The Internet is a wonderful instrument for almost everything - you can easily find any needed information, you can study through the internet. Chats and e-mail give you an ability to communicate with people all over the globe no matter where they are. And with numerous online shops and stores you can easily buy anything you need through the internet. And you do this all in your own home - you do not even have to leave your living room - everything is available with just a mouse click.

But is everything as good as it looks like? In fact, not quite - the internet also brings different problems. And it is not only computer viruses and spam e-mails. These days there is a bigger problem related to the internet - it becomes a new drug for many people. There is a new problem doctors meet these days - Internet Addiction Disorder.

As with any other addiction, internet addiction will affect your entire life so you need to check for possible internet addiction symptoms. At some webs sites dedicated to that problem you can find special tests (IAT) to check for all the internet addiction symptoms and find out how addicted you are. It may turn that you are average Internet user and Internet is only a hobby or fun for you. But if this test shows overuse of internet you should be worried. It is better to decrease the use of internet in that situation. And if this test shows pathologycal internet use you need to seek professional help.

Of course, there are not only these tests, and you can find more detailed information on internet addiction symptoms. Internet addiction is a psycho-physiological problem that involves tolerance, withdrawal symptoms (tremor or moodiness) and affective disturbances. But that is only a beginning - further development of internet addiction symptoms will easily lead to interruption of social relationships. Such an addiction can be even more harmful for the person's life than alcoholism.

Although most internet addiction symptoms are pretty innocent they can easily lead to serious consequences. In fact, these days Internet Addiction is not treated as real disorder and most of mental health professionals doubt that it ever will. But it is a serious problem for many people who need an appropriate treatment. As long as Internet addiction is pretty much like drugs addiction or pathological gambling, all the treatment procedures are usually similar to those for drug addicts.

Specially performed studies in the sector of internet addiction show that there is a way to prevent it. Of course, you need to recognize the possible problem at very early stage. That can be done by estimation of time spent on the internet (but that also should include the time spent thinking of being online because that is a serious sign of addiction). The next stage is to look for underlying problems - there is always something that makes a person wants to get away from real life and internet is only an instrument for that. A clear understanding of that fact will help you to stop possible internet addiction in its beginning.