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I am seriously addicted to the internet in general and while it may not be an addiction in the physical sense, it has caused major issues in my life. The amoun

I am seriously addicted to the internet in general and while it may not be an addiction in the physical sense, it has caused major issues in my life. The amount of time I spend on the Internet is insane and no matter how hard I try to will power through it and cut down my usage I always fail. If I ever figure out how to overcome it I'll have to write a book or something, because I've wasted years of my life and missed out on too many oppertunities. People will call me weak, or pathetic, or say I haven't tried hard enough, but as someone who did use tabacco I have found Internet 'addiction' a much tougher beast to deal with.

px1999 4y ago
You are not weak, you're battling against groups of some of the smartest people in the world who spend their days doing nothing other than figuring out ways to manipulate you to steal and keep your attention, in order to maximise their engagement metrics/ad dollars. It's an incredibly difficult and unfair fight. I'd recommend Stolen Focus by Johann Hari, I've found it personally really helpful.
amanaplanacanal 4y ago
I spend way more time random surfing than I probably should. Honestly we probably are both dealing with ADHD, depression, or some sort of anxiety disorder.
- cpsns 4y ago
  I actually do have an (adult) ADHD diagnosis, though I've always been a bit sceptical of it. It seemed too easy to get and I really didn't think the testing criteria were very good. I have wanted to try medicine to see if it helps me at all, but I've never been able to do so. My GP was willing to perscribe me something, but decided my BP was too high and that was that. There are definitely anxiety issues at play as well, but I don't know to what degree.
  - dmlerner 4y ago
    Combine with a blood pressure medicine? Guanfacine is specifically an ADHD treating blood pressure medication.
    - cpsns 4y ago
      I'm not the GP, so I don't get to make that call. If they say no that's the end of the story. It's frustrating, but ultimatly just how it is. There's no possibility of a second opinion either because I'm really damn lucky to even have access to a GP, the waiting list for one is ~3-4 years long right now if you don't already have one.
      - iokanuon 4y ago
        That's crazy. Where do you live? In Poland I just skipped the insurance system to get ADHD meds and went to a psychiatrist specialising in ADHD privately - $70 for a 20 minute visit seems a bit steep but it's better than waiting years. Could you possibly do something similar?
        cpsns 4y ago
        No, that's impossible. I live in a Canadian province where the provincial healthcare situation is very, very bad. There are no private doctors and private psychiatrists are not legally allowed to perscribe. ADHD medication is controlled so only NPs, GPs, and (I think) psychologists are permitted to write a script for it. Basically there are no options for me except the ones I have already taken, short of moving to a different province thousands of kilometers away.
        vonseel 4y ago
        Can they prescribe non-stimulant ADHD medications? I imagine those are less-strictly regulated. My previous psychiatrist said he's had some luck with patients on stimulants lowering their stimulant doses and adding a non-stimulant treatment like Strattera, but his patients rarely had success stopping all stimulants and taking only Strattera. That's just one docs opinion, but having been treated for adhd for 15 years, it doesn't surprise me. So, consider yourself lucky you don't already need stimulants to get by. Some of the newer non-stimulant options may be effective for you, and you won't have to deal with the "druggy" aspect of being on stimulants for work. Stimulants can seriously affect your life, both positively and negatively. You might be able to get things done that you never would have done before - I felt like I was finally able to compete at a normal level when I started - but you might retreat from society at the same time, be less interested in spending time with loved ones or building relationships, and then there's all the short-term side-effects like trouble sleeping or losing interest in eating. Basically my experience has been a double-edged sword and it's bittersweet. For every way that it's benefited me, ADHD meds negatively affect me in some other way and it's hard to quantify the net balance.
kzrdude 4y ago
What about the existential dread route (sorry!). "If I don't quit this, then I'll never do X.. and my life amounts to nothing". It might be blocking a lot of life goals that will never come to be.
- cpsns 4y ago
  > "If I don't quit this, then I'll never do X.. and my life amounts to nothing" I've thought this a lot and honestly? I retreat back into the internet so I can forget about it/put it out of mind for a bit longer.
- helloplanets 4y ago
  Isn't this one of those things that usually ends up having the opposite effect it's supposed to have? As in, people who scold themselves about their specific addiction are likely to include the self scolding as one of the rituals related to the addiction. The feeling bad part / existential dread can be as much a part of the addiction itself as the feeling good / placated part.
- layer8 4y ago
  “I can still quit tomorrow though.”
  - helmholtz 4y ago
    Profound statement. Relatedly: "I still have 6 hours before the deadline. I'll spend the first two watching YouTube, and then I'll be ready."
tester457 4y ago
What extensions have you tried to limit your usage?
- cpsns 4y ago
  Extensions don't work as I can disable them too easily. Even router level restrictions are too easy for me to bypass, it takes all of a few seconds. The only thing that has ever provided me mild success was locking my devices in my gun cabinet after a certian time of day. It was easy to get them out, but it took long enough that I could at least reconsider. I was only able to matinain that a week or two before falling into old habbits. Inevitabily I'll have a particularly bad day at work and any progress will go out the window as I look for comfort/a distraction.
  - theteapot 4y ago
    Try planning your time down to the 1/2 hour for the day. If you allocate YT in there then fine. If you don't also fine. But you know exactly how much you've budgeted and what your sacrificing if you break your plan.
  - all2 4y ago
    You have to actually want to quit, though. Increasing the friction for access is a gimmick at best. Right now you're in the self deception phase; you know it's bad and that you should quit, and intellectually you want to quit, but your lizard brain doesn't agree. Look at how folks who successfully quit porn do it. > a week or two before falling into old habits You need to replace old habits with new habits. Also, as a random aside, get your hormones checked. An imbalance of sex hormones can make things like concentration exceedingly difficult. > any progress You've fallen victim of the "fuck it"s. You assume if you fail you might as well not try. A habit is that behavior we return to, and this goes for things we don't habitually do, too. Just because you fuck up doesn't mean you should quit. That nagging voice in your head, the one that says "why even bother, you'll just screw up again" is a liar. You must get up. You must try again. If you listen to that voice you won't even try. Don't believe the inner labeling of "I'm just a failure", if you believe that you'll be right. > comfort / a distraction And there it is. You are dependant on the internet for a dopamine dump.
