Billosaur writes "Over at The Register, Dr Stephen Juan has this interesting article on Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). Apparently this has been around since at least 1995 and there are those lobbying for it to be included in the DSM-IV. While some people use the Internet a lot for work or to keep in touch with family & friends as well as banking and bill-paying, it's interesting to thing that some people actually become addicted. There's still a lot of controversy over the diagnosis, whether this is true addiction or not. There is more detailed information available in this paper from Viriginia Tech."
Tubes? What about the boob-tube? I spend a lot of time on the internet. By the same token, I spend almost no time watching television -- I see DVDs from time to time -- no cable, no antenna, just a DVD player connected to the TV, and yeah, call me an elitist I don't care. Anyway, why does the internet get bashed for being addicting, but television doesn't? Some people watch 5 or 6 hours of TV each day and yet I rarely see articles about how addictive TV is. "Internet Addiction" is just another way to bash the net as an evil place by those who either don't understand its utility, or don't want people to understand its utility.
television does get bashed for being addictive, but this report is about the internet, not TV.
""Internet Addiction" is just another way to bash the net as an evil place by those who either don't understand its utility, or don't want people to understand its utility"
no, internet addiction is when people turn to the internet even to the point where it is harmfull to them financially or socially.
Why would you think the internet would be an exception to everything else when it comes to addictions?
What other addictions should be in the DSM-IV, if the requirement for inclusion is "financial or social harm"? Book reading addiction (I would be reading books if the Internet didnt exist)? Bad joke addiction? Bad hygiene addiction? Extreme sport addiction? Marriage addiction (which harms you financially AND socially)? Public service addiction? Scientific research addiction? Religious teaching addiction (though some financial profit)? Geek hobbies addiction? Military enlistment addiction?
The standard for
It may be worse than you think. According to this article I just read today [latimes.com], the average person watches 4 hours and 35 minutes of TV a day. If watching that much TV qualifies as addictive, then TV would have to qualify as most prevalent addiction out there.
Time spent doing something doesn't equal addictiveness. How many people neglect their family and their jobs staying up all night every night watching TV, compared to how many people do the same playing Everquest.
Apparently it's been around since at least 1995... It's like saying Car Wrecks have been happening since the early 20th century. Duh! That's about when it started!
I'm also addicted to my car. Darned if a day goes by that I don't use it to get somewhere too far to walk.
Just because you use something often doesn't mean it's an addiction.
If not driving causes you anxiety, then you're addicted.
Ditto for e-mail, browsing fark,/. or whatever other 'thing' on the internet that you just can't live without.
And you actually can get addicted to something like walking, running, biking or driving. Just because you aren't does not mean that others haven't been addicted.
Drugs - addictive. People will rob other people for money to buy drugs. People will prostitute themselves for money to buy drugs. People will even kill at times for money to buy drugs.
The Internet - Guys (since most of you are), how long would you have to go without email before you'd have sex with another guy for $5 so you could use an Internet Cafe? (That's if you wouldn't do it for free, anyway.)
Okay, so the Internet is NOT addictive the same way as drugs are.
Cigarettes. Those are addictive. Now, apply the same behavioural process. What would you do for money to buy cigarettes that you would not do for money to buy a CD?
Would you do the same thing(s) for 30 minutes of Internet access?
Okay, so the Internet is NOT addictive the same way cigarettes are.
And so on and so forth. Until you get to the point where the Internet is no more "addictive" than telephones or television or radio.
Because normal, adjusted people do not prostitute themselves so they can watch TV.
People watch TV even when it's determental to them, people call peolpe even when it's harmfull to them, and people listen to the radio even when it becomes harmfull to them.
Yes, they do.
But you're confusing the material being addictive with a person having an obsessive disorder.
And obsessive person will become "addicted" to anything.
The question is whether a non-obsessive person can become
Just because you use something often doesn't mean it's an addiction.
Just because you use/do something often doesn't imply that there aren't people who become obssesed with that something. Ever talk to a hard core auto racer? Better be conversant about tires and spring rates, because that's likely the only thing in her head.
On the other hand, you ever start to get the impression that there are people obessesed with labeling every obsession as a clinical addiction? Well, that is to say every obsession they do
Just because you use something often doesn't mean it's an addiction.
Do you derive great satisfaction solely from driving your car, and increasingly think only of your next opportunity to drive the longer it has been since your last drive? Do you start fidgeting and having nervous fits the longer you are away from your car?
Do other areas of your life start to suffer because you are out driving your car, for no other reason than to simply be driving?
Assume you are on vacation, are fully stocked up on supplies
I'm addicted to calling everything and anything that people enjoy doing an addiction. I get wads of cash for treating these so-called addictions, and I have a powerful co-enabler called the pharmaceutical industry telling me it's all okay and I should keep doing it. What should I do?
