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Does anyone have any advice for dealing with internet addiction?

3 replies

Cocopops2010 · 19/11/2018 13:29

Can anyone offer any advice. For the last two and a half years I have become increasingly addicted to the internet. I hate to think how much time I have wasted online every day, and what I could have achieved or done had I not been online.
It started around the time of the Brexit referendum, when I got seriously scared by all of the political upheaval and spent ages checking the news every day. This news obsessiveness then fell over into other things - instagram, pinterest, browsing online shops (but not actually buying things very often) etc etc...
The thing that really worries me is that I can feel my attention span has been totally destroyed. I used to love reading novels, and enjoyed creative writing. I simply cannot do either of these things properly anymore. I can barely get through a movie or an episode of a TV show without checking my phone, looking up reviews of the movie/tv show to see what other people think etc.
Any tips? I hate the fact I am wasting so much time, and I hate the fact that I can feel that my brain has been negatively affected. I am on maternity leave at the moment so it's got worse, but it was pretty bad when I was at work to be honest.

OP posts:
Cocopops2010 · 19/11/2018 13:30

I should add, baby hasn't arrived yet and I really want to try to start beating this addiction...I don't want him to grow up seeing me staring at a screen.

OP posts:
IDontNeedNoPyjamas · 19/11/2018 22:09

ry reading 'How to break up with your phone'. My loss of concentration also frightens me. The book goes through this. I don't yet have a cure, but the book definitely helped me recognise I had a problem - I suppose that is a start!

memaymamo · 19/11/2018 23:10

CBT techniques are useful in any addiction. Identifying triggers, naming the feelings you feel and what needs the addiction is meeting, setting goals etc.

Good luck, I am sure many of us wont even admit it's a problem.

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