bobmichael 4y ago
You can't willpower through it if it's a defense mechanism employed by your brain to hide underlying pain. Maybe it's time to try something new. Check out Gabor Maté: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=74DDEDmHDvw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=74DDEDmHDvw
- starbugs 4y ago
  While I believe that’s good advice, I find it hard to ignore the irony here.
  - bobmichael 4y ago
    Don't ignore it. Laugh about it! It wasn't lost on me writing the comment either. Isn't it great that the very thing that brings us pain can also be the vehicle for our healing?
    - donutpepperoni 4y ago
      I agree here. I think the key for me was to redefine the relationship and not break it off cold turkey. I find it interesting that the OP mentioned a push notification is what brought them back into the addiction. I also think it's important to remember some of these sites have been designed with the explicit intention of being addictive. Didn't some of the biggest sites hire behavioral psychologists to help design products that get people hooked?[1] I'm not surprised to hear that folks are feeling this way and I think it's an entirely valid and legitimate feeling to be addicted to Youtube and the Internet. The internet has been life changing for me and I can easily say I have been addicted to it before. As an autistic person who has a lot of sensory issues, the computer has provided a super safe and easy way to explore the world. But it's been easy to get too attached and not want to do anything that I need to IRL. In early December I disabled all notifications on my phone and set a schedule to check my phone twice a day. I've found that I've been way happier as a result and not getting stuck in internet holes. I see push notifications as a net negative on my mental health and I think I'll keep them off long term. May we all find a healthy balance that works for us. 1. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/22668729-hooked https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/22668729-hooked
wardedVibe 4y ago
I find things like leechblock[0] useful. In general, will power is a poor substitute for designing your environment. It's a limited resource that should only be used to start developing habits. [0]https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/leechblock-ng/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/leechblock-ng...
- piyh 4y ago
  10 minutes of problem sites every 4 hours with immediate tab closing is the magic setup for me.
ysavir 4y ago
What do you want to spend your time on other than the internet? I don't know what you've tried, but you've talked about what you don't want to do, and didn't talk about what you do want to do. And it's hard to remove a habit if you don't have something ready with which to replace it.
- mindslight 4y ago
  I agree. Rather than trying to focus on not doing the thing you want to do in a sea of few options, one needs to develop new patterns. Go travel, visit some friends overnight, go camping, anything to get out of the house and create new (or at least different) experiences and a bunch of simple-but-different problems you need to solve. When you're done and get back home, you can reintegrate to the Internet, catch up, and hopefully not feel too guilty about it. Spend your willpower making sure you get back out there, rather than trying to police your default behavior. If that's not possible to due a lack of money, friends, physical ability, etc, then I'd say you are dealing with serious depression and professional help is not unwarranted.
  - 86J8oyZv 4y ago
    I would add that clubs, gyms, and meetups are a good, often free or very cheap option as well. Running, biking, skateboarding, climbing, calisthenics/acrobatics, board games, maker groups, art, music… all have very low cost of entry and likely have communities in any town or city. I feel compelled to also add that while it seems well-meant, I think the tone of your last paragraph is a bit unproductive. A lot (most? all?) of us, at some point, fall out of the habit of exercising our senses of curiosity and wonder and trying new things. This can be caused by many combinations of family, economic, and social conditions, or for some, because of chemistry (ie “serious depression”). Therapy is indeed a good way to develop the skills to work against this and identify whether it’s actually a chemical problem in need of a chemical solution. But it doesn’t help to go straight to calling this “serious depression” needing “professional help.” Literally all of us can benefit from therapy, and making it out to be a big deal and putting labels on people makes many less likely to pursue it.
sysadm1n 4y ago
> I am seriously addicted to the internet 'Addiction' depends on circumstances. If you're lucky enough to be able to spend copious amounts of time online, good for you. I know for me, I don't have that opportunity. There's too much other stuff hampering my ability to get online like kids, marriage, chores, other hobbies, work, etc
- cpsns 4y ago
  > If you're lucky enough to be able to spend copious amounts of time online, good for you. I am not the lucky one, you are. My life is a sick joke, meanwhile you by all traditional measures have it made if you have all that. If I didn't have my job I'd have literally nothing going for me. When I say this has cost me oppertunites I don't mean small ones, I mean even things like potential relationships. Everything has always come second to this issue.
  - Kamq 4y ago
    > by all traditional measures Is there a reason to assume the traditional measures are, in fact, the correct ones to be using?
    - annyeonghada 4y ago
      Maybe the fact that they were used by seemingly very different society for thousand of years and society who did enforce them were more stable and successful? The hubris of modern people to think they are so enlightened they can engineer society to fit they ideological views as if humans were mere economical units.
      - Kamq 4y ago
        > seemingly very different society for thousand of years and society who did enforce them were more stable and successful Ahh, so a bias for values that were evolutionarily successful? I can kind of see the utility there. Would this hypothetical system take into account the dominance of the societies in question, or is it just specifically how long they've survived/been stable?
grecy 4y ago
I know I tend towards it as well, so I've done a few things over the years. Like a recovering alcoholic, you need to just stop going into bars - the temptation is too strong. 1. Don't have a phone with data. It's just too convenient to scroll for 3 hours lying in bed. 2. Don't have wifi at home, at all. Less internet in your life means you'll spend less time on the internet.
gernb 4y ago
I spend was too much time on the internet too like right now checking hn but for me I chalk it up to lack of other things to do. I don't have a lot of friends, it's hard to make new ones, covid doesn't help, at the moment I've got no personal projects except maybe trying new recipes now and then. that said, if I do find other activities I have no trouble doing them. I'm taking a class for example, meet the friends I do have when they are available, etc so I doesn't feel like an addiction in my case even though I fully feel I spent way too much time on the internet
- serial_dev 4y ago