Signed, I'll take 'The Rapists' for $500, Alex.
(Please, if there are any psychologists or psychiatrists who read Slashdot, don't have me committed. It's a joke, m'kay?)
Consider the more detailed paper, with s/Internet/foo/ applied:
To be diagnosed as having foo Addiction Disorder, a person must meet certain criteria as prescribed by the American Psychiatric Association. Three or more of these criteria must be present at any time during a twelve month period:
2. Two or more withdrawal symptoms developing within days to one month after reduction of foo or cessation of foo (i.e., quitting cold turkey) , and these must cause distress or impair social, personal or occupational functioning. These include: psychomotor agitation, i.e. trembling, tremors; anxiety; obsessive thinking about what is happening with respect to foo; fantasies or dreams about foo; voluntary or involuntary imitation of the movements characteristic of foo.
(the mere act of thinking about foo while not engaged in foo presumably qualifies as "fantasies")
3. Use of the Internet is engaged in to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.
(if thinking about foo qualifies as withdrawal, then engaging in foo qualifies as relief of withdrawal)
5. A significant amount of time is spent in activities related to foo.
By this standard of addiction, any activity which one both considers ("fantasies") and practices, and which occupies a significant amount of time (even if it's simply liesure time), qualifies as an addiction.
Really, it's pretty pitiful. It looks like all the "research" entailed was to substitute the word "internet" for "alcohol". Here are just a few of their "symptoms":
* Internet engagement used as a way of escaping problems or relieving feelings of guilt, helplessness, anxiety, or depression. * Concealing from or lying to family members about the extent of internet use. * Internet user driven to financial difficulty due to incurring unaffordable internet fees.
Isn't that last one just teh stupid? It's cribbed word-for-word from a typical symptom of alcholism, as are the rest.
Even if there are still ISPs in the world that charge by the MB, it just doesn't fly. Now, if they were talking about "unexpected" credit card charges, maybe... but pr0n addiction.NE. internet "addiction".
I couldn't stand the thought of being without internet in any part of my house, so I had a seperate DSL line hooked up to every room in the place. A short time later, a friend tried to explain to me the concept of hubs and switches, but I was too drunk on the internet to understand.
The $400 per month fees are terrible, but at least I have plenty of bandwidth.
I have three possible counter arguments. 1. Let's say you're addicted to a certain facet of the internet, such as porn, MMORPG, ebay, whatever. If you're an alcohol addict but you primarily spend all of your money on Bacardi Rum, does that make you a Bacardi addict?
2. I think the root of the issue is that people are addicted to the interconnectedness, the constant flow of information, the need to be 'in' on something because you feel like you'd be missing out, whether it's a WoW raid or usenet discussion, i
I think there's also an as yet undiscussed "Fetal Internet Syndrome"...
My friends new Windows box is addicted, and it was never exposed, new from the store... computers with this syndrome have serious mental lapses if they can't get on the Internet to chat with Microsoft in the first thiry days after being turned on, and on a regular basis after that.
I'm addicted to talking to people. I do it every freaking day, no matter how hard I try to give up! If I go a whole day without talking to someone, I feel bad about life. It's crippling my ability to get anything done....
On the other hand, where there's a problem there's money to be made prolonging the solution.
Dr R.D. MD, BA, MIEEE Internet Councilor Book now, only $932,377 per session!
I'm not a medical person so perhaps there is some criteria I'm not familiar with, but isn't addictive behavior pretty much the same regardless of what someone is addicted to? Is the question whether the "addiction" is chemically based vs. simply being socially based? (For example, if a nerd likes playing Quake for 16 hours a day instead of interacting normally with the human race, does that constitute addiction or just different mental software?)
I mean really, if addiction is defined as depending on the chemicals that are generated when we feel "good" wouldn't an excess of ANYTHING that makes us feel "good" be a candidate for a cause? And wouldn't it be expected that potential causes of addiction depend on the individual? Some are obvious and would impact virtually anyone (chemical manipulation) but other behaviors which don't directly alter mood via chemical means I would intuitively expect to be more subtle.
Heh, maybe anti-social people (not the angry, dangerous wackos but those who are just indifferent to and/or dislike social situations) would argue that the rest of us are addicted to social interaction.;-) The rest of us would probably take issue with that, but really what objective criteria would be used to have the argument?
Anybody with a medical degree around here that can point to some definitive definition of the word "addiction" and what it means, medically?
