How to tell if you are addicted to STEEM

Ok, I’ll be the first to admit it. I am completely hooked on Steemit. I mean, aren’t you? Let’s be honest. How many times do you check your steem wallet?

If you’re anything like me, it’s an obsession. I’m monitoring my upvotes the same way I would monitor my blood pressure. Regularly and consistently. I can tell when my voting power hits 100% better than when I ovulate. I’m that attuned to it. Steemit has incorporated game theory, money and social media in a methamphetamine inspired frenzy of posts, upvotes and whale plumes. It’s getting so bad I can’t look at a kettle without thinking about steem. Thank god Steemit isn’t making dildos. I’d be well…. you get the picture.

We are all hooked, even harpooned.
But here’s the thing. If I were to ask you if Steemit was as important as your family, what would you say?

Is it more important than work? Did you install esteem on your phone? Do you check it at work? I know I do.

How about friends?
If I asked you honestly, have you given up time spent with real people to spend steemtime online what would you say?

I’m not knocking Steemit, far from it, this concept is a gamechanger. If you can get otherwise sedate motherly types (me) to obsess over the arcane magic of cryptocurrency, you’ve got a winner. At the same time you also have found the secret to compulsive behavior that will soon rival the very best of chemical addictions. I’m not the least bit interested in crack or weed. But I’ll take STEEM on every day without batting an eyelash.

So how can you tell if your compulsion to check your blog has become unhealthy?
Like all forms of addiction, if your time online has affected your life in a significant way, you may have a problem.

If your work life suffers, (have you considered blogging full time as a career or come dangerously close to flipping your boss the very best middle finger?), if your relationships suffer or are non existent (are you ignoring your family?), or if your social life takes a back seat (ignoring your friends?),- you may need to take a few steps back to re-evaluate. There is a possibility you may be addicted to the internet/steemit/social media/all of the above.

Addiction is about loss of control. An inability to regulate compulsive behavior until it becomes dominant, sacrificing your health and your relationships, in the process. Much research has been done on internet addiction, of which Steemit is the newest craze. The mystery of addiction lies in the biologic activity of the magic molecule dopamine. Surfing dopamine highs is part of the puzzle of addiction. The real highs from dopamine come from anticipation. Waiting to see what’s happening next. Did I get an upvote? Did I get a curation reward? How many resteems did I get? How many new followers?

Anticipation is the line of digital cocaine across your keyboard. Waiting with bated breath to see what’s next. That’s why we look at one youtube video after another. That’s why apps are designed to pull you into a video feed, one into the next and the next. Every time you wait with anticipation you get a dopamine hit. You feel great. And you set yourself up to wait with anticipation for the next video and the next hit until you loose track of time and half your day is lost in unproductive activity.

So what’s the solution?

I’ll be honest. There are no simple solutions. For the truly addicted, there is loss of impulse control. Real medical intervention is often needed to treat addictions that turn people inward on themselves flaming inside out till their lives are smoking shells. If you suspect you have an internet addiction, seek professional help. If you’re not completely lost, take a step back. Recognize that Steemit and the internet are tools meant to help you live better more productive lives.

In my own case, Steemit has sparked a flame of creativity I find hard to contain. I want to write, take pictures, cook, share my life, and knowledge almost moment to moment. I have to tell myself constantly, J, there is a real world out there. Go live in it, and in your spare time, have fun making STEEM.

I’ll ask you to do the same. Be mindful of time spent online; you can literally live the majority of your life in cyberspace and never experience the real, the beautiful, or the blessed. Isn't that what life is really about?
Think about it.

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If you like my research, please consider giving me an upvote, a follow or a resteem. I'd love some encouragement.
Bless,
J.

Images courtesy Pixabay.