This is a funny take on social media addiction — addiction to Facebook, Twitter, messaging, gaming, etc. But watch it and you may see some of yourself or people you know. They take it to the extreme, but sadly, there are many people who it just may remind you of!

Masturbation is a part of healthy sexual behavior (See table below). However, for some, masturbation can become compulsive and disruptive to a person’s daily life. it can even cause physical problems

So when does masturbation turn into masturbating too much? How many times is too many times? When should you seek out help to stop a masturbation habit?

The answers to these questions are not black and white. If you think you may be masturbating too much, it is safe to say you have a problem – because you feel like it is a problem. If masturbating takes preference over social activities or you consistently prefer masturbating to sex, it is interfering with leading a normal life. An obsession with masturbation indicates compulsive behavior.

Noted CBT psychotherapist, Noam Gordon has shared these 5 tips with us on how to stop masturbating too much. He helps many patients overcome obsessive compulsive behavior and in the case of the compulsive need to masturbate, identifies these 5 steps as the first steps towards recovery.

Tip 1 Recognition

As is common with addicts, you may be denying you have a problem. After all, masturbating is normal sexual behavior. But denying you have an excessive masturbation problem will only prolong and deepen the problem. You need to accept that there is a problem and recognize that the habit has a real and negative impact on your life.

Tip 2 Education

Educate yourself. Read, find information and literature about compulsive masturbation. You will quickly find that you are not alone and many others are suffering. But you will also learn that there are ways to overcome the problem.

Tip 3 Identify the trigger

Make a list of all of the stimulations that trigger your compulsive masturbation behavior. For many people, easy access to Internet porn, chat rooms like Chatroulette or Youtube videos can trigger the desire to masturbate. If it happens every time you are alone online, make a note of it. If it happens at the end of a long day, write it down. These and other situations are common triggers.

Tip 4 Create an avoidance Strategy

Create an avoidance strategy. Install a web filter on your computers and block pornography content. You can use advanced filtering setting to manage time online and avoid being online when you’re alone. Avoid the pitfalls and stay a master of your own domain.

Tip 5 Get Help

If you are having trouble managing the problem with self control, as happens with most addicts, seek help from a friend or significant other. Ask them to be your sponsor. Use an Internet filter software to help avoid the situations that trigger masturbation and can even allow your sponsor to monitor your internet use. If you feel uncomfortable with the sponsor approach, then seek professional help to cope with your addiction to masturbation.

Kids are spending hours on Facebook and for some, it turns into addictive behavior. parents should stay aware of how their children use Facebook and how much time they spend using it. Take our Facebook Use Quiz to find out if you should be concerned.

Ever wonder if you are the only one addicted to checking your Facebook account every 10 minutes throughout the day? Do you change your status 10 times each day? Well, you are not alone. You may even be in the majority.  Thousands, if not millions of others are just like you. But most are afraid to admit that they are on Facebook so much. They are embarrassed. The expression ‘Get a Life” has been changed to “Get a real life”, as people laugh at those who can not stay off of Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

See in real time what people around the world are revealing about their Facebook Addiction. You won’t believe how epidemic Facebook addiction really is!
See Below

It seems like everyday, medical professionals, school counselors, the media or someone is talking about another addiction epidemic related to the new era of technology we have entered in the last decade. Whether these are addictions, compulsive behaviors or dependencies, the fact is that we are undergoing a major shift in how we communicate with each other, how we learn, how we gather information, how we play, and more. And we seem to be lost without many of the things we could not even have dreamed of having just a decade ago.
Here are some of the new addictions that could not have been fathomed just a few years ago:
1. Cell Phone Addiction
Cell phones are a great invention that seem to have made life so much easier. Yet they also gave people a way to be in constant touch and some people get addicted to that– constantly sending text messages, calling people to update them about everything they are doing. Cell phone addiction has often identified among tweens and teens and is becoming a global phenomena. In some cases, teens and young adults spend hours each day using their phones.

2. E-mail Addiction
Some people are so dependent on email and the feeling they get when mail arrives to their Inbox, they may send themselves mail or register for newsletters just to ensure a constant flow. If a person is constantly checking their email – before they eat, while they, after they eat, on the way to the bathroom, just before heading out of the house, first thing they do when they get home . . . they may have developed a compulsive behavior. With that said and given how many people work today using email to communicate throughout the day, it may be hard to differentiate between compulsive email use and healthy email behavior.

3. eBay Addiction
I only bought one item on eBay and it was 10 years ago. It just did not do it for me. But thre are many people who are spending time on eBay all day and it becomes about more than just hunting for bargains for things they need. It becomes an addiction to the hunt itself. The thrill of finding something , the thrill of ordering it and the thrill of receiving it by mail make for an experience that can be very addictive and is always available. Many people get a rush from winning the bidding on eBay items similar to the rush gambler get. For some, it interferes with work, leads to overspending and causes tension within families.

4. Online Gambling Addiction
Online gambling can be an enjoyable alternative to visiting casinos but for those for whom it becomes a frequent activity, it usually ends up badly. Internet gambling has led to an overall increase in the number of people who gamble and consequently in the number of compulsive gamblers. People who would have never considered taking a trip to a casino or playing poker with friends are accessing bingo sites, betting sites and getting hooked. The Internet gambling sites are built to attract first time gamblers with irresistible temptations and even provide free money to get started.

5. Internet Addiction
Just being online can be addictive. More and more people are finding it too easy to spend hours each day online. They shop, read, play, communicate, etc. all from the comfort of their home. It can be convenient and seemingly enhance our lifestyle but when overused, it is an addiction with serious consequences – from back pain to weight gain to loss of friends to depression.

