Stages of Change- Internet Addiction

Stages of Change- Internet Addiction

Internet addiction is a behavioral addiction that involves interaction between humans and machines. The addiction may affect social and occupational functioning. Internet addiction is a behavioral addiction, and an addict undergoes the various stages of change namely, pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.

The pre-contemplation stage is when an individual does not consider their addictive behavior as a problem that needs intervention. This may be because of the lack of negative consequences as a result of their behavior (Zimmerman et al., 2000). An addicted internet user may use the internet up to late in the night but still be able to report to work in time and perform adequately at his job.

Contemplation is when the user is aware of both the advantages and disadvantages of excessive internet use. The user has, however, not decided to change. An example is when on a few occasions, an individual overslept because he stayed up late to use the internet. This has resulted in him reporting late to work. He has been warned by his superior. He knows the solution to this, to not use the internet till late, but he won’t commit to changing the behavior.

Preparation is when an addict makes a commitment to change and starts making plans for behavior change. In the case of internet use, an individual may make plans to stop using their phone after a certain time at night. An individual can make arrangements to see a counselor.

In the action stage, the user can try new behaviors. Individuals take active steps toward change in this stage (Sholl, 2011). An individual restricts his access to the internet to certain times of the day. The individual may be tempted to access the internet if that time is not filled with another activity. The individual can also visit a counselor to help him come up with ways to change his behavior.

Maintenance is where the user establishes new behaviors and incorporates them for use on a long-term basis (Zimmerman et al., 2000). An addicted internet user has found new recreational activities to fill up the time.

References

Sholl, J. (2011). The stages of change (Links to an external site.), Experience Life. Retrieved from http://experiencelife.com/article/the-stages-of-change/

Zimmerman, G. L., Olsen, C. G., & Bosworth, M. F. (2000). A ‘stages of change’ approach to helping patients change behavior (Links to an external site.), Am Fam Physician, 61(5), 1409–1416. Retrieved from http://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/0301/

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

The stages of change model is a commonly used treatment model for addiction. In this module, you discussed how this model applies to addiction and offered some examples. In this activity, you will apply the stages of change model to behavioral addiction.

Stages of Change- Internet Addiction

Choose a behavior (such as overeating, shopping, Internet use, etc.)
Identify examples of each stage of change—pre-contemplation through maintenance—using the behavior you selected as the focus.
Review at least two of your classmates’ postings, identifying at least one possible strategy to assist the individual in moving forward to the next level in each of the stages described.