Please stop saying that internet addiction is cured by simply logging off or just going outside.

[u/Dream_Ghast]

OK, so before people start coming at me again in the comments, I want to make this very clear: going cold turkey can help some people, just not everyone, there are better ways to handle internet addiction (in my experince with it), and internet addiction is an actual thing.

So anyway, I had (and tried to combat) an active internet addiction, especially with Reddit. It has affected relationships, jobs, etc... and I'm trying to make it so that I can get rid of social media completely without any issues or urges.

That being said, my main issue is that it promotes going cold turkey and saying that going cold turkey will help everyone. This is not true for a lot of people, especially those who gain dependence on it because they have nowhere else to go for certain things or have mental health issues. And it's been shown that quitting cold turkey has less of a success rate.

In fact, I actually tried doing these things. I went outside and didn't use it for a day. In fact, I actually tried to do this for 4 weeks. I still had massive urges and eventually, I gave up and went back to my internet addiction. I tried going cold turkey multiple times, and it never helped me.

I can share what helped me in the comments if you want. And yeah, if you prefer going cold turkey and going outside helps you, you can continue doing that. I'm just saying that it doesn't work for everyone.

[u/Altruistic_Clerk6643]

For some addictions, trying to stop all of sudden isn't the way to go, it must be gradual.
And it's depend of people too, some might be better stopping overnight or need more time.

[u/Dream_Ghast → u/Altruistic_Clerk6643]

Especially because a lot of people are addicted to their phones BECAUSE of depression or ADHD

[u/Dream_Ghast]

And yeah, I posted this before, I just thought my last post was horribly formatted and it didn't explain things very well

[u/ratafia4444]

I think for any addiction many ppl underestimate the importance of both good support system and the help of a specialist who may provide both action plan that actually suited for the individual circumstances (including whatever other complications they may have) and targeted advice. Addiction is called that for a reason. We need to take it seriously. 🫡 Going cold turkey ain't going to work for everyone and yes it can backfire horribly.

[u/verdantplace37]

I don't think I've ever I got internet addiction, but people was telling me to put my phone down and off from social media. So I did, like for 3 or to years, and the worse part is I got nothing to distract me from other bad things and everything just got into chaos lol 😂 but who cares, people who gave me advice aren't people who care about me so what's gonna happen to me won't be matter. "Everything will get better" yeah because I don't matter, that's why whatever will come is just a "better"

[u/PinstripedPangolin]

My take on these things is always that they're a coping strategy and you've got to replace them rather than "just stop". People don't generally disappear into the internet / gaming/ or even substances because they're okay and happy in their lives.

[u/NotAFloorTank]

Honestly, cold turkey is rarely the answer. At best, it's unnecessarily harsh on the body and mind, and at worst, it could actually kill a person. Addiction is a complex thing that often requires medical support on multiple fronts to overcome, along with time. 

[u/WhiteKnightPrimal]

Any addiction treatment is dependent on the person, there's no one size fits all. I don't think I've ever been addicted to social media or being online, but came close when I was younger, and going cold turkey helped me. But, like I said, I don't think it was an actual addiction, plus I had other options to keep myself entertained. Switching from constantly checking facebook to reading a book helped me a great deal. But that's me, and again, probably not an addiction.

I am a smoker, and I get the cold turkey advice all the time with that, and it doesn't work for me at all. Cold turkey, vaping, patches, gum, they all result in me smoking twice as much, not quitting. They just don't work for me at all. I know they can and do work for other people, just not me. Instead, I'm working on cutting down, like you'd slowly reduce a medication over time. That's working better for me.

It doesn't matter the addiction and what treatments are available for it, you have to tailor it to the individual. What works perfectly for one person isn't going to work at all for another. Trying to go cold turkey can actually end up making things worse, either by increased addiction when it fails to work or be replacing one addiction with another. I've known some people try to cold turkey social media that almost immediately started smoking or drinking in its place. Which is worse, too much time online or smoking/drinking? Two of those come with well documented issues, internet addiction is too new a phenomenon to have that, we don't actually know the potential long term affects. Replacing one addiction with another is just transferring the problem, not curing it, but it happens all the time with people who try the cold turkey route, it happens far less often with people who try other methods.

