Internet Addiction Changes the Brain like Drug Addiction

Internet Addiction Changes the Brain like Drug Addiction

The BBC News Health reports that web addicts have brain changes. A study done and published in Plos One, reports that in China there were 17 young internet addicts who consented to have their brains scanned. The white matter in the brain changes when using the internet much like cocaine, alcohol and marijuana. This change is most evident in those who play internet games frequently.

This is a scary concept to think that internet addiction can have the same negative effect on your brain as ingesting toxic substances. Addiction is characterized by unhealthy patterns of behavior.  Although similar to alcoholism or drug addiction, it seems internet addiction has its own pattern of behavior. Therefore, internet addiction has its own set of criteria and addiction treatment programs, just like drug addiction has to drug rehab facilities.

Addicts are able to turn pretty much anything into an addiction. With drugs and alcohol, abstinence seems more likely than with the internet. Right now, the internet world dictates our lives and this addiction may be like food or sex addiction in which you just have to learn not to abuse it, if that’s possible.