Internet addicts show signs of drug addiction

A recent study showed that people who regularly check mail and surf Facebook also show up as drug addicts.

A recent study by US scientists has shown that people who regularly use the Internet (check email, Facebook login .) may encounter a serious problem and manifest as addicts drug.

Scientists from Missouri University of Science and Technology, Medical Center, Duke University's Brain Science Institute conducted research and monitored over 69 university students over a two-month period.

Accordingly, students are required to complete a 20-question survey designed to assess on a scale of 0-200. These questions revolve around problems of a person who may be affected when using Using the Internet or the characteristics of addiction such as shrinking, introvert, negative thoughts and "lazy" work every day.

The survey's score ranges from 30 - 134, with an average score of 75. This result indicates, some people are on the path to becoming "addicted". In addition, the total Internet usage capacity of each student is in the range of 140MB - 51GB, an average of about 7GB / person.

The team divided Internet users into different groups, including gaming groups, social networking, downloading data. In particular, the group using the Internet primarily to access social networks, check mail has the lowest survey point, while the game, chat, "wandering" on the network have higher scores.

Experts say that gaming always makes "gamers" look inward, forget about the outside world, when not playing always feel craving, sometimes out of control.

Meanwhile, students often chat , downloading data tends to be indifferent to the world around them. The team also conducted brain imaging of students and found that about 5-10% of people who regularly use the Internet show signs of "addiction ", depending on the network.

Dr P Murali Doraiswamy of Duke University said: "We have recorded brain images of people who begin to show signs of network dependence, and they have many similarities with the mechanism of action in infected people. However, most people do not pay attention, or underestimate the negative consequences that "addicts" of the Internet bring ".

Through this study, scientists hope that they will partly help young people see negative effects on behavior and health when they are too passionate about the Internet.