To sort this out, ask yourself the following questions:
- Have you ever lost time from work because of blogging?
- Does blogging create problems for you with other people in your life?
- Do you blog because you feel shy and uncomfortable around others?
- Have you ever felt guilty about blogging?
- Have you ever argued with someone significant in your life about blogging and the time constraints involved?
- Are you more careless in other areas of your life because of blogging?
- Have you lost interest in other areas of your life since beginning to blog?
- Do you blog to escape anything in your life?
- Do you use blogging as a replacement for social interactions in the real world?
- Do you feel compelled to blog and then feel a sense of elation once the blog entry is published - yet the high is short-lived and you feel compelled to begin again?
- Do you feel restless if you do not blog?
If you answered “Yes” to two or more of those questions, blogging could be taking over your life.
Finally, let’s consider the characteristics of an addictive personality in general.
- Impatience with self and others.
- Anxiety in an exaggerated form. It is normal to feel anxious, but in addicts it is constant and chronic. Using the substance of choice, whether it be alcohol, substances, or the Internet, brings momentary relief.
- Grandiosity - feelings of deep worthlessness and low self-esteem covered by haughtiness or pretending to "have It all together."
- Perfectionism - setting impossible and improbable goals for oneself. Perceived failures result in guilt and self-deprecation.
- Rationalizations - Addicts of any sort are pros at this. Finding justifications for doing what one wants and making it all seem reasonable and plausible.
- Isolation - Blogging is so consuming that it prohibits you from forming deep and lasting relationships outside the Internet world. You becomes a loner in the real world.
- Sensitivity - to criticisms from others related to blogging behaviors.
- Impulsivity - Having a great idea for a blog post and feeling the need to address it and write about it immediately. Becoming irritated if you are unable to blog when the idea presents itself.
- Dependence - A strong dependence on others' reactions and responses to what was posted. A need to be affirmed.
Discussing blogging as an addiction may seem odd, but it is possible to become addicted to anything. Addiction is addiction is addiction, regardless of the substance of choice. Can you identify with much of what has been written in this piece? A “Yes” may indicate a need to take a hiatus from the blogosphere for a time. If you are unable to stop blogging, then talking to a professional about this compulsion may be helpful. Underneath an addiction is a whole host of unresolved issues. The addiction just momentarily medicates the pain.
Article comments
1 - Joanne Huspek
Oh, my! We've all got a problem, don't we?
2 - Irene Wagner
This isn't likely to be a very popular article, given the audience, but I took it to heart.
-Have I been message boarding today because I'm responding to something I feel passionately about?
-Is Saturday laundry day?
Um. Yes. And yes.
3 - Dr. Juliann Mitchell, PhD
Joanne and Irene,
Thanks for commenting. It's fine if it isn't too popular. Just had the thoughts rattling around in my brain and decide to put it to paper, well put it to the computer screen. I myself am a big fan of chocolate and yes I have been known to eat chocolate while I blog.
4 - Stephanie
I have friends that have so many blogs and are members of twitter and gather and this and that. Basically, I've been replaced by online buddies. It's sad.
5 - homemaking@eastex.net
Thanks for sharing this. I'm afraid I'm guilty of some of these problems. How silly too! What is your solution or are you just wanting to discuss the fact that there is a problem. I'm aiming for three posts a week or less. If it's worth writing, I'll write, but I don't want it to replace life or friends.:o)
6 - Dave
I really need some help and this article is the only thing I have found on the interent that isn't written by bloggers that think everything is "ok".
I am not a blogger, I have tried but I work. My girlfriend of almost 2 years however does. She runs a great blog but for a long long time I have been convinced she as a clinical addiction to it. She answers Yes to almost everything you write about except where you talk about taking time off work. The thing is her blog has consumed her to the point where she hasn't worked for 2 years and refuses to see the harm this is doing to me and others.
We are in financial strain and my whole wage goes into supporting us, but she feels anytime away from her blog is worthless. Everything we do has a sideline to being for her blog. The outings, the food, the birthdays.
Everytime I approach it and make any sort of criticism we have a full blown arguement. She now says she has to put all her time into her blog to try and monetise it to make money. She wanted a Vintage shop so I bought what she wanted and now that is set up she is still not happy.
I think this type of addiction is dangerous, because it is not down to something that we can catagoically say is "wrong". It has good intentions but it has just gone too far and there is no support for it.
Can you help? I don't want to destroy her world but it is destroying me and our relationship.
7 - Dr Dreadful
I'm not speaking as an expert, Dave, but any behaviour can become addictive. Just because there's no documented medical condition called "blogging addiction" doesn't mean there's nothing seriously wrong.
It seems to me that perhaps there is something in your girlfriend's life that she is trying to avoid confronting. If it wasn't blogging, she would find something else that consumed all her time and energy.
Her talk about monetising her blog sounds like an excuse, especially if the promised returns haven't materialised.
I strongly suggest you talk to her about counseling - for both of you. (By financially supporting her you are enabling the addiction, which is also a behaviour that needs to be addressed.) Broach the subject in a way that makes it clear you want to do this because you love her and are concerned about her. If she won't go for it, sadly you are going to need to think about whether, for your own health and sanity, it might be best for you to walk away from the relationship.