Essay On Internet Addiction

The internet is now an important tool that many people use in their daily lives with careers, education, entertainment, and more, it has become a tool that has become very easy to rely on. However, when it reaches a point where you can’t go without it, it becomes dangerous. What makes an internet addiction dangerous, especially to the younger generations, is the long-lasting negative effects of the excessive use of the internet. Using multiple past studies that focused on the effects of internet addiction and how it affects students and adolescents, there was an abundance of negative effects found with internet addictions. Negative effects found in these studies include poor sleep quality, mental and physical health problems, and an increase in loneliness. The following review of the literature will discuss the effects of internet addiction and how they are all connected and how it affects both physical and mental health, sleep quality, social life, and happiness or life satisfaction in students. 

The Effects of Internet Addiction in Students and Adolescents

The invention of the internet is one of mankind's greatest creations that continues to evolve and further enhance things such as the way we learn, entertainment, creativity, and the worldwide connections it provides. However, the longer exposure to the internet, the easier it is to become addicted. It shows frequently in young generations because the younger generation has grown up with the internet and has an increased risk of the many side effects the internet gives such as internet addiction. Side effects such as how internet addiction can cause a lack of sleep which affects mental and physical health, how our health affects the social aspect, and happiness or life satisfaction. 

Sleep Quality and Internet Usage

People who have internet addictions will be more likely to sit in front of a screen for hours on end. After sitting in front of a bright screen for the majority of the day, students will have pent-up energy from doing nothing all day and this will take a toll on students’ sleep quality. Sleep is needed for the mental and physical development of adolescents, students, and young adults and the lack of sleep can cause an assortment of problems such as sleep disorders, insomnia, anxiety, and depression (Soltanifar et al. 2019). Other side effects due to lack of sleep include possible cognitive problems such as difficulty with memory and learning that could affect their outcomes in their academic career, develop an angry temperament, and can increase the risk of certain diseases, cancers, and diabetes (Ercan, Sabriye, et al. 2021). A study done by Kawyannejad et al. found that students who used their cell phones and therefore the internet more frequently had a higher poor sleep quality than the students who had an average cell phone usage that had a good sleep quality (2019). Another study by Ercan, Sabriye, et al. found a positive correlation between internet addiction and poor sleep quality (2021). They found that the mean scores of internet addiction in students that had a sleep disorder had a higher score than those without sleep disorders. They also stated that students with internet addiction had 1.4 times worse sleep quality compared to students without internet addiction. With all of these side effects of poor sleep quality and lack of sleep, students need to limit the amount of time used on the internet to avoid these effects of our mental, physical, and social health that is all-important, especially to students and adolescents because they’re still growing and learning. 

Influences on Mental Health 

When the internet was first introduced, everyone was ecstatic about the new opportunities it would bring and the thought of mental health side effects wasn’t thought about until the use of social media became popular. The internet now hosts thousands of social media platforms used as a tool to maintain and build social connections. However, these platforms would prove to be addictive and would increase the odds of internet addiction, mental disorders, and lack of in-person social interactions. There have been plenty of correlation studies that have found positive relationships between internet addiction and mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, and stress. Such a study conducted about Korean high school students found that internet-addicted groups showed high levels of depression and suicide contemplation (Glaser, Philip, et al. 2018). Another study by Kawyannejad et al. also measured how cell phone and internet use affected the general health and sleep quality of students by measuring measures such as social dysfunction, depression, anxiety, and insomnia (2019). They found that there was a significant moderate correlation of students with high cell phone use between their sleep quality and general health. Not only does internet addiction have these relationships with mental illness but it also has a relationship with social isolation and loneliness. 

Loneliness and Life Satisfaction

A study by Bozoglan, Bahadir, et al. studied the relationship between internet addiction and loneliness and discovered there was a significant positive correlation between the two (2013). They explained that 22% to 33% of some of the factors of loneliness such as the variance of compulsive use, withdrawal, and time management were related to internet addiction. A study by Atefeh Soltanifar, et al. found that there’s a correlation between loneliness and sleep quality (2019). They found that the reduced social interactions and loneliness can explain the change of students' sleeping quality by 13%. They also studied if there was a connection between life satisfaction and internet addiction, however, they couldn’t find a direct association between the two. Although they found that life satisfaction had a possible indirect effect on internet addiction because of the shared relation to loneliness.

Effects of Physical Health 

Students who have an internet addiction will spend less time or neglect their daily activities and exercises that can affect their health in a pretty significant way. Internet addicts have a less active and reclusive lifestyle that affects their health because of the lack of physical activity and exercise which then could influence their body max index and have a higher chance of leading to obesity. A study by Ercan, Sabriye, et al. studied the relationship between body mass index and internet use and found that the higher internet use was correlated to the higher body mass index of adolescents (2021). They found that adolescents that spend more than three hours on the internet had a higher body mass index compared to the adolescents who spent less than three hours on the internet. Meaning that adolescents who spend more time using the internet will have less time and energy for physical activities which is needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle and will therefore have an increased risk of weight gain which can lead to obesity. A study by Kawyannejad et al. found that students who overuse their time spent on their phone and the internet can cause neglect their daily activities and create unhealthy patterns that can affect their health (2019). They also concluded that students who spend an excessive amount on their phones and internet had a lower general health status compared to the other students and had this can have an overall negative impact on a student’s physical and psychological health. 

Conclusion

Students and adolescents have become easily addicted to the internet and it has caused many lasting negative effects. Negative effects internet addiction can impact is things such as health, sleep, social aspects, and life satisfaction all have connections to each other. How internet addiction affects physical health is that more time spent on the internet means less time spent on physical activity which means increased risk in body mass index and risk of obesity. It affects mental health because the increase in internet usage has a positive relation to the risk of mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Internet addiction also had a connection to an increase in sleeping disorders, poor sleeping quality, and lack of sleep. Lastly, it has been shown to cause an increase in loneliness and indirect effect on happiness or life satisfaction. All of these effects due to internet addiction in students and adolescents should be alarming because they can develop into serious problems such as the risk of mental disorders, increase in body mass and lack of physical activities, sleeping problems, and increase in loneliness and unhappiness because of the lack of in-person social interaction. However, there is a need to further research on other factors that could affect and influence internet addiction and how it affects students and adolescents, the use of different age groups to compare internet addiction and how it affects them, and trying different ways to measure results. Possible solutions could be to educate and inform students, adolescents, and parents of the long-term negative effects that can result from excessive usage of the internet. Other solutions include monitoring adolescent’s internet activity and usage, setting a time limit on internet usage, and introducing students or adolescents to more healthy activities or hobbies for them to make more social connections, do more physical activities, and getting involved in the community.