By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:41 PM on 01st September 2008
Feel stressed if you can't get online? You could have
'discomgoogolation'
Soaring numbers of internet addicts are suffering from extreme stress when they are unable to get their online 'hit', a new study has found.
Clinical monitoring of heavy web users revealed their brain activity and blood pressure increased markedly when they were cut off.
The stress of being disconnected was equivalent to that of running half an hour late for a key meeting, being about to sit an important exam or, in the worst cases, being sacked. Psychologists have dubbed the high stress levels caused by internet dependency as 'discomgoogolation'.
Psychologists studying the high stress levels caused by internet dependency have dubbed the phenomenon 'discomgoogolation'.
They define it as a 'feeling of distress or anxiety when unable to gain immediate information access'.
Over three quarters of Britons (76 per cent) admit that they cannot live without the internet as they spend ever more time emailing, playing online games and viewing porn.
More than half of Britons (53 per cent ) are on the net for up to four hours a day and almost half (44 per cent) said they feel frustrated and confused when cut off.
Stress levels of participants in the study were measured with heart and brain monitors. Men were found to become most stressed when denied access to the net in the evenings while women suffer when they cannot get online during the day.
Friday emerged as the most stressful day to be disconnected because it prevents people planning their weekends using the search engine Google.
Psychologist Dr David Lewis said: 'The proliferation of broadband has meant that for the first time in history we have entered a culture of "instant answers" a galaxy of information is just a mouse click away and we have become addicted to the web.
'When unable to get online, "discomgoogolation" takes over.
'It was surprising to see the stress this led to in brain activity and blood pressure in participants.
'It seems to be especially stressful for people when they are out and about. They often need to make many short-notice decisions at this time but feel they are doing so without the full information the internet usually gives them.'
An overwhelming 87 per cent of Brits said they now rely on the internet as their main source of information and 26 per cent said they would be at a loss where to look without it.
One in five even spends more time on the net than with their family in an average week. The survey of 2,100 people was carried out for information service 118118.
British psychiatrists have previously reported that between 5 and 10 per cent of online users are internet addicts.
Some psychiatrists have claimed that obsessive internet use is such a serious a public health problem that it should be officially recognised as a clinical disorder.
Telltale symptoms include addicts forgetting to eat and sleep, needing ever more advanced technology or more hours online and experiencing genuine withdrawal symptoms when deprived of their computer.
They also tend to have more arguments, suffer from fatigue, get lower marks in tests and feel isolated from society. I know the feeling, I am on dial up, it stinks!!!! Quote | 
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