In addition, a study by Stanford University in the United States claimed that 1/8 of Americans have problems using the Internet. Their psychological symptoms are: unable to quit, eager for more online time, ignoring family and friends, depressed when not online, sensitive and irritable. Physically, they show eye fatigue, lack of sleep and carpal tunnel syndrome. Judith Wright, a famous American psychologist, first described this situation with "soft addiction". "These habits seem harmless. Once we are too addicted to them, after a short period of happiness, they are more squeezing our time and energy, paralyzing our true feelings and keeping us away from what we really want. " Soft addiction can be any behavior in daily life. Judith Wright believes that people of every race and age can't escape the bondage of soft addiction.
We often hear people calling themselves "card addiction" and "sports addiction". Many fans cheer all night during the game, such as watching TV, shopping, having a cup of coffee, playing games and playing mahjong. These normal hobbies or behaviors are an important part of daily life. It doesn't cost too much to do these things to relax, relieve stress and adjust mood, even if you have a special love or preference for something.
"Obviously, soft addiction and hobbies cannot be confused." Judith Wright explained that if you feel happy and energetic during the activity, then you may be learning, growing, or clearing away bad emotions and adjusting yourself, which is the embodiment of hobbies or passions. Once a certain behavior habit has a negative impact on normal life, even dizziness and brain swelling can't stop, it is a sign of a problem. Drug addiction often causes serious physical harm and even direct death. Soft addiction is not so serious, but "they can also harm health, interpersonal relationship, economy and even work," Judith Wright stressed: "Soft addiction will not kill the body, but people who are addicted to soft addiction don't really live in the present." In her view, whether it is excessive addiction to a certain behavior or long-term bad mood in order to escape pressure, "soft addiction keeps people away from healthier activities and hinders personal social relations."
In fact, taking the computer as an example, most people may experience the feeling of sitting in front of the computer for a long time: sore eyes, stiff cervical spine, sore shoulders, dry skin and so on. "Not only that, I often neglect to contact my parents and friends because of surfing the Internet, and I will stop exercising because of surfing the Internet." Xiao Min told reporters with deep feelings that she missed her spare time, which could have been richer, because she was too addicted to surfing the Internet.
Ms. Zhang, a neighbor, fell into financial crisis because of her frequent and unrestrained shopping. "Credit cards have been popular several times, but the relationship with husbands and colleagues has gone from bad to worse."
The survey also shows that the life satisfaction of drug addicts is very low. David green Field, a researcher at the American Internet Addiction Center, explained, "Overindulging in these bad habits will keep people away from real emotions and life. "These things consume time and energy and make people feel weak or even numb. Ultimately, it prevents addicts from achieving higher life goals. "
To some extent, similar to drug addiction, people tend to pursue the special pleasure brought by addictive behavior, or relieve physical and psychological pain. This is professionally called psychological craving. In many cases, many people are trying to escape from something or get rid of their inner emotional troubles. "A psychological counselor at a university in Beijing explained. For example, when people encounter serious difficulties at work, they will feel irritable, stressed and even miserable. At this time, watching some favorite movies will definitely experience happiness and relaxation, and temporarily forget the thorny problems in real life. When they encounter difficulties and troubles in the future, they will seek movies again, and it is easy to form dependence, that is, addiction.
Similarly, some people spend a long time chatting online, which may be due to unsatisfactory interpersonal relationships in reality, and some people are addicted to games, which may be due to dissatisfaction with their surroundings or lack of clear career goals. Overeating is also a very common situation. Many people say that they prefer to eat when they are depressed, which has reached an uncontrollable level. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows that human compulsive eating may be to avoid negative emotions and anxiety. Just like some alcoholics drown their sorrows, soft addicts may "drown their sorrows".
Women are more likely to be addicted to shopping, especially when they are depressed, anxious and tired. My friend Ms. Zhang feels the same way. "Every time I quarrel with my husband and have a conflict with my colleagues, I go straight to the mall. I go to the mall when I am in a bad mood. Every time I buy a lot of useless things, I still want to buy them when I know I don't need them. It feels good to spend money! Buy back and regret, remorse ... "
In this regard, the staff of Shulman Theft and Consumption Addiction Medical Center believe that in real life, some women lack a sense of control in intimate relationships or colleague relationships. Not only do they relieve or vent their bad emotions through shopping, but their only goal in the shopping process is to find what they want, which can give them a great sense of control and temporarily obtain psychological satisfaction. Because of this comfortable and pleasant experience, this kind of behavior is easy to reappear and become a means for them to deal with difficulties and become "addicted".