I am a live-in caregiver for my 95 year old father and my 76 year old sister who is suffering from cancer and effects of chemo. I rarely get to leave the house, so I have been using the internet excessively to somehow see and connect with the outside world. I stay up late online for hours when they are sleeping and get very little sleep. I have been clinically depressed for many years, and it seems to make me feel better for a short while. When things get bad here, the first thing I want to do is get online. I am definitely not at my best to take care of them, and I always feel hung over as if I had been drinking or something, but I just can't seem to avoid it. I do some design work online, and use it for necessary things like organizing appointments, bills, and supporting causes I care about, but one link leads to another. I was an addictions counselor years ago and I see some similarities between this and alcohol and drug addictions.
For me, I think it has to do with loneliness and escapism. I can waste so much time online tho.. it does concern me. First thing when I get up I grab my phone and ipad.. before I sign on to my work laptop... lol. Sometimes on the weekend I will grab my ipad in the morning and look up.. and half my day is gone.
I guess anything that you are relying on and using as a crutch to get through the day could be considered an addiction. I need to try some internet free days .... wonder if I will start detoxing.. lol.