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[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]
A quiet restaurant. Good wine. An animated conversation. Then, mid-sentence, you catch him steal a quick sideways downward glance at his BlackBerry. And the nickname "CrackBerry" comes to mind. You might think: for some, the Internet is an addiction.
Well, as psychology experts ramp up to publish the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a debate has begun on whether to include Internet addiction in the next big book of mental illness. This month the Canadian Medical Association Journal published an article weighing both sides.
Kimberly Young, director of The Center for Internet Addiction, says that while it might not be a well-defined illness, those who spend excessive amounts of time online suffer the same issues as other addicts, including lost jobs, broken marriages, or financial problems. Young says if it’s the cause of major issues in your life, then you have a problem.
But Vaughan Bell, at the department of neuroscience at King’s College London, says that the Internet is not an activity and so can’t be an addiction. He acknowledges that people can spend excessive time online, perhaps as an escape from depression or anxiety, but to label the use of the Web as the central problem or an addiction does a disservice. His concern is that the focus needs to be on the real illness, not on the “medium of communication.”
Of course, maybe some thought needs to be turned the many different activities one can do on the Web. Pornography and gambling, for instance, are well-known addictions.
In any event both Young and Bell admit that research on Internet addiction is limited and inconsistent, so far. And for that reason Bell says it will be tough to support its addition to the list of new afflictions.
—Christie Nicholson
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9 Comments
Add CommentI find the fact I'm reading this on the internet ironic. Why do we have to separately label different addictions? I can understand there being categories like Chemical Addiction and Psychological Addiction, but why make an Internet Addiction, a Pornographic Addiction, a Gambling Addiction?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy not just "He has a psychological addiction to the internet", most span from the same things and have the same effect, it's like making each virus that causes the common cold it's own category.
What about "Internet Compulsion?" Someone who has an aversion to dirt may clean their house compulsively, but it's not considered a Cleaning addiction... or is it? I think that one of the biggest contributing factors in an internet addiction is the idea of "missing out" in this era of instant information. Unplugging is too unbearable for some, since they might possibly miss being the first to know something, regardless of how trivial. Is it possible to be addicted to being informed?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy do you think it is www or world wide waste of time.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDo more research. Yes, for our own and others' sanity, we must categorize and easily reference things (@ Gage). And that surely satisfies a need. However, the Internet is not a compulsion associated with a need (@ NebulousIntent). The Internet can only help satisfy some need. How well it does that is the question. In the case of Pornography, it seems to. The most important question is how much time does it take the Internet to satisfy one's need(s), whether real or imgained? Kimberley Yound should therefore continue working on the issue of time in relation to the Internet. However, Vaughan Bell seems to need to take a course in categorization (Cognitive Psychology), and how it tends to satisfy a deep human need.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisgood point
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thissometimes with the internet ,it is not easy to leave aside
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHello. Sometimes the things like too much time spending in the internet is not an addiction, but it definitely is not good. I think I have such a problem and I was thinking how to solve it. In general I have my own blog (I know it is also related), but there is a big difference between useless and useful time in internet. I am writing more about that in my blog: http://epsychologist.wordpress.com/
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHello, I think "internet addiction" maybe is not addiction, however it is not so good as well. I am writing the blog about self-help, and I think lots of people have some kind of addiction. I found that sometimes I waste lots of time in internet. So I decided to stop with that. However the blog: http://epsychologist.wordpress.com/ is not waisting of time, because there is big difference between useless and useful time spend in internet.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe good point is that internet addiction can be treated clinically, and the affected person can get rid of the obsession. Check for resources at http://www.internet-addiction-expert.com/
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