the internet...help or hurt?

[alex29]

do you think the internet helps you or hurts you?

in a way it helps me because I've made friends and have a place to talk about feelings I usually wouldnt. in the short term it keeps me from going crazy

but I also think that maybe if I didnt rely so much on the internet I would be more motivated to go out and be more social. the internet just helps me isolate myself from everyone instead of learning to deal with my anxiety

 

[Ahmed]

pretty much the same about me. If i want to talk to my friends, i usually wait till they are online, as i have much less anxiety online. so that dont help me.

 

[xSleepy]

Its both good and bad. Good because if gives me something to do, and of course Iv met some great people online and i can chat with people who are just like me and it makes me feel better.

It can also be very very bad. Some days all i do is go online. it makes me more depressed and sad and also lazy to just sit here and do random things online to occupy myself. I really should be cleaning right now and trying to find a job or something. But I just cant get off of this computer cause im already depressed as it is for having to start job searching all over again so soon.

so sometimes the internet can be a really good thing. its really helped me out. but its still very addicting and its just not good to spend most of your day on it. it sucks the life out of me sometimes.

 

[M1tCh]

What matters is how you use it, because it's a mixed bag (like most things.)

 

[alltoomuch]

I think the Internet makes social phobia worse. It is able to give you contact with the outside world without any physical interaction. If there was no Internet I think my social phobia wouldn't be as bad. I would have to actually do things to get any sort of social interaction.

I think things like myspace, facebook, internet dating etc are not good for anyone, especially those with social anxiety. I don't care what anyone does to justify them (eg, people are too busy, you get to meet people with similar interests), overall they give you an excuse to be by yourself.

All this is only my opinion of course.

 

[Argamemnon]

pretty much the same about me. If i want to talk to my friends, i usually wait till they are online, as i have much less anxiety online. so that dont help me.

Hey, I see that you're from Egypt. I was just wondering... people there are very social, family bonds are very strong etc.. how come you developed social phobia, lol.

 

[Ahmed]

pretty much the same about me. If i want to talk to my friends, i usually wait till they are online, as i have much less anxiety online. so that dont help me.

Hey, I see that you're from Egypt. I was just wondering... people there are very social, family bonds are very strong etc.. how come you developed social phobia, lol.

I guess its maybe cause i was raised in the USA . From where do you know egyptian society ???

 

[Argamemnon]

I guess its maybe cause i was raised in the USA . From where do you know egyptian society ???

I don't know Egyptian society, but I'm pretty sure there are some similarities with Turkey (my country) :lol: I was born and raised in the Netherlands though.

 

[stardog]

I think the Internet makes social phobia worse. It is able to give you contact with the outside world without any physical interaction. If there was no Internet I think my social phobia wouldn't be as bad. I would have to actually do things to get any sort of social interaction.

I think things like myspace, facebook, internet dating etc are not good for anyone, especially those with social anxiety. I don't care what anyone does to justify them (eg, people are too busy, you get to meet people with similar interests), overall they give you an excuse to be by yourself.

All this is only my opinion of course.

I would agree with this. I just deactivated my facebook account cos I feel it was only making things worse, despite getting in contact with several old friends it never came to anything, and I would sit there obsessing over whether my page looked alright all the time. Most of my 'friends' I hadn't seen since school...my friend had 120 or so 'friends', but he is a loner with just a few friends, he just wanted to appear cool by adding more and more people he hardly knew...whats the point?

I mostly use the internet as a crutch, so I don't have to deal with the 'real world'. I've grown up with it like this really and if it didn't exist I probably wouldn't have SA as bad as I do. But I need to change this habit now and get a life cause I can't afford to waste so much time anymore