  > I chalk it up to lack of other things to do In my case, I don't have other things to do because I'm on the internet. When I manage to turn off the internet (HN, Youtube, podcasts, Twitter, LinkedIn, reading up on random, pretty useless stuff), suddenly I get pretty good ideas on what to do. Oh, I wanted to learn finally that language. I wanted to clean up in the kitchen cabinet. I wanted to meet up with a friend. I wanted to sign up for swimming class. I wanted to go to a restaurant with my wife. I wanted to call my brother and sister. I wanted to code up an open source package... The list of fun things to do is endless, but somehow consuming content on the internet trumps everything if you are not careful (ymmw).
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - noodleman 4y ago
    Social media gives you that dopamine fix quicker than your other options. It quickly becomes a habit if you've been doing it for long enough. I'm sure if you tried to make doing other things a habit, it would come easier to you over time. Then there's less reliance on willpower required. If you put a block in the calendar at the same time each week, you will feel more obligated to do it. I've done this with all kinds of things like socialising, couch25k, flossing. It really helped me when covid restrictions first hit and it was too easy to just lay about all day.
    - 4y ago
unsupp0rted 4y ago
I'm addicted to the internet the way I'm addicted to electricity. It powers my quality of life: I don't feel any shame about it. Wanting and expecting to use electricity and being reliant on having it available to me doesn't make me pathetic (although arguably it does make me weak).
- nostromo 4y ago
  Good, people need to stop feeling bad about not always being productive.
  - wyre 4y ago
    It’s not about being productive but about not having fulfilling activities. If the internet is fulfilling for you great, but there a point where the addiction takes away other fulfilling activities.
  - edgyquant 4y ago
    No they don’t. It’s bad to be a workaholic sure, but the universe is an unforgiving place and we’re here only to be productive. This is a truth regardless of your metaphysical beliefs. What people need is to make sure they’re not being overly productive at one thing while letting other things drift away.
    - nostromo 4y ago
      > we’re here only to be productive The heat death of the universe will destroy anything you do with your life and will erase any possibility of it being recorded or remembered. So… enjoy life. All you have is the current moment. Productivity - especially to enrich someone else - is a fool’s game. Be as productive as you need to to enjoy life. If you enjoy your work (I do) then do it because you enjoy it, not because it’s productive.
    - namaria 4y ago
      >but the universe is an unforgiving place yes >and we’re here only to be productive how did you make this jump? the universe doesn't care in the slightest how you spend your time or what you do. we're not here to anything. we're utterly insignificant and our life is devoid of meaning. you can choose to fill it with fulfillment by some definition of producing something. I really don't care. I just think it's sad to define your life in relation to some arbitrary definition of your externally bounded output. but by all means, if that's what you want... just don't say it's The Way of The Universe. That's just wrong.
naasking 4y ago
> and no matter how hard I try to will power through it and cut down my usage I always You can't make it impossible to access the internet, but you can make it super inconvenient. For instance, one thing that worked for me was blocking HN and Reddit on my router. Obviously I can get around it but the inconvenience to circumvent makes the habit feel like it's not worth the payoff. Or, it at least makes you more aware of your reflex, and the fact that you don't get the immediate reward makes it easier to break the habit loop.
- bgoated01 4y ago
  100% this. I have Reddit blocked on my laptop, and the browser blocked on my phone at certain times of day. Again, I can absolutely get around this, but it has disrupted the habit for me.
aimor 4y ago
I've struggled with this, probably not to the extent you have, but enough that I recognize my decisions over the last two decades hurt myself mentally, socially, and career wise. I've tried to quit various things and of course eventually return to old habits (quitting does help though, I encourage everyone to at least try). The only method that really works for me is to have other constructive things I genuinely want to do. It's easier to avoid picking up the phone or getting on the computer (breaking the habit) if I'm thinking about X instead. That can be a hobby, a project, or even better a friend, relative, child. I don't want to sound like I'm saying, "just do this one trick." I know it's not easy and everyone is different. The children's book Frog and Toad Together has a story about willpower called "Cookies". It sums up my experience pretty well. If you do write a book about what works for you, consider making it a children's book: I've gotten more comfort and understanding from those than anything else.
- pmg102 4y ago
  "Just ONE MORE YouTube video, and then I will stop!"
  - dathinab 4y ago
    It's worse with shorts as you don't even think "just one more" as consuming a single short is so "effortless"/"short" that you might not think about them in singularity and instead think "just a few more". Which makes it even harder to set boundaries.
    - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
      The youtube/tictok shorts are a genius form of getting the human brain hooked. It's similar to how eating a piece of cake can make you feel guilty so instead you switch to a bag of M&Ms or other such small sweets thinking it's better for you as "I'll only have a few", and before you know it, you've eaten the whole bag in one go which is worse than the single piece of cake would have been. I've found watching long content is better to keep such addictions in check. When I've finished watching a 2h long movie, I feel also "done" and ready for bed vs the endless stream of streaming shows, youtube videos and other social media shorts can keep you hooked for days on end.
dathinab 4y ago
> I am seriously addicted to the internet in general and while it may not be an addiction in the physical sense, it has caused major issues in my life. Interestingly it still can have physical effects. I have seen a case of an person who got addicted to web novels (like every day another short chapter; hit their quirky humor; not porn; clinically depressed). And that person showed effects of withdrawal in their interaction with that media in certain situations. Sure the effects where comparable harmless but still there anyway. People (probably not you) are often prone to think that addictions to non-classical "drugs" which don't crate a physical/body dependence is mostly harmless not taking it serious at all, but it is not. In case of the person above there where cases where they where unable to function like a normal human sometimes for one or two days because their addiction had fully consumed them. (Through last time I have seen them they where doing better wrt. to this aspect.) Ironically that person had been aware that they where prone to addiction due to there mental health state and staid far away drugs, including smoking, porn and a strict ban on alcohol outside of social gatherings and even there close to never. And then the internet screwed them over.
- citruscomputing 4y ago
