Name: N. Elathram.

From A Bad Disorder To A Worse One
Although internet addiction is a new disorder, it has a deep negative impact on people`s life. It is an excessive long use of internet without time considering. Many researches represented that internet addiction could be a result of escape attempts from disorders such as depression, shyness, and the presence of other addictions.
The first cause of this type of addiction is depression. People who suffer from depression or mental disorder symptoms may tend to relieve their feeling of gloominess, and loneliness by spending too much time online surfing the net, chatting with people, or doing other activities that make them feel connected with the outside.“ They use the internet as a self-medication in the same way that some people use alcohol or abuse drugs to self-medicate the symptoms of their mental disorder” (Tracy). As a consequence, they become addicted to the internet by using up their time in search of social connection to become free of their sense of isolation.
Shyness could also be one of the factors that lead to internet addiction. Some people who cannot express their feelings or opinions in an actual world could become addicted to the internet because they found the internet is the best way to replace a difficult real world with an easy hypothetical one. In the hope that, they gain more confidence and self-assessment, they spend very much time on the internet, where they can make friends easily and share their interests without fear. “ They can carefully control how they are perceived by others when they communicate online, even going so far as to create an alternate personality that’s not entirely based in reality ” (Hinders).
Internet addiction could also be a result of pain relieving of other addictions. Since the Internet