. It may also cause social disorders or possibly sleep deprivation, because you spend a great deal of time near your computer.There are a number of factors that can make us addicted. One of them can be interaction with others. We enjoy talking with our friends, everyone does, we don't want to be alone, we want to feel needed. Many people spend days and days chatting, they discuss all sorts of things. For some people it's easier to say things when no one can see them. They feel more comfortable, more safe, to communicate through internet. Then one day you notice that you actually don't spend any time with your friends at all. You just communicate through social pages, for example: Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Skype and etc. In fact you don't go outside, you don't hang out as much as you used to. To be more accurate you spend all day chatting, or just surfing the net. The worst part is that most of the times you do meaningless things, nothing important. And yet, you still can't turn off your computer and go somewhere else, do other things. The computer gradually becomes our most precious thing. We start to ignore everything else. In example, studying and homeworks becomes a secondary thing. Everything that matters is how can we get home faster, get online and surf the net. It also applies to video games as well. It's no secret that most kids become addicted to some games. I will try to point out some of them later. So how do we become addicted? It's actually very simple. In time we start to think only about our computer. The things we can do with it. It becomes so needed that we start to ignore friends calls to go out somewhere, we start to put off things for later, making our time spent near computer a priority.

What causes it

It depends from every person what is he most vulnerable to. I will show a few things most of us gets addicted to.

• Video games.

You may think that this only applies to children, teenagers maybe. Well I'm afraid if that is your opinion, then you are wrong. I completely agree with that that video game addiction is most common within the children, teenagers but there are much adults who are also addicted to them. It may have started from their childhood, and they are stuck in that kind a rut even now. Most popular games attract many players. The most dangerous games I believe are RPG ( Role-playing game - in which players act out the roles of characters in a narrative game ) They make you spend most of the time leveling up and doing all sorts of quest, which take time. The most popular are: World of Warcraft, Lineage 2, Diablo 2, Aion, and etc. Moreover, there are games like CSS ( Counter Strike Source ) or CS 1.6 ( Counter Strike 1.6 ) although these games aren't RPG they still attract many people, because you kill each other, it's a violent game, but many loves it. And the players of these games are actually quite "old" they are teenagers and adults, from 14-40 more or less, you see what I mean? This is not normal for a person above 20 years for example play games, and play them very often. Some adults even play at work... So that is addiction, they can't even work properly.

• Social sites.

You may think, how can it cause addiction? Well it can. I have a few friends who can't live without them. To be more specific Facebook. It was launched in 2004 and look how far it went. Now it has around 500 million active users around the world. Facebook makes some people spend hours near it, it has all kind of flash games, only to make people spend more time on it. You always watch what others say, if they "like" your photos or links... But in the end what's the point? What's the point in spending so much time reading, most of the times meaningless things like, what someone ate for breakfast or that someone feel happy this second... However people need these things, to some people it is important. Facebook is one of the most popular this kind of sites in the world, don't forget that there are more of them: Myspace, Twitter and etc. In the end it is about the same with all of them.

• Other web pages.

There are plenty of other sites that can make you addicted, well not so much as video games or social sites but they also makes you spend much time near them, so we could say that it causes a little addiction. These sites can be very different, hold various information, which attracts a specific range of individuals. For example, sites like "Weheartit" or "Flickr" hold many photos, distinct pictures. Both sites are almost the same type, you upload your pictures ( photos ) and watch others uploaded pictures. I have a few friends who spend about 4 hours a day just looking into pictures on these sites... I'am not saying it's wrong or anything but you just need to do everything with moderation.

What can you do...

Actually you are the only person that can do anything in this kind of situation. Without your own will to change nothing can be achieved. Although people around you also can do very much. For example, if you are a child or a teenager, parents can take away your computer or forbid you playing a specific game, or just spending a great deal of time near your computer. However without your full cooperation you can't make yourself better. You may think that parents are doing a bad thing depriving you from computer, but mark my words - you will be grateful later, you really will be. Most of the times you think that your mom or dad don't know anything, simply said doesn't understand you. Don't fool yourself, most of the times they do know better what you truly need, so be tolerant with their opinion, try to listen, maybe they are surely telling the truth?

If one day you understand the fact, that perhaps I really spend too much time near my computer. Then you can help yourself. Think that this is a better way to get rid of addiction. If you notice that all by yourself that means you still think. That means you still have a life you care about. I believe the best way to get rid of addiction is to change it with another one. What do I mean by that? Think of it as this: I have a habit, it either can be a good one or a bad one. If you think more carefully addiction isn't very different from a habit. So I reckon to change a bad addiction with a good one, with a good habit. For example, instead of the time you spend playing video games, use it purposefully; read a book, study just try to learn something new and meaningful. Change your addiction, with a some sort of activity. Don't be shy, try out some sports, go to a gym, spend that time doing good for yourself, doing good for your health. Do anything else, draw, play a guitar, a piano. Be creative, there are a lot of activities you can try. Don't spend your day staring at your monitor, do other things, live a full-fledged life.

Also, you can just stop doing what you are doing. You must realize what do you actually get from spending hours and hours playing or for example, just checking your wall on Facebook. Simply stop doing it. Turn off your computer, and go somewhere else. If you're at work i.e. in an office, concentrate for your work only, don't think about games or social sites. Please yourself when you get home, spend hour, two at most doing stuff you like. Of course make sure you don't loose your head, don't sit all night or countless hours near your computer, think about your health.

Understand one thing - computer isn't a necessary device. You can truly live without it. Of course it makes our life much more easier, you can't deny that. However don't forget - you use the computer, don't let it use you. Live a fledged life, enjoy it. Don't spend most of your day sitting at home and chatting or playing video games. Go outside talk to your friends face to face, play something, entertain yourself in other ways. Instead of playing "NBA" or other sport game, go outside and play it for real. Just get your friends and play basketball, football or baseball all together.

All in all, you can’t deny that computer gives us many advantages; it lets us do unimaginable things, but spending a lot of time near it simply isn't good for your health. You may even become addicted to it. So remember not to over do it, don't spend countless hours near it. Think about your life, your health do other things, don't let computer control you.