Healthy Magazine Holidays Issue 2018

WRITTEN BY TAYLOR SMITH
In 1969, we put a man on the moon,
with the help of some tremendous
computing power that occupied multiple
rooms. Today, the same computing
power sits in your smart phone, which
provides almost limitless information
and entertainment at blinding speeds
through the Internet. With this
incredible power at our fingertips, and
with the number of internet users
approaching 3 billion, it’s no wonder
that researchers and scientists have
taken notice of some of the effects that
the spread of the Internet has had on
mental and physical health.
The Internet is everywhere—Wi-Fi
hotspots dot the landscape and most
people carry high speed Internet around
with them in their pockets. It’s strange
to think how much things have changed
in only a decade. Ten years ago, you were
lucky to have broadband Internet in your
home. According to internetworldstats.
com, in December of 2003, there were
719 million users accessing the Internet.
Over that ten-year period, the number of
Internet users has risen to 2,749 billions.
That’s a truly astonishing number. The
Internet is now available to billions
of people and that number will only
continue to increase.
And these changes are not without
consequence. In the fifth, and most
recent publication of the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
or DSM-V, the American Psychiatry
Association (APA) has listed “Internet
Gaming Disorder” as “a condition
warranting more clinical research
and experience.” Internet gaming is
a relatively recent phenomenon that
directly coincides with the continued
spread and increase in access to the
Internet. Online gaming, in extreme
cases, oftentimes leads to the exclusion
of sociality, workplace responsibilities,
and academic performance, to name
only a few consequences. “Gamers”
sometimes neglect more pressing
concerns in the real world in order
to spend hours upon hours living out
virtual lives in fantasy realms.
The negative effects are not only social
in nature however. Recently, PBS aired
a compelling segment entitled “Digital_
Nation: Life on the virtual frontier,” on
its flagship program Frontline. In this
segment, reporters presented many
different aspects of our rapidly changing
world and the role that technology, and
particularly the Internet, are having in
that change. The program discusses
everything from change in everyday
relationships between individuals to
the more far-reaching effects of the
proliferation of the Internet on the
global economy. The program also
focuses on the effects of Internet
addiction and compulsive Internet
gaming. A young Korean man details the
negative health effects of compulsive
gaming including: poor and worsening
eyesight, numerous cavities, disruption
of normal sleeping patterns, and
physical weakness from lack of exercise.
He goes on to say that many of his
58 HEALTHY MAGAZINE 2018 Healthy-Magazines.com