Internet Overuse

There is internet use and internet overuse.  You know you have entered the zone of internet overuse if you hear yourself saying any of the following to yourself:

• I’m online so much, I’m losing my friends.
• I’m online so much, I can’t make any friends.
• It doesn’t matter because my online friends are better than my real-life friends ever were.
• I’ll go online, where I won’t have to worry if people like me or not.
• That’s not true. I worry about being liked online also.
• When I think of getting off the computer, I get panicky.
• I need the computer to get out of life. Real life is too messy. Real life is also boring.
• I dread silence. In real life, I often feel like I don’t exist.
• I see online that so many other people lead fantastic lives. What’s wrong with me?
• Oh my God, how did I forget to eat? Drink? Sleep? Go to the bathroom? Move around?
• I can’t stop myself from checking. I might miss something.
• I totally have FOMO.
• Something fantastic is going to happen online this time. It didn’t before, but this time it definitely will.
• Nobody will hurt my feelings when I’m on my phone.
• I can forget all my problems when I go online.
• I love my smartphone. It’s becoming my best friend.
• I’m not lonely. I can talk to so many strangers online.
• I love going online because I can control how I interact with people so much better there.
• I wonder if it bothered ______ when I checked my phone right after sex last night.
• Why did ____ get so upset when I checked my phone at dinner last night?
• I’m so in my head. Why can’t I stay in the present?
• What was _____ trying to tell me?
• What was I so excited about doing before?
• I have no one to talk to and nothing to do. I’ll go online.
• Am I really walking around depressed like _____ said I am?
• Am I really walking around anxious and jittery like _____ and _____ said I am?
• I crave something so much, but I don’t know what it is.
• If I go on Amazon and click away, I’ll feel a lot better.
• Everyone needs to escape every now and then, right?

Is this you?

And to conclude, here is a message I saw on a t-shirt yesterday:

I don’t need any friends.
Yeah, neither do I.

If your use of technology and the internet is becoming a problem, you are not alone. Internet addiction is a real thing. The good news is, you can get your life back. Contact me.