  Ah, this is a description of me as well. No drinking, just my web serials for hours and hours every day. Some of them feel like TV, I can feel my brain atrophy as I just glide over and through the words -- it can barely be called reading, at times. One of my eyes got blurry and painful recently. I was unable to stop reading, even though staring at screens caused me great pain. Maybe that was the cause in the first place. It's a peaceful ocean, an escape. It's enjoyable, it's numbing. It's starting to affect my work.
theGnuMe 4y ago
Can you do a two week detox? Go skiing or camping or something where there is no internet. Just have a basic phone for an emergency. Take a friend or family member as well which is a good method is to have someone else around as well. There may be internet detox camps you can go to as well. Also try therapy it can help, you are not alone in your struggles ..
dudul 4y ago
What do you do on the internet? The best way to not do X is to do Y instead. Find another activity that you enjoy and spend your time there instead.
j45 4y ago
You aren’t pathetic. Unfortunately many apps aren’t that good and just resort to trying to be the most important app in your device. Too much ux practice has been perverted to have the user work for their app instead of working for the user. The really nice thing is we are not alone and rarely the first. The goal is to create and not consume. Write lots like this comment and revisit and review it. Add to it mindfully. You might like this books called Stolen Focus: https://www.amazon.ca/Stolen-Focus-Attention-Think-Deeply/dp/0593138511 https://www.amazon.ca/Stolen-Focus-Attention-Think-Deeply/dp... To help break the distraction cycles to finish a book, there are more and more resources out there for disrupting the novelty seeking attention dopamine loops. Some things that help: - make your phone screen black and white - turn off all notifications of all apps. This means alerts, notifications , counters and dots. - the notification thet is on is your calendar. Setup notifications to remind you to check your device or messages at a set time. Your brain the knows you can enjoy it with full focus. - a tablet is handy for moving your consumption to. When you put it down it’s put down. - The mode of iOS is really decent. - Use airplane mode liberally - social media and digital detoxes help - On your laptop manually edit your hosts files. Put all the sites you refresh many times a day. Make it a bit hard to edit and you’ll discover you won’t do it much. - block Hn too on main decides. Dedicate a device to read and consume it and leave it there. Nothing you’ll miss out on. - turn on all digital health tracking so you see your daily app and website usage. Rescuetime is a great little app. There is a link that I’m trying to remember which explains this and more very well.
flir 4y ago
I use Cold Turkey Blocker between 9AM and 5PM. My wife's got the password should I need to unlock it. It's a partial solution, but if you have a few sites that are habitual (I can type "cmd+t ol enter" in my sleep) it can help break the habit. Locking the phone and laptop in the car for the weekend used to work quite well for me, but my living situation is different now.
- qingdao99 4y ago
  What's the "ol" site? old.reddit.com? That's what came up for me.
  - flir 4y ago
    Yup. That's the big time sink for me. Even after I blocked it, I was typing that string reflexively for weeks.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
boppo1 4y ago
Yeah same thing here. I kicked an addiction to prescription amphetamines but I can't seem to stop myself from filling my free time with forums.
pmarreck 4y ago
ever take a vacation and not ensure you have internet access?
- cpsns 4y ago
  No. I take my vacation days, but I never take a “vacation”. I always stay home or close to home, I don’t like travelling unless I need to. The last time I lost internet for an extended time (my cable got dug up) made me an anxious mess for weeks.
vonseel 4y ago
I don't know if I would call it an addiction, but I feel very similar in the sense that I spend a ton of hours on the internet and tinkering with technology. I did take a break. A long break. I joined the Army in 2021, after being laid off during the pandemic, thinking I wanted to leave technology for good. Then after I graduated from basic, I realized I was probably going to be a shitty, unfit soldier and that I missed all of the interesting technical and engineering challenges we solve as software engineers. I'm still working on getting back into the profession (pretty much due to my own laziness the past year... I guess needed time to recalibrate after everything). But, I have spent countless hours the past year setting up homelab equipment, various servers, writing scripts and small programs to organize stuff. Youtube isn't something I really could get addicted to, because I don't like learning from videos or watching stuff I could read in a quarter of the time. But I guess I do have a pretty bad TV addiction. I wasted tons of hours when I was depressed binge-watching shows online. It's to the point I don't even watch movies often because I prefer the intimacy I feel when I know the characters well and am deeply immersed in a series, especially something running multiple seasons. I binged all 5 seasons of the Handmaid's Tale a few weeks ago in less than a week, for example, and considered immediately rewatching them all. As another has stated below, I guess this is to fill the void that occurs in life when we are single and childless, unemployed, or both. I still don't think if I would call my internet usage or passion for technology "addiction". The TV/Netflix/etc. ... sure. That's fair. But I think it's fine to be obsessed with something like programming, especially if it's your profession. People who get paid to do something they love are lucky.
isamuel 4y ago
You sound like you satisfy at least one of the two usual criteria for addiction in the sense 12-step programs use the term. If you ever want someone to show you a program that might help you recover, just reply with your contact info and I’d be happy to help
nicbou 4y ago
I haven't overcome it, but I got better. Blocking distracting page elements like I block ads (uBlock Origin), and occasionally blocking websites altogether (SelfControl.app) when needed makes a big difference. Leaving the cellphone out of the bedroom was another important improvement. I also added rules to remove pagination buttons from reddit and HN. At some point you hit diminishing returns because you still seek out these websites. The hard part is closing the computer when you are done computing, and tackling boredom with other means. I have no solution for this, except working in one hour increments with timers.
dfrey1 4y ago
I have the same issue. As an orthodox Jew, I'm very very thankful for keeping the Sabbath, because that makes it 25 hours off my phone. It reminds me that I can do this, and I can limit my time. But setting those boundaries is really really hard!
sanroot98 4y ago
Go to a rural area ,with some good friends of yours, intract with local peoples.
- cpsns 4y ago
  I’m already more rural than 99% of HNers, so I am the “local peoples” that city people come to see. ;)
qikInNdOutReply 4y ago
It feels like being addicted to the best of other people. Its like going out with your friends, and the best moments, the wittys comments, the funniest rant, are distilled into a hour long avalanch. The internet, is just other peoples personality, filtered, distilled and served. TL, DR; You are addicted to other people, without lasting connections. Shame on you for being a social animal

