Internet Addiction and Other Vulnerabilities

Internet addiction is not a simple issue as it looks at the initial phase of understanding. On the contrary, it influences other major addictive conditions which can be destructive at its own periphery. In simple terms, the enormity of Internet addiction facilitates different types of vulnerabilities to the World Wide Web. As mentioned earlier that Internet addiction comprises of different other forms which can be subcategorized into five broader segments, however, in particular, the area of influence can be defined in three entities – Cybersexual, Cyber-Relational and Net-Gaming. College students and young individuals are at high risk for developing problems associated with Net-Gaming entities such as obsessive use of auction house, online shopping malls, gambling, daily trading in stock market, etc. Internet gambling is one of the most attractive areas to young generation due to its 'low risk, high benefit' profile. Cybersexual behavior is an important segment of concern that is on rise. People addicted to Cybersexual behavior spend money and time over different Cybersexual activities like watching pornographic websites to sexual chat, etc. Although Cybersexual behavior and net-gaming take a good toll of an addict's life, but probably Cyber-Relational problem is the most influential area of concern. It affects the user life from a deeper level of understanding. When someone is getting addicted over Cyber-Relation, he or she tends to form the virtual relation with other people in the virtual world by sacrificing happiness in the real world. It severely affects personal relationships including marital relationship and close interpersonal relationship. In most of the cases, it is seen that people low in self-esteem or have distorted self-image are looking for companionship since Internet relationship offers less anxiety and a sense of escapement from reality itself.