Our society is becoming increasingly tethered to its influence, power, and speed.
Our exposure occurs earlier and more pervasively, as everything from up-to-the-minute news to social media to porn compete for our attention.
If you find yourself addicted, it’s not difficult to see how you got there.
But at what cost to who you really are?
How do Internet addiction and self-esteem connect to affect you?
Internet assisted escape from yourself:
Can you resist the lure to lose yourself in web-induced satisfaction when real life insecurities and self-esteem issues can be put aside or disguised online for hours at a time?
If your personal reality is plagued with childhood hurts or relationship doubts, the desire to escape is completely understandable.
It just isn’t helpful for overcoming and growth.
More and more people deal with poor self-image by pouring themselves into the Net.
Lost is the opportunity to self-examine or communicate emotional needs to a loved one or counselor.
They become dependent on the Internet to soothe them.
This can go on forever in the infinity of cyberspace.
And, for many, it does, stealing precious time, awareness, and depth of relationships.
To the addict, it feels productive, helpful.
Until they disconnect and realize they still feel terrible. And who they are still hurts.
Internet encouraged skewed ideas of yourself:
Can you see through the web of cyber-distraction to recognize how damaged your self-esteem has become due to a willing acceptance of Internet ideas of beauty, relationships, success, and significance?
Internet addicts see themselves through a web-distorted lens.
Being inundated with unfiltered images, information, opinions, and solicitation 24/7 changes how you think. How could you possibly combat the effect of that influence on your already lagging self-perception without some real world help?
Recent studies reveal that Internet use impedes self-reliance, drives us toward more introverted characteristics, and creates communication deficiencies.
The Internet says self-doubting, vulnerable you can become a super-sexual superhero through one porn site, then another, and another.
The Internet says shy, unnoticed you can recreate yourself with well-edited selfies and a few creatively written, albeit slightly dishonest, Facebook posts.
The Internet says that even though you escaped online for affirmation and relief, who you really are isn’t good enough. Just look at page after page of confirmation.
Internet addiction and the low self-esteem cycle:
Can you recognize and address how your addiction feeds your poor self-image and how your poor self image drives you back to the immediate gratification of one more site, one more chat, or one more post?
Web-obsession is fast becoming a pandemic.
You feel like you need it to do life. To even have a life.
Perspective is hard to grasp with so much technology at our fingertips.
Dr. Ivan Goldberg first introduced the problem of Internet addiction to us in 1995.
Two decades later, the American Psychiatric Association confirms the growing internal crisis for the international population as “a pattern for using the Internet which can cause dysfunction and unpleasant internal reactions” for two months or more.
There is a significant relationship between Internet addiction and self-esteem that cannibalizes itself. It capitalizes on an ongoing cycle of anxiety, fear of rejection, approval seeking, and immediate gratification.
Then, ultimate dissatisfaction keeps sending you back to the net for another attempt to feel better.
The link between Internet addiction and self-esteem is real and hard to break.
Feelings of inadequacy and the emotional damage that accompany poor self-image make you especially vulnerable to the perils of cyberspace.
Don’t surrender.
Seek help to manage the digital giant.
You can feel better.
You can be who you are meant to be.