px1999 4y ago

You are not weak, you're battling against groups of some of the smartest people in the world who spend their days doing nothing other than figuring out ways to manipulate you to steal and keep your attention, in order to maximise their engagement metrics/ad dollars. It's an incredibly difficult and unfair fight. I'd recommend Stolen Focus by Johann Hari, I've found it personally really helpful.

amanaplanacanal 4y ago

I spend way more time random surfing than I probably should. Honestly we probably are both dealing with ADHD, depression, or some sort of anxiety disorder.

cpsns 4y ago
I actually do have an (adult) ADHD diagnosis, though I've always been a bit sceptical of it. It seemed too easy to get and I really didn't think the testing criteria were very good. I have wanted to try medicine to see if it helps me at all, but I've never been able to do so. My GP was willing to perscribe me something, but decided my BP was too high and that was that. There are definitely anxiety issues at play as well, but I don't know to what degree.
- dmlerner 4y ago
  Combine with a blood pressure medicine? Guanfacine is specifically an ADHD treating blood pressure medication.
  - cpsns 4y ago
    I'm not the GP, so I don't get to make that call. If they say no that's the end of the story. It's frustrating, but ultimatly just how it is. There's no possibility of a second opinion either because I'm really damn lucky to even have access to a GP, the waiting list for one is ~3-4 years long right now if you don't already have one.
    - iokanuon 4y ago
      That's crazy. Where do you live? In Poland I just skipped the insurance system to get ADHD meds and went to a psychiatrist specialising in ADHD privately - $70 for a 20 minute visit seems a bit steep but it's better than waiting years. Could you possibly do something similar?
      - cpsns 4y ago
        No, that's impossible. I live in a Canadian province where the provincial healthcare situation is very, very bad. There are no private doctors and private psychiatrists are not legally allowed to perscribe. ADHD medication is controlled so only NPs, GPs, and (I think) psychologists are permitted to write a script for it. Basically there are no options for me except the ones I have already taken, short of moving to a different province thousands of kilometers away.
        vonseel 4y ago
        Can they prescribe non-stimulant ADHD medications? I imagine those are less-strictly regulated. My previous psychiatrist said he's had some luck with patients on stimulants lowering their stimulant doses and adding a non-stimulant treatment like Strattera, but his patients rarely had success stopping all stimulants and taking only Strattera. That's just one docs opinion, but having been treated for adhd for 15 years, it doesn't surprise me. So, consider yourself lucky you don't already need stimulants to get by. Some of the newer non-stimulant options may be effective for you, and you won't have to deal with the "druggy" aspect of being on stimulants for work. Stimulants can seriously affect your life, both positively and negatively. You might be able to get things done that you never would have done before - I felt like I was finally able to compete at a normal level when I started - but you might retreat from society at the same time, be less interested in spending time with loved ones or building relationships, and then there's all the short-term side-effects like trouble sleeping or losing interest in eating. Basically my experience has been a double-edged sword and it's bittersweet. For every way that it's benefited me, ADHD meds negatively affect me in some other way and it's hard to quantify the net balance.

kzrdude 4y ago

What about the existential dread route (sorry!). "If I don't quit this, then I'll never do X.. and my life amounts to nothing". It might be blocking a lot of life goals that will never come to be.

cpsns 4y ago
> "If I don't quit this, then I'll never do X.. and my life amounts to nothing" I've thought this a lot and honestly? I retreat back into the internet so I can forget about it/put it out of mind for a bit longer.
helloplanets 4y ago
Isn't this one of those things that usually ends up having the opposite effect it's supposed to have? As in, people who scold themselves about their specific addiction are likely to include the self scolding as one of the rituals related to the addiction. The feeling bad part / existential dread can be as much a part of the addiction itself as the feeling good / placated part.
layer8 4y ago
“I can still quit tomorrow though.”
- helmholtz 4y ago
  Profound statement. Relatedly: "I still have 6 hours before the deadline. I'll spend the first two watching YouTube, and then I'll be ready."

tester457 4y ago

What extensions have you tried to limit your usage?

cpsns 4y ago
Extensions don't work as I can disable them too easily. Even router level restrictions are too easy for me to bypass, it takes all of a few seconds. The only thing that has ever provided me mild success was locking my devices in my gun cabinet after a certian time of day. It was easy to get them out, but it took long enough that I could at least reconsider. I was only able to matinain that a week or two before falling into old habbits. Inevitabily I'll have a particularly bad day at work and any progress will go out the window as I look for comfort/a distraction.
- theteapot 4y ago
  Try planning your time down to the 1/2 hour for the day. If you allocate YT in there then fine. If you don't also fine. But you know exactly how much you've budgeted and what your sacrificing if you break your plan.
- all2 4y ago
  You have to actually want to quit, though. Increasing the friction for access is a gimmick at best. Right now you're in the self deception phase; you know it's bad and that you should quit, and intellectually you want to quit, but your lizard brain doesn't agree. Look at how folks who successfully quit porn do it. > a week or two before falling into old habits You need to replace old habits with new habits. Also, as a random aside, get your hormones checked. An imbalance of sex hormones can make things like concentration exceedingly difficult. > any progress You've fallen victim of the "fuck it"s. You assume if you fail you might as well not try. A habit is that behavior we return to, and this goes for things we don't habitually do, too. Just because you fuck up doesn't mean you should quit. That nagging voice in your head, the one that says "why even bother, you'll just screw up again" is a liar. You must get up. You must try again. If you listen to that voice you won't even try. Don't believe the inner labeling of "I'm just a failure", if you believe that you'll be right. > comfort / a distraction And there it is. You are dependant on the internet for a dopamine dump.

