Digital addictions are not officially acknowledged by the NHS or the World Health Organization. So, where can one seek help when excessive scrolling starts to dominate their life?
The BBC interviewed three individuals participating in a 12-step program for internet addiction.
“It was preferable to going outside, talking to Mom and Dad, or even drawing.”
In a modest space within the West Oxford Community Centre, 19-year-old Sophia recounts her tumultuous, decade-long entanglement with technology.
Hailing from a slum in East Asia, Sophia relocated to the UK with her parents as a young child. Her early years in Oxfordshire were marked by solitude, and she viewed her devices as companions.
She explained: “I hadn’t yet mastered English, and I felt isolated. Technology seemed like the perfect solution; it could provide whatever I needed at that time, offering comfort when I felt lonely.”
At 15, Sophia decided to quit social media, but her compulsions persisted.
Driven by aspirations to lift her family out of poverty, she found herself spending 16 hours a day consuming self-help content, watching over 10,000 videos on money-making and self-improvement.
“My personal relationships were in disarray. I have very few memories of my teenage years, my academic performance suffered, and I experienced suicidal thoughts,” she shared.
In 2023, Sophia turned to Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous (ITAA), a recovery program modeled after the 12-step approach utilized by Alcoholics Anonymous. Established in 2017, ITAA describes itself as a “self-sustaining community of individuals” where members worldwide support each other through sponsorships, face-to-face meetings, and online interactions.
The range of digital addictions addressed by ITAA includes social media, video streaming, online news, dating platforms, pornography, gaming, and online research. Currently, there are only two physical support groups in the UK – in London and Oxford – with a third group set to launch in Manchester soon.
In Oxford, Sophia, along with fellow ITAA members Abby and Maggie, shared how their internet usage had impacted their lives. Abby revealed her addiction to streaming services during her university years, spending entire days and nights binge-watching and neglecting basic needs like eating and sleeping.
Maggie referred to the internet as her “drug of choice,” explaining that the pressures of a new job drove her to increasingly lengthy video-watching sessions.
“I unexpectedly missed work one day, dressed up for the job, then returned to bed to watch YouTube. It truly surprised me, really shocked me.”
She assured her manager it wouldn’t happen again, but the next week she indulged for four days and eventually lost her job.
During their intense internet binges, all three sought help, but visits to GPs, mental health services, stress management courses, and online research on addiction failed to curb their compulsions.
Out of desperation, Maggie recounted attending a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.
She explained: “Suddenly I found myself in a room with people who, if I simply replaced the word ‘drugs’ with ‘YouTube,’ shared the exact same experience.”
John McAlaney, a psychology professor at Bournemouth University, informed the BBC that the concept of internet addiction “dates back almost to the inception of the internet,” but noted the absence of a “universal, agreed-upon definition.”
“In the UK currently, it would be challenging to provide a precise diagnosis of any specific type of digital addiction. However, most medical professionals, psychologists, and psychiatrists would acknowledge when someone is struggling,” he stated.
While gaming disorders have been officially recognized since 2022, digital addictions are not acknowledged by the NHS or the World Health Organization (WHO).
Prof. Andrew Przybylski, who researches human behavior and technology at the Oxford Internet Institute, expressed a preference for health services to address the root causes of compulsive behaviors rather than introducing a new diagnosis of “digital addiction.”
The Priory, the largest private provider of mental health services in the UK, informed the BBC that inquiries to their private addiction services related to gaming, internet or social media, gambling, and pornography addictions more than doubled between 2020 and 2023.
Sophia, Abby, and Maggie are currently in different stages of recovery and credit ITAA meetings, whether online or in-person, for being transformative.
“I remember crying a lot during most of the meetings,” Abby shared.
“They were telling my story; there were people like me, and I had never heard anyone share similar experiences before.”
Following ITAA’s 12th step, which emphasizes “carrying this message to internet and technology addicts,” Abby and Maggie established an in-person support group in Oxford.
“It’s just different in person, you know,” Sophia remarked. “That personal connection can never be replaced.”
Abby now refrains from visiting video websites and watching TV, Maggie utilizes library computers for online activities, and Sophia’s sponsor helps her stay accountable when she needs to use the internet.
“I need to practice every day, maintain my strong spiritual state,” Maggie emphasized.
“Because even if I were living in the middle of a desert or in the Arctic, if the urge arises, I would find a way to access it.”
For their privacy, the names of Sophia, Abby, and Maggie have been changed.
