Net Compulsions are a new and increasingly worrisome category
under the umbrella diagnosis of Internet Addiction. Net compulsions are
related to Compulsive Online
Gambling, Online
Auction Addiction, or Obsessive
Online Trading. Our company has seen a dramatic rise
in these issues over the past year alone due to the popularity of auction
houses, virtual casinos, and online brokerage houses. In fact,
Netaddiction.com recently partnered with National
Discount Brokers as well as others to help provide healthcare
services and information to their customers.
Why is online auction house, gambling, or trading so addictive?
The ACE Model, an acronym for ACCESSIBILITY, CONTROL, and EXCITEMENT
best explains the three main reasons underlying the addiction.
ACCESSIBILITY – Before the Internet, gambling meant trips
to Las Vegas or nearby casinos or the local convenience store to buy lotto
tickets or attendance at church bingo’s. Stock investments meant
phone calls or visits to brokers and evaluating their advice on the latest
stock options. Shopping meant, waiting in long check out lines, fighting
the mall crowds, or spending hours searching for a specific item.
After the Internet, we now have immediate access to hundreds of virtual
gaming sites, to online trading sites that provide up-to-the-minute stock
reports, and to online auction houses to find any item imaginable. This
type of accessibility makes it convenient to gamble, invest, or shop at
anytime day or night. As the hassles and limitations of real-life are removed,
we now live in a culture where we can indulge in these activities to seek
out immediate gratification and satisfy our impulsive whims.
CONTROL – Control literally refers to the personal control
that one can now exercise over his or her own online activities.
This is a particularly salient issue with respect to online trading.
In the past, people had to rely upon brokers to advise, make purchases,
and monitor accounts. Today, the ability to take control over one's
own investing has the potential to fully replace the need for brokers leaving
such personal control to become an major obsession. Additionally,
online auction houses create a climate to control shopping opportunities
such that rare or unique items can easily be located and one can anonymously
transform into an aggressive bidder to win over the competition.
EXCITEMENT – Excitement represents the emotional "rush"
or "high" associated with winning. In gambling, one wins the
bet, wins money, and it becomes a great reinforcement to keep playing.
In trading, one can watch the stock market to view current profits made
that day. At the auction house, the ability to conquer others as the highest
bidder can be intoxicating as one beats out others in the last precious
seconds to win the desired prize. In each case, the excitement surrounding
the activity becomes a powerful hook that continues to reward future behavior.
How can you tell if you suffer from a Net Compulsion? Take one
of the self-tests listed below:
SELF-TEST FOR
ONLINE GAMBLERS – Do you spend too much money gambling
online? Have you been unable to stop betting once you start? The invention
of online gambling sites has not only become a political and legal concern,
but a serious health issue. Compulsive gambling has already been established
as a clinical disorder, but now the Internet makes the ability to extend
one’s gambling habit to virtual casinos immediately available without
the hassles of traveling to Las Vegas or Atlantic City. This ability allows
people with an established gambling problem to freely explore the net as
another vehicle to satisfy their addiction. This accessibility also encourages
a new breed of gambling addicts to those curious individuals who otherwise
might not have tried it such as teenagers or college students. Young
adults who seek admission to an online gaming site can enter freely as
no one is there to check for proof of age. This has already created a stir
among college campuses who have discovered students using their Internet
privileges to gamble and for parents concerned about their young children
having access to such sites.
SELF-TEST FOR ONLINE
AUCTION USERS – Have you woken up at strange hours just
to be there for the last remaining minutes of an online auction? Do you
feel a sense of accomplishment when you discover you are the highest bidder?
Forget QVC or the Home Shopping Network – online auction houses will
be the next frenzy leading to shopping addiction. In a panic, one woman
fought desperately to gain access to her Internet service provider, whose
line was busy. It was 5AM, just minutes before the online auction was over
for a rare teapot she found on the eBay web site. She had intentionally
set her alarm to be the highest bidder. Click after click, she tried to
log on. Finally, success – as the modem dialed into the service and
she quickly tapped away at the computer to be the highest bidder, with
just seconds remaining. Relief and satisfaction exuberated from her as
she won. This is a typical case of how one can get caught up into the excitement
of online auction houses. People begin to buy items they don’t need
just to experience the rush of winning – sometimes to the point that
they go into financial debt, take out a second mortgage, or even go into
bankruptcy just to afford their online purchases.
SELF-TEST FOR ONLINE
TRADERS – Do you watch your stocks repeatedly? Sometimes
spending hours just looking at the tickers run across your computer screen?
Do you stay up at night strategizing your next online purchase? While online
trading is an expedient means to monitor the stock market and conduct one’s
own online business transactions, it can turn into an addiction quite easily.
One gentleman estimated that he spent nearly 16 hours a day between monitoring
his investments and researching new stock options. As a result, his work
suffered and his wife constantly complained about the amount of time he
spent at the computer. While men are more likely to become hooked on online
trading, women are gradually gaining momentum because of the ease of online
trading. Obsessive online trading has already been reported in major financial
and business magazines and this new craze doesn’t seem to be letting
up as new sites are rapidly emerging.
FINDING HELP - If you are addicted to online auction houses, online
gambling, or online trading seek help immediately in our Virtual
Clinic to provide fast, caring, and confidential therapy.
Also, read Caught in the Net
the first recovery book for Internet Addiction.
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