bobmichael 4y ago

You can't willpower through it if it's a defense mechanism employed by your brain to hide underlying pain. Maybe it's time to try something new. Check out Gabor Maté: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=74DDEDmHDvw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=74DDEDmHDvw

starbugs 4y ago
While I believe that’s good advice, I find it hard to ignore the irony here.
- bobmichael 4y ago
  Don't ignore it. Laugh about it! It wasn't lost on me writing the comment either. Isn't it great that the very thing that brings us pain can also be the vehicle for our healing?
  - donutpepperoni 4y ago
    I agree here. I think the key for me was to redefine the relationship and not break it off cold turkey. I find it interesting that the OP mentioned a push notification is what brought them back into the addiction. I also think it's important to remember some of these sites have been designed with the explicit intention of being addictive. Didn't some of the biggest sites hire behavioral psychologists to help design products that get people hooked?[1] I'm not surprised to hear that folks are feeling this way and I think it's an entirely valid and legitimate feeling to be addicted to Youtube and the Internet. The internet has been life changing for me and I can easily say I have been addicted to it before. As an autistic person who has a lot of sensory issues, the computer has provided a super safe and easy way to explore the world. But it's been easy to get too attached and not want to do anything that I need to IRL. In early December I disabled all notifications on my phone and set a schedule to check my phone twice a day. I've found that I've been way happier as a result and not getting stuck in internet holes. I see push notifications as a net negative on my mental health and I think I'll keep them off long term. May we all find a healthy balance that works for us. 1. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/22668729-hooked https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/22668729-hooked

wardedVibe 4y ago

I find things like leechblock[0] useful. In general, will power is a poor substitute for designing your environment. It's a limited resource that should only be used to start developing habits. [0]https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/leechblock-ng/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/leechblock-ng...

piyh 4y ago
10 minutes of problem sites every 4 hours with immediate tab closing is the magic setup for me.

ysavir 4y ago

What do you want to spend your time on other than the internet? I don't know what you've tried, but you've talked about what you don't want to do, and didn't talk about what you do want to do. And it's hard to remove a habit if you don't have something ready with which to replace it.

mindslight 4y ago
I agree. Rather than trying to focus on not doing the thing you want to do in a sea of few options, one needs to develop new patterns. Go travel, visit some friends overnight, go camping, anything to get out of the house and create new (or at least different) experiences and a bunch of simple-but-different problems you need to solve. When you're done and get back home, you can reintegrate to the Internet, catch up, and hopefully not feel too guilty about it. Spend your willpower making sure you get back out there, rather than trying to police your default behavior. If that's not possible to due a lack of money, friends, physical ability, etc, then I'd say you are dealing with serious depression and professional help is not unwarranted.
- 86J8oyZv 4y ago
  I would add that clubs, gyms, and meetups are a good, often free or very cheap option as well. Running, biking, skateboarding, climbing, calisthenics/acrobatics, board games, maker groups, art, music… all have very low cost of entry and likely have communities in any town or city. I feel compelled to also add that while it seems well-meant, I think the tone of your last paragraph is a bit unproductive. A lot (most? all?) of us, at some point, fall out of the habit of exercising our senses of curiosity and wonder and trying new things. This can be caused by many combinations of family, economic, and social conditions, or for some, because of chemistry (ie “serious depression”). Therapy is indeed a good way to develop the skills to work against this and identify whether it’s actually a chemical problem in need of a chemical solution. But it doesn’t help to go straight to calling this “serious depression” needing “professional help.” Literally all of us can benefit from therapy, and making it out to be a big deal and putting labels on people makes many less likely to pursue it.

sysadm1n 4y ago

> I am seriously addicted to the internet 'Addiction' depends on circumstances. If you're lucky enough to be able to spend copious amounts of time online, good for you. I know for me, I don't have that opportunity. There's too much other stuff hampering my ability to get online like kids, marriage, chores, other hobbies, work, etc

cpsns 4y ago
> If you're lucky enough to be able to spend copious amounts of time online, good for you. I am not the lucky one, you are. My life is a sick joke, meanwhile you by all traditional measures have it made if you have all that. If I didn't have my job I'd have literally nothing going for me. When I say this has cost me oppertunites I don't mean small ones, I mean even things like potential relationships. Everything has always come second to this issue.
- Kamq 4y ago
  > by all traditional measures Is there a reason to assume the traditional measures are, in fact, the correct ones to be using?
  - annyeonghada 4y ago
    Maybe the fact that they were used by seemingly very different society for thousand of years and society who did enforce them were more stable and successful? The hubris of modern people to think they are so enlightened they can engineer society to fit they ideological views as if humans were mere economical units.
    - Kamq 4y ago
      > seemingly very different society for thousand of years and society who did enforce them were more stable and successful Ahh, so a bias for values that were evolutionarily successful? I can kind of see the utility there. Would this hypothetical system take into account the dominance of the societies in question, or is it just specifically how long they've survived/been stable?

grecy 4y ago

I know I tend towards it as well, so I've done a few things over the years. Like a recovering alcoholic, you need to just stop going into bars - the temptation is too strong. 1. Don't have a phone with data. It's just too convenient to scroll for 3 hours lying in bed. 2. Don't have wifi at home, at all. Less internet in your life means you'll spend less time on the internet.

