How to Avoid Computer Addiction

Computer addiction can be devastating to a person's life. Relationships can be destroyed, grades can slip, and careers can be lost all due to computer addiction. Computer addiction is striking all kinds of people, adhering to no boundaries of age, race, gender, or income. Computer addicts spend an excessive amount of time on the computer. Some computer addicts spend their time playing video games while others will gamble, chat online, surf the internet, or frequent social networking sites and forums. These activities are generally unobtrusive in moderation, but a computer addict will perform these activities for hours a day, neglecting all or most responsibilities. As with any other type of addiction, prevention of computer addiction is the best medicine.



Some of the steps to prevent it:

* Take some time away from your daily computer routine to go shopping, get a cup of coffee, or call an old friend. I'm sure they miss you! It's great to get out and see the world.

* Place reasonable limits on computer usage. Nearly all activities are healthy in moderation. Decide what a reasonable time based upon your daily schedule. In the case of children, an hour on school days and two hours on weekends are reasonable limits.

* Adhere to your imposed computer usage limits. Computer addiction starts by pushing the proverbial envelope and spending longer than originally intended on the computer. Soon enough, a few extra minutes on the computer transforms to a few extra hours.

* Consider why you are using the computer if your usage becomes excessive. Boredom, anxiety, and depression are common reasons to overuse the computer. Work through these emotions if this is true in your case.

* Seek assistance as soon as you realize that you are unable to properly control your computer usage. Early intervention can prevent a serious addiction from developing.

* Finally, Take a moment to realize that a few short years ago, only a small fraction of people even had computers and we all lived very well without them. Technology is a wonderful thing to be sure, and it often helps us make our daily lives easier, but it can be very addictive and we often forget that it is life that is important, not the things we own.