Psychological Effects of Excessive Computer Usage

Computers are an important tool in our lives today. We use them in school, work and home for all kinds of crucial activities. But excessive computer use has developed into an addiction with some, causing more harm than good. The psychological effects of the overuse of computers are many if the problem is not addressed.

Lack of Social Well-Being

• Computer addiction can draw a person away from meaningful social interactions.

  Those who spend an excessive amount of time in front of the computer playing games, surfing the web and participating in social networking sites spend less time having live social interaction. They avoid doing meaningful activities such as sports and other social activities that can help them improve as a person as well as learning from working as a team. This is especially harmful for children who are beginning to develop socially and can halt progress in this area.

Avoidance

• Computer surfing can cause you to avoid depressive feelings.

  Instead of dealing with depression and anxiety, computer addicts, like other addicts, avoid these feelings by going to the computer for relief. Surfing the web brings on a type of euphoric feeling that keeps the addict numb to emotions. Excessive computer use keeps the person from dealing with their depression head-on by helping them avoid their feelings. It will also cause cycles of depression as they battle with shame over the issue of their excessive computer use.

Increase of Loneliness and Depression

• Loneliness will set in as a computer addict's relationships are centered on virtual interaction.

  Those who are excessive computer users tend to isolate themselves from the rest of the world. This causes severe loneliness followed by depression due to their lack of social interaction. Relationships created online in social networking forums have less significance and support than friendships where there is physical interaction and affection being returned. A person whose friendships are centered online will feel the lonely effects from lack of authentic relationships.

Stress

• Excessive computer use will cause a person stress by causing them to avoid responsibility.

  The more a person spends on the computer wasting time, the less he will complete tasks that are important to his daily life. This lack of responsibility will create stress in the person's life as the house remains dirty, laundry piles up and children are left to their own devices. For teens and children, their grades will slip as they prefer to surf the net or play games over finishing their homework. This will cause stress for both the parents and the kids.