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The Impact of Overuse of the Internet

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The Impact of Overuse of the Internet
| The impact of overuse of the Internet:Individual psychological and physical health | | |

According to a research conducted in 2012 Q1 in the UK, the number of adults who had used the Internet was 42.16 million. That is to say, 83.7 per cent of the adult population had access to the Internet. Moreover, the number of adults who had never accessed to the Internet had diminished from about 23 per cent to 16.1 per cent (Office for National Statistics, 2012). In addition, another investigation refers to the fact that the phenomenon of overuse of the Internet is increasingly more prevalent (Greenfield, 1999). With more and more people spending a lot of time surfing on the Internet and overuse it, the phenomenon may affect peoples’ health significantly. In this essay, the negative effects caused by overuse of the Internet on both an individual psychological and physical health will be discussed. Firstly, it will describe what kind of psychological and physical health problems could be caused by overuse the Internet. Then it states some solutions to the problems of overuse of the Internet.

Overuse of computers may lead to physical health problems. For example, spending extended periods of time using the computer prone to cause ocular surface disease. A study indicated that an amount of population of office workers with protracted computer use was suffered from visual symptoms such as blurred vision, ocular discomfort, dry eye and eyestrain (Portello et al, 2012). Most office workers, spending all day working on a computer, use computers for such a long period everyday actually make then suffer from tired eyes. Indeed, individuals are suffering from serious visual symptoms while using computers both in the workplace and elsewhere.

Another point to consider is spending too much time will increase the risk of overweight. A research shows that children who spend excessive time playing computer games instead of participating in other activities may be in a



References: American Academy of Pediatrics. Media education. Pediatrics. (1999) 104:341-43. The Academy had earlier advised that television viewing should be limited to no more than one to two hours per day. See American Academy of Pediatrics. Children, adolescents, and television. Pediatrics. (1995) 96:786-87. Anshel, J. (1994). Visual ergonomics in the workplace: How to use a computer and save your eyesight. Nonprofit Management Leadership. 33(5), 20-22. BetterHealth. (2012). Obesity in children - causes, Available: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/obesity_in_children, Last Accessed: 16.July.2012. Caplan, S. E. (2007). Relations Among Loneliness, Social Anxiety, and Problematic Internet Use. CYBERPSYCHOLOGY & BEHAVIOR. 10(2), 234-235. Greenfield, D. (1999). Virtual addiction: Help for netheads, cyberfreaks, and those who love them. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger. Kraunt, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Kiesler, S., Mukopadhyay, T. & Scherlis, W. (1998). A Social Technology That Reduces Social Involvement and Psychological Well-Being?. American Psychologist. 53(9), 1017-1028. Lo, S. K., Wang, C. C. & Fang, W. (2005). Physical Interpersonal Relationships and Social Anxiety. CYBERPSYCHOLOGY & BEHAVIOR. 8(1), 15-16. Office for National Statistics (2012). Internet Access Quarterly Update, Available: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/rdit2/internet-access-quarterly-update/2012-q1/stb-internet-access-quarterly-update-2012-q1.html, Last Accessed: 16.July.2012. Portello, J. K., Rosenfield, M., Bababekova, Y., Estrada, J. M. & Leon, A. (07/07/12). Computer-related visual symptoms in office workers. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 1-4. Subrahmanyam, K., Kraut, R.E., Greenfield, P. M. & Gross, E. F. (2000). The Impact of Home Computer Use on Children 's Activities and Development. The Future of Children, Children and Computer Technology. 10(2), 123-135.

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