Internet deprivation feels ‘like having [a] hand chopped off,’ study says

In the newest research to show that we have all become so Internet dependent that we may as well be robots, a study reported that 53 percent of us feel upset when denied access to the Internet and 40 percent feel lonely if we are unable to go online.

The researchers quizzed 1,000 British participants about how they felt after going 24 hours without any access to Internet technology, the Daily Mail reported.

One person surveyed said that being deprived of the internet was “like having my hand chopped off.” Others said it was akin to giving up drinking and smoking. Many of them experienced feelings of sadness or loneliness even if denied online access for a short time.

Is it scary that their descriptions don’t sound all that bizarre?

The survey, carried out by consumer research firm Intersperience, comes after a study this year by University of Maryland scientists that determined that many of us suffer withdrawal symptoms when we go without our gadgets, and research this year by Columbia University psychologists that found that the use of the Google search engine is rewiring our brains.