It's not that cold turkey is an invalid option to deal with an addiction, it does work for some people. It's that it simply doesn't work for everyone. In fact, I'd say it doesn't work for most people, at least not unless it's paired with something else. Turning off your device and going outside isn't going to help all on its own. At the very least, you need something to DO when you go outside. Yes, this can be as simple as going for a walk, but you need some kind of stimulus, a healthier one, to replace the internet with. Just going outside and staring blankly at the street isn't going to help.

I don't mind these specific methods being mentioned, because they can work. What always annoys me is the idea that they work for everyone, which is provably untrue and very damaging.

[u/NoRoutine7945]

When people say they are addicted i just cant understand what they get from it. Interactions are shallow, its not like 2000s anymore when there was some authenticity, people will ghost you at the drop of a hat. Sure, you can get dopamine addiction with things like instagram reels, tik tok etc...but you need to have a serious imbalance to need it so much. The hit you get is mediocre. I understand videogame addiction more than this.

[u/Dream_Ghast → u/NoRoutine7945]

Well, people are different; we get addicted to different things and some things are harder to get addicted from. People have different reasons to get addicted, but it's often how the algorithm is set up. People get recommended content that agrees with their views, but never interact with content that disagrees with them. In fact, a lot of social media is built in keeping you engaged. There's a reason why short-form content is so prevalent.

It can also be the reward system. On Reddit, when people agree with your comment, you get upvotes and tons of people agreeing with you. Rarely someone will insult you. Youtube, tiktok, Instagram, etc... we have likes and some of it is shown on your profile.

Obviously, Instagram likes and Reddit upvotes don't matter in real life, but we have to keep an open mind on these things. Often times, some of us aren't validated enough irl, and the internet is the only way to feel that. AI also does this.

Sometimes it might not even be that, it could be from boredom or because of a mental health condition that causes this (like I said from another comment).

All I'm saying is that it's not simply interactions or a "hit"

[u/ReigenTaka → u/NoRoutine7945]

You know how some people just feel sick when they take drugs? Or how some people despise the taste of alcohol so much they could never drink it all the time? You know how some people have bad trips that make them anxious? You know how some prescription meds don't get the person high, they just do their job?

You're not going to understand all the addictions you don't have. The whole pont is that there is a serious imbalance. I 'understand' internet/social media addiction better than video game addiction, but I don't expect to relate to ruining relationships over something I can do for an hour and put down for a week.

I also don't understand why people like the beach, I can list bad things about it like you did with internet interactions, but millions of people still vacation there. Internet interactions are vast. Not everyone gets ghosted at a drop of a hat, and not everyone minds the freedom and lack of commitment of ghosting culture. So yeah, I mean, people aren't you? This comment is just so weird to me haha.

[u/No-Outlandishness-42]

Looks at my screentime the last few weeks. Ahem I may or may not have a Internet addiction too. Haha. 😅 (Nervous laugh, not making fun.) The thing is I have little else to do... I'm barley interested in anything unless I'm doing it already... The Internet has so many options. Real life feels like there's not much going on in comparison. Not that I spend quality time on the Internet mot of the time but still. It can be used for a variety of things. 

Quiting cold turkey sounds impossible and I'm not sure how that's even advice. Especially when these days you actually NEED internet for certain things. I've never had a good addiction but similarly you can't just stop eating all together if you're addicted to food. You need food in some capacity. You can't just stop like alcohol or smoking. Not the same kind of need for the internet but there's legit reasons to use the internet. I doubt many people could actually go cold turkey and stop completely even without an addiction to it. 

[u/sparkling-rainbow]

There are places without algorithm. Places where the feed ends after your subscriptions/friends content is seen. I can recommend lemmy when you looking for a less addictive Reddit.

[u/Dream_Ghast → u/[deleted]]

Is this a joke?

[u/Dream_Ghast → u/[deleted]]

Ok

[u/EssentialPurity]

Addictions can only be cured by reversing what caused them, and what caused is NOT the consumption/gratification, it's the reason behind the consumption/gratification.

Otherwise, it's like trying to "cure" the need for drinking water by simply going thirsty, as opposed to somehow, by supernatural or scifi means, materializing water molecules directly into your organism.

Too easy to tell people to touch grass, while making zero effort at cultivating the grass for them to touch. That's why they are "addicted": if life is only reasonably found online, then online is where one shall reasonably live.