6. Internet Porn Addiction
From sex talk via chat to viewing online porn, the porn industry has succeeded to enter many more homes via the Internet than was ever possible. Pornography is highly addictive content and many people, once exposed, find themselves seeking more porn images and videos and spending more and more time seeking porn online. A porn habit can effect a person’s ability to be intimate, it can be hurtful to the person’s partner, and it can interfere with daily life. Divorce lawyers mention pornography as being the cause of a growing number of divorces.

If you or someone you love appear to be developing an Internet related addiction, consider a web filter as the first line of defense. In the case that the addiction has become out of control, you may require professional therapy or self help type course to recover.

There is a wide variety of professionals and treatment options for addiction disorders. Choosing the right treatment for you depends on many factors and on what is available in your particular community. There is no one-size-fits-all right treatment for curing an addiction to the Internet.
Can my doctor help me recover?
Few family doctors are trained in addiction treatment nor do many have experience in treating addictions. If you will require medication for depression or other severe symptoms, a psychiatrist with specific training and experience in addiction treatment will be the best medical professional to consult with.

If you are experiencing symptoms of depression, medications may be an important part of your Internet addiction treatment. In addition, if you are experiencing physical pain due to extended time in front of the computer screen – from eye pain to back and shoulder pain to even more extreme types of physical discomfort due to long hours of sitting and using the computer, your treatment may require medication in addition to other types of therapy or counseling. It is best to consult with a doctor that is familiar with the problems you are experiencing. Your insurance company may be able to assist you in finding such a physician.

Therapy

Therapists use a variety of talk therapies to help addicted individuals cope with and recover from their addiction. Internet addiction is a relatively new phenomena that most therapists may not be familiar with. However, a therapist will experience and success in working with addicts, will be able to apply the same therapies and treatments to a patient with Internet Addiction. With any addiction, the therapist needs to help the patient to recognize and manage the situations that trigger relapse, and develop a lifestyle that will be rewarding without the addiction. Talk therapy is much more than the patient simply talking to his therapist and finding a sympathetic ear. Talk therapy makes use of a range of proven techniques to assist the patient in recognizing their problems and finding effective techniques for coping with those problems and stresses. A good therapist, for example, will help you to identify why you are turning to Internet porn in a compulsive way and will work with you to bring that habit under control. This is not about building willpower, which is not effective, but learning the skills that can manage stress in healthy ways.

Counseling

Many people with Internet related Addiction problems – pornography and gambling for example, seeking counseling and not therapy. Counseling could be in the form of talking to a religious figure, a friend, a social worker or school counselor. For some, this may be enough. Counselors may be able to offers advice and direction in solving daily problems and to provide a kind of accountability element that would assist an addict to refrain from his addictive behavior. Counselors should have received formal training in counseling, such as group counseling and specific techniques.

Treatment Center

For individuals that have suffered from addiction for a long period and for whom life has become completely overrun by their addiction, a treatment facility may be the best option. Similarly to what has been discussed about doctors and therapists, it is highly preferable to enter a facility that has specific experience in treating Internet addiction or other addiction disorders. The patient should feel comfortable with the choice and confident that he is entering a facility that can provide real help.
It is important to begin treatment with reasonable expectations. A period of time inside a treatment facility does not mean the patient is released when he is completely cured. Ideally, he will have overcome the most difficult part of his recovery and have learned the skills needed to continue his recovery.

That’s today’s average – 9 hours of time spent connected to technology every day. Teens and older children are spending the same amount of time online as their parents spend at work . . . and sometimes much more. For a young brain that is not fully developed, this amount of activity will undoubtedly have an impact and as some researchers are describing it – young brains are being rewired by the Internet.

The thing is, no one can say for sure what the impact will be. Will they have decreased social skills? Will they be less empathetic? Will their analytical skills be effected? Of course we know that it is not all bad, but the frightening thing is that we just don’t know.

So what do we know? Well one important fact is that a young brain develops in accordance to what it is exposed to. It goes through a “pruning” stage. The more it is exposed to a particular activity, the more the brain develops in that direction. 60% of the synaptic connections between the brain cells get pruned away by the time a person finishes adolescence so, for example, a child who is not exposed to playing with his peers, would not naturally develop basic socializing skills and would be at high risk for a range of psychological disorders.

The manner in which a young person spends his time has a profound effect on how his brain will be shaped. The nagging question is then, what will be the effect on a generation that grows up with far less human contact than previous generations? This could have devastating consequences. What we surely must come to grips with today, is how to prevent Internet overuse and to keep online activity within a healthy proportion of our daily activity.

A 2 week detox camp or Internet addiction center is offered in Korea for children and teens who appear to be addicted to using the Internet. It is not uncommon for “campers” to arrive after spending years online for an average of 8 or more hours per day. Parents, at a loss for what to do about the addiction, are turning to these bootcamps to help their children change their computer habits and to end their dependency on the Internet. Continue reading “Internet Detox Bootcamp” »

I don’t think of myself as a gamer and I don’t really meet the criteria of a gamer. Sometimes when I have just played or am really bored at school, I start thinking about playing only war games and imagine how the game will go. But when it comes down to what I prefer to do and what I really like to do, I always prefer friends over computer games.

I have one friend that does not have many after-school activities and sometimes plays over 4 hours per day. During the summer, he was home for the entire 2 months with no organized activities and  he played for as much12 hours a couple of days! I can’t imagine doing  that. I would get bored.

 Sometimes in school I talk to my friends about the games if we played together the day before. We discuss the game and how each of us played and cool things that happened. But it is not the main thing we talk about. Lately, when I feel like playing I usually call a friend to see if he wants to play.

I never really had a fight with a friend about a game but sometimes we argue about who is better or what really happened; it can get ugly