gernb 4y ago

I spend was too much time on the internet too like right now checking hn but for me I chalk it up to lack of other things to do. I don't have a lot of friends, it's hard to make new ones, covid doesn't help, at the moment I've got no personal projects except maybe trying new recipes now and then. that said, if I do find other activities I have no trouble doing them. I'm taking a class for example, meet the friends I do have when they are available, etc so I doesn't feel like an addiction in my case even though I fully feel I spent way too much time on the internet

serial_dev 4y ago
> I chalk it up to lack of other things to do In my case, I don't have other things to do because I'm on the internet. When I manage to turn off the internet (HN, Youtube, podcasts, Twitter, LinkedIn, reading up on random, pretty useless stuff), suddenly I get pretty good ideas on what to do. Oh, I wanted to learn finally that language. I wanted to clean up in the kitchen cabinet. I wanted to meet up with a friend. I wanted to sign up for swimming class. I wanted to go to a restaurant with my wife. I wanted to call my brother and sister. I wanted to code up an open source package... The list of fun things to do is endless, but somehow consuming content on the internet trumps everything if you are not careful (ymmw).
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- noodleman 4y ago
  Social media gives you that dopamine fix quicker than your other options. It quickly becomes a habit if you've been doing it for long enough. I'm sure if you tried to make doing other things a habit, it would come easier to you over time. Then there's less reliance on willpower required. If you put a block in the calendar at the same time each week, you will feel more obligated to do it. I've done this with all kinds of things like socialising, couch25k, flossing. It really helped me when covid restrictions first hit and it was too easy to just lay about all day.
  - 4y ago

unsupp0rted 4y ago

I'm addicted to the internet the way I'm addicted to electricity. It powers my quality of life: I don't feel any shame about it. Wanting and expecting to use electricity and being reliant on having it available to me doesn't make me pathetic (although arguably it does make me weak).

nostromo 4y ago
Good, people need to stop feeling bad about not always being productive.
- wyre 4y ago
  It’s not about being productive but about not having fulfilling activities. If the internet is fulfilling for you great, but there a point where the addiction takes away other fulfilling activities.
- edgyquant 4y ago
  No they don’t. It’s bad to be a workaholic sure, but the universe is an unforgiving place and we’re here only to be productive. This is a truth regardless of your metaphysical beliefs. What people need is to make sure they’re not being overly productive at one thing while letting other things drift away.
  - nostromo 4y ago
    > we’re here only to be productive The heat death of the universe will destroy anything you do with your life and will erase any possibility of it being recorded or remembered. So… enjoy life. All you have is the current moment. Productivity - especially to enrich someone else - is a fool’s game. Be as productive as you need to to enjoy life. If you enjoy your work (I do) then do it because you enjoy it, not because it’s productive.
  - namaria 4y ago
    >but the universe is an unforgiving place yes >and we’re here only to be productive how did you make this jump? the universe doesn't care in the slightest how you spend your time or what you do. we're not here to anything. we're utterly insignificant and our life is devoid of meaning. you can choose to fill it with fulfillment by some definition of producing something. I really don't care. I just think it's sad to define your life in relation to some arbitrary definition of your externally bounded output. but by all means, if that's what you want... just don't say it's The Way of The Universe. That's just wrong.

naasking 4y ago

> and no matter how hard I try to will power through it and cut down my usage I always You can't make it impossible to access the internet, but you can make it super inconvenient. For instance, one thing that worked for me was blocking HN and Reddit on my router. Obviously I can get around it but the inconvenience to circumvent makes the habit feel like it's not worth the payoff. Or, it at least makes you more aware of your reflex, and the fact that you don't get the immediate reward makes it easier to break the habit loop.

bgoated01 4y ago
100% this. I have Reddit blocked on my laptop, and the browser blocked on my phone at certain times of day. Again, I can absolutely get around this, but it has disrupted the habit for me.

aimor 4y ago

I've struggled with this, probably not to the extent you have, but enough that I recognize my decisions over the last two decades hurt myself mentally, socially, and career wise. I've tried to quit various things and of course eventually return to old habits (quitting does help though, I encourage everyone to at least try). The only method that really works for me is to have other constructive things I genuinely want to do. It's easier to avoid picking up the phone or getting on the computer (breaking the habit) if I'm thinking about X instead. That can be a hobby, a project, or even better a friend, relative, child. I don't want to sound like I'm saying, "just do this one trick." I know it's not easy and everyone is different. The children's book Frog and Toad Together has a story about willpower called "Cookies". It sums up my experience pretty well. If you do write a book about what works for you, consider making it a children's book: I've gotten more comfort and understanding from those than anything else.

pmg102 4y ago
"Just ONE MORE YouTube video, and then I will stop!"
- dathinab 4y ago
  It's worse with shorts as you don't even think "just one more" as consuming a single short is so "effortless"/"short" that you might not think about them in singularity and instead think "just a few more". Which makes it even harder to set boundaries.
  - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
    The youtube/tictok shorts are a genius form of getting the human brain hooked. It's similar to how eating a piece of cake can make you feel guilty so instead you switch to a bag of M&Ms or other such small sweets thinking it's better for you as "I'll only have a few", and before you know it, you've eaten the whole bag in one go which is worse than the single piece of cake would have been. I've found watching long content is better to keep such addictions in check. When I've finished watching a 2h long movie, I feel also "done" and ready for bed vs the endless stream of streaming shows, youtube videos and other social media shorts can keep you hooked for days on end.

dathinab 4y ago

> I am seriously addicted to the internet in general and while it may not be an addiction in the physical sense, it has caused major issues in my life. Interestingly it still can have physical effects. I have seen a case of an person who got addicted to web novels (like every day another short chapter; hit their quirky humor; not porn; clinically depressed). And that person showed effects of withdrawal in their interaction with that media in certain situations. Sure the effects where comparable harmless but still there anyway. People (probably not you) are often prone to think that addictions to non-classical "drugs" which don't crate a physical/body dependence is mostly harmless not taking it serious at all, but it is not. In case of the person above there where cases where they where unable to function like a normal human sometimes for one or two days because their addiction had fully consumed them. (Through last time I have seen them they where doing better wrt. to this aspect.) Ironically that person had been aware that they where prone to addiction due to there mental health state and staid far away drugs, including smoking, porn and a strict ban on alcohol outside of social gatherings and even there close to never. And then the internet screwed them over.

citruscomputing 4y ago
Ah, this is a description of me as well. No drinking, just my web serials for hours and hours every day. Some of them feel like TV, I can feel my brain atrophy as I just glide over and through the words -- it can barely be called reading, at times. One of my eyes got blurry and painful recently. I was unable to stop reading, even though staring at screens caused me great pain. Maybe that was the cause in the first place. It's a peaceful ocean, an escape. It's enjoyable, it's numbing. It's starting to affect my work.

