Cyber-Relationship addiction is one impulse-control problem that is covered within Internet Addiction Disorder also known as (IAD). It has been supported through different theories and articles over the years such as Ramdhonee's, Psychological impact of internet usage on children and adolescents[41] and Young’s Internet addiction: Symptoms, evaluation and treatment.[31]
A Cyber-Relationship Addiction has been described as, the addiction to social networking in all forms. Social Networking such as Facebook, Online dating service such as Uniform Dating.com along with many other communication platforms, creating a place to communicate with new people. Virtual online friends start to gain more communication and importance over time to the person becoming more important than real-life family and friends.[23]
Cyber-Relationships are in essence a virtual relationship or form of communication between two people. Visuals are removed as it is communication through text, all you know of a person is what they are communicating to you and what is displayed on their profile. Some People, “will be attracted to the silent, less visually stimulating, non-tactile quality of text relationships - which may be true for some people struggling to contain the over-stimulation of past trauma. A person's ambivalence about intimacy may be expressed in text communication because it is a paradoxical blend of allowing people to be honest and feel close, while also maintaining their distance. People suffering with social anxiety or issues regarding shame and guilt may be drawn to text relationships because they cannot be seen. Some people even prefer text because it enables them to avoid the issue of physical appearance which they find distracting or irrelevant to the relationship. Without the distraction of in-person cues, they feel they can connect more directly to the mind and soul of the other person. Text becomes a transitional space, an extension of their mind that blends with the extension of the other person’s mind