Brits are addicted to Facebook, Twitter … OCD ~ Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? Or Obsessive Communication Disorder?

I have OCD. OCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
According to the news this morning more and more people in Britain are suffering from OCD, but it’s not OCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, it’s Obsessive Communication Disorder!

Apparently Britain is now a nation obsessed with personal communication, whether it’s posting a status on their Facebook wall, tweeting on Twitter, sending emails, or sending texts.

I read a news article (online ) this morning which mentioned one particular OCD Obsessive Communication Disorder sufferer, Kelly Maybin, who is so addicted to Facebook that despite the fact that she was driving on the M6 (slowly at 55mph) she used her mobile phone to check her account 15 times during a 30 minute drive. Not surprisingly, she lost control of her car.
I am saddened by how irresponsible and thoughtless she was. Thankfully she didn’t seriously injure or kill any of the other road users, but that was clearly more down to luck than her driving skills.
Speaking about her addiction Kelly said, “Facebook is like a drug to me. I get a shiver of pleasure when I access the site and withdrawal symptoms when I try to stop.
“I was driving along knowing I shouldn’t be looking at my phone but finding it impossible to stop. I could have killed myself or someone else when I lost control of the car.
“I was too embarrassed to tell my boyfriend about nearly crashing when I saw him.
“He can’t get his head around my Facebook fixation and it’s hard for me to explain.”

Kelly Maybin (pictured above) joined Facebook two years ago, and at the height of her obsession she was spending up to 7 hours a day updating her status, checking what her 700 online ‘friends’ were doing, ‘poking’ them for a response, and searching for any new photos that may have been uploaded.
Kelly checked her Facebook account from her laptop or mobile phone whilst she was at home and when she was at work. She would check day or night, while she was eating or drinking, and even whilst in the bath or shower, or on the loo!
After Kelly lost control her car on the motorway she deleted her Facebook profile. Soon after she reportedly started shaking, crying, feeling restless, depressed, and suffering from headaches.
Kelly said, “I’m trying to control my use but find it impossible. It’s crazy and I need to see a doctor.
“There should be warnings on Facebook. It’s a problem that has uniquely affected my generation.”

Another Facebook addict who I remember reading about a while ago is Sarah Archer (pictured below). In 2008 Sarah, 19 was named Miss Portsmouth, but instead of using her new found notoriety to make real friends she made 5,000 Facebook ‘friends’.
During the height of her Facebook addiction, Sarah used to set her alarm to wake her up every 2 hours throughout the night so that she could check her account.
Sarah said, “Within six months Facebook had taken over my life. It’s like gambling - you get addicted to it.
“I logged in first thing every morning before brushing my teeth. I was nodding off in college lessons but all I could think about was my next Facebook fix.”

Modern life for many people means that as soon as we get up we are constantly bombarded with texts, emails, tweets, and even 24 hour rolling news feeds.
The latest figures show that we send two million emails every minute; almost three billion a day.
We send more than a billion text messages every week. We upload 1.5 million picture and video messages every day.
Apparently two million people sign up for a Facebook account every week.
6 billion minutes are sent on Facebook every day.
65 million users access Facebook on their mobile phones.
2 billion photos are uploaded on to Facebook every day.
130 is the average number of friends of a Facebook user.
Twitter users have an average of 126 followers.

Facebook is one of the most popular social networking websites, as is Twitter despite or maybe because of it’s limited 140 character status; tweet, limit.
Facebook and Twitter are great ways for many people to easily keep in touch with their family and friends, as well as plan important events, play games, and send virtual gifts.
Twitter is especially popular with celebrities who like to keep their fans in the loop about the interesting, and not so interesting, events in their lives.
Stephen Fry and the Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s wife Sarah are among Britain’s most popular Tweeters. They both post up to 20 tweets every day, and Sarah has recently seen her number of Twitter followers overtake Stephen’s followers.
Stephen Fry and Sarah Brown are not the only celebrities with lots of followers.
Here’s a list of the top ten British Twitter users ~

1. Coldplay ~ 2,080,601 followers
2. Lily Allen ~ 1,658,904 followers
3. Pete Cashmore (Scottish technology blogger) ~ 1,640,866 followers
4. Samantha Ronson (on/off lover of Lindsay Lohan) ~ 1,260,488 followers
5. Neil Gaiman (Author) ~ 1,232,013 followers
6. Imogen Heap (Singer) ~ 1,196,379 followers
7. Sarah Brown ~ 876,653 followers
8. Stephen Fry ~ 874,184 followers
9. Jonathan Ross ~ 431,416 followers
10. Katie Price (Jordan) ~ 413,276 followers

The fame industry seems to be split at the moment on its opinion of Facebook and Twitter, with some celebrities being actively encouraged by their employers to constantly tweet about what they are doing, while other celebrities have reportedly been discouraged from tweeting.
There are several reports of high profile celebrities, including Cameron Diaz, having a clause written in to their contracts which bans them from tweeting in case they give away too much information about their current or upcoming projects!

Celebrities are not the only people being banned from using social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. In September Theo Paphitis, of Dragons Den, banned all of his employees from using Facebook at work.
Earlier this year Portsmouth City Council also issued a Facebook ban after they discovered that their employees were logging on up to 270,000 times a month.

While the male population make up a large number of social networking website users, according to a report last year by media regulator Ofcom, females aged between 25 and 49 had overtaken men and were spending the most time on the internet.
Another statistic claims that half of young people in Britain from the ages of 8 to 17 have their profile on a social networking website.

For those Brits who feel they may need help with their Facebook, Twitter, or other social networking website addiction, the first therapy centre to treat internet addiction opened in Seattle earlier this year, and I’m sure it won’t be too long before a centre is opened in Britain too!

I spend quite a lot of time on Facebook, but I’ve also spent several years travelling, meeting lots of new people, going out with family and friends having a great time socialising and thoroughly enjoying life to the full, and I’ve got a good excuse for spending so many hours online - I’m an old lady!
I think it’s quite sad that there are so many young people living life shut away indoors behind a computer screen. Whatever happened to going out and interacting with people in the real world?
Social Networking Websites? Maybe they should be called Antisocial sites?

As I said at the beginning of this post I have OCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
I also have various social networking accounts, including Facebook, Twiter, and Myspace.
So, do I also have OCD Obsessive Communication Disorder?
I haven’t got time to think about that now, I’ve got to go and look at my Facebook wall - I haven’t checked it for at least 30 minutes!

Posted on Zeitgeist

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