theGnuMe 4y ago

Can you do a two week detox? Go skiing or camping or something where there is no internet. Just have a basic phone for an emergency. Take a friend or family member as well which is a good method is to have someone else around as well. There may be internet detox camps you can go to as well. Also try therapy it can help, you are not alone in your struggles ..

dudul 4y ago

What do you do on the internet? The best way to not do X is to do Y instead. Find another activity that you enjoy and spend your time there instead.

j45 4y ago

You aren’t pathetic. Unfortunately many apps aren’t that good and just resort to trying to be the most important app in your device. Too much ux practice has been perverted to have the user work for their app instead of working for the user. The really nice thing is we are not alone and rarely the first. The goal is to create and not consume. Write lots like this comment and revisit and review it. Add to it mindfully. You might like this books called Stolen Focus: https://www.amazon.ca/Stolen-Focus-Attention-Think-Deeply/dp/0593138511 https://www.amazon.ca/Stolen-Focus-Attention-Think-Deeply/dp... To help break the distraction cycles to finish a book, there are more and more resources out there for disrupting the novelty seeking attention dopamine loops. Some things that help: - make your phone screen black and white - turn off all notifications of all apps. This means alerts, notifications , counters and dots. - the notification thet is on is your calendar. Setup notifications to remind you to check your device or messages at a set time. Your brain the knows you can enjoy it with full focus. - a tablet is handy for moving your consumption to. When you put it down it’s put down. - The mode of iOS is really decent. - Use airplane mode liberally - social media and digital detoxes help - On your laptop manually edit your hosts files. Put all the sites you refresh many times a day. Make it a bit hard to edit and you’ll discover you won’t do it much. - block Hn too on main decides. Dedicate a device to read and consume it and leave it there. Nothing you’ll miss out on. - turn on all digital health tracking so you see your daily app and website usage. Rescuetime is a great little app. There is a link that I’m trying to remember which explains this and more very well.

flir 4y ago

I use Cold Turkey Blocker between 9AM and 5PM. My wife's got the password should I need to unlock it. It's a partial solution, but if you have a few sites that are habitual (I can type "cmd+t ol enter" in my sleep) it can help break the habit. Locking the phone and laptop in the car for the weekend used to work quite well for me, but my living situation is different now.

qingdao99 4y ago
What's the "ol" site? old.reddit.com? That's what came up for me.
- flir 4y ago
  Yup. That's the big time sink for me. Even after I blocked it, I was typing that string reflexively for weeks.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

boppo1 4y ago

Yeah same thing here. I kicked an addiction to prescription amphetamines but I can't seem to stop myself from filling my free time with forums.

pmarreck 4y ago

ever take a vacation and not ensure you have internet access?

cpsns 4y ago
No. I take my vacation days, but I never take a “vacation”. I always stay home or close to home, I don’t like travelling unless I need to. The last time I lost internet for an extended time (my cable got dug up) made me an anxious mess for weeks.

vonseel 4y ago

I don't know if I would call it an addiction, but I feel very similar in the sense that I spend a ton of hours on the internet and tinkering with technology. I did take a break. A long break. I joined the Army in 2021, after being laid off during the pandemic, thinking I wanted to leave technology for good. Then after I graduated from basic, I realized I was probably going to be a shitty, unfit soldier and that I missed all of the interesting technical and engineering challenges we solve as software engineers. I'm still working on getting back into the profession (pretty much due to my own laziness the past year... I guess needed time to recalibrate after everything). But, I have spent countless hours the past year setting up homelab equipment, various servers, writing scripts and small programs to organize stuff. Youtube isn't something I really could get addicted to, because I don't like learning from videos or watching stuff I could read in a quarter of the time. But I guess I do have a pretty bad TV addiction. I wasted tons of hours when I was depressed binge-watching shows online. It's to the point I don't even watch movies often because I prefer the intimacy I feel when I know the characters well and am deeply immersed in a series, especially something running multiple seasons. I binged all 5 seasons of the Handmaid's Tale a few weeks ago in less than a week, for example, and considered immediately rewatching them all. As another has stated below, I guess this is to fill the void that occurs in life when we are single and childless, unemployed, or both. I still don't think if I would call my internet usage or passion for technology "addiction". The TV/Netflix/etc. ... sure. That's fair. But I think it's fine to be obsessed with something like programming, especially if it's your profession. People who get paid to do something they love are lucky.

isamuel 4y ago

You sound like you satisfy at least one of the two usual criteria for addiction in the sense 12-step programs use the term. If you ever want someone to show you a program that might help you recover, just reply with your contact info and I’d be happy to help

nicbou 4y ago

I haven't overcome it, but I got better. Blocking distracting page elements like I block ads (uBlock Origin), and occasionally blocking websites altogether (SelfControl.app) when needed makes a big difference. Leaving the cellphone out of the bedroom was another important improvement. I also added rules to remove pagination buttons from reddit and HN. At some point you hit diminishing returns because you still seek out these websites. The hard part is closing the computer when you are done computing, and tackling boredom with other means. I have no solution for this, except working in one hour increments with timers.

dfrey1 4y ago

I have the same issue. As an orthodox Jew, I'm very very thankful for keeping the Sabbath, because that makes it 25 hours off my phone. It reminds me that I can do this, and I can limit my time. But setting those boundaries is really really hard!

sanroot98 4y ago

Go to a rural area ,with some good friends of yours, intract with local peoples.

cpsns 4y ago
I’m already more rural than 99% of HNers, so I am the “local peoples” that city people come to see. ;)

qikInNdOutReply 4y ago

It feels like being addicted to the best of other people. Its like going out with your friends, and the best moments, the wittys comments, the funniest rant, are distilled into a hour long avalanch. The internet, is just other peoples personality, filtered, distilled and served. TL, DR; You are addicted to other people, without lasting connections. Shame on you for being a social animal