The general terms you are looking for are physiological and psychological addiction - the former meaning there is some physical componant (like alcohol or nicotine), and the later meaning there is only a mental componant. It's generally assumed that all physical addiction entails some degree of psychological dependancy as well, whereas not all psychological addictions require an external chemical componant. Yes it is completely possible to become addicted to damn near anything even remotely enjoyable. You
A need for an ever increasing amount of time on the internet to achieve satisfaction or a dissatisfaction with the continued use of the same amount of time on the internet.
As my work gets more and more complicated, and my programs longer and longer, I end up only achieving satisfaction when I've spent more than the usual amount of time in front of the computer.
Two or more withdrawal symptoms developing within days, weeks, or up to a month after a reduction or cessation of internet use. These include
I'm in the process of moving to a new house out in the boondocks. The amazing thing is that broadband is available there, in the form of DSL. The annoying thing is that the bandwidth is badly restricted, 512Kbps downstream max. I'll become so annoyed with performance there that I come back to my place in the city and do my multimedia surfing there. I think part of the addictive effect the article describes is simply because of the volume and quantity of information available, as well as the interactivity
How many people spend all their spare time glued to TV? Internet and even MMORG addicts lead comparatively more productive lives by staying in touch with friends, creating new content and reading/watching stuff way more meaningful than TV programming. Unless one actually gets out of all manmade stuff and takes a walk in the woods, is living in virtual reality really any worse than how most people spend time?
and the reason is, internet provides me with the limitless possibility of socialization without the burden of spending too much time seeking out who to socialize with, and also prevents the danger of getting into dangerous places while socializing. AND without barring, hampering my daily life.
If this is an addiction, we need more addiction in this world.
Apparently this has been around since at least 1995 and there are those lobbying for it to be included in the DSM-IV.
Wonderful. Is there any recent drug patent for treating Internet addiction?
I mean, now there are drugs for treating "social anxiety disorder" -- apparantly now being shy or introverted is a disorder in ther DSM-IV, right? And that disorder requires treatment by expensive prescription drugs (the R&D of which was probably paid for by your tax dollars to boot). That and other so-called "dis
Depressed? Get over it. Stop sitting around inside in a dark room all day. Go hiking! Skiing! Swimming! Skydiving! Work out!
That might work for a lot of people who just think they're depressed because it's the new thing on TV. If somebody truly is clinically depressed, they *can't* leave that dark room. It's not for lack of wanting - but the depression just prevents them from doing anything.
IAD is a sham. The original test instruments 'developed' by young inclided items lifted right from similar instruments for gambling and substance abuse, with such gems as (paraphrase, I don't have the original measure handy) 'do you often use the internet by yourself?' and more than 10 hours a week as unhealthy. The criteria listed here http://www.psycom.net/iadcriteria.html [psycom.net] are similarly laughable: "(e) voluntary or involuntary typing movements of the fingers".
And, perhaps the crux: "(VII) Internet use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical, family, social, occupational, or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by Internet use (e.g., sleep deprivation, marital difficulties, lateness for early morning appointments, neglect of occupational duties, or feelings of abandonment in significant others)"
I'm not saying there aren't people out there with problems, but you don't create a new disorder for every new communication/information tool. Do we have telephone addiction disorder? fax machine addiction disorder? television addiction disorder? Hey, I know, lets make a myspace addiction disorder and a friendster addiction disorder and a slash-- er wait.
sleep dep, maritial difficulties and the like are signs of other disorders, like depression. (or just a general state of distress).
The 'article' linked by the submitter is fluff, there is nothing empirical in it. It is also missing nearly 9 years of critiques of IAD. Why did this submission happen?
of course not. the nerve to actually suggest that i'm addicted!
I can stop any time that I want to. In fact, after I finish submitting this post, linking to it from my del.icio.us account, blogging about it, making a video mash up of some select sounds from the blog post and uploading it to youtube and google video and visiting Zefrank's page for the 20th time today, i'll work on my network programming thing that's been pending for the last 2 months.
I'm TOTALLY in control of my life. thankyouverymuch./p?
Internet? (Score:3, Funny)
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Re:Internet? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Internet? (Score:5, Insightful)
""Internet Addiction" is just another way to bash the net as an evil place by those who either don't understand its utility, or don't want people to understand its utility"
no, internet addiction is when people turn to the internet even to the point where it is harmfull to them financially or socially.
Why would you think the internet would be an exception to everything else when it comes to addictions?
Parent
What other addictions... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
It may be worse than you think. According to this article I just read today [latimes.com], the average person watches 4 hours and 35 minutes of TV a day. If watching that much TV qualifies as addictive, then TV would have to qualify as most prevalent addiction out there.
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is the title a rhetorical question? (Score:5, Insightful)
The answer is so obviously "yes" in this audience. Was there any doubt? Why even ask?
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I love it... (Score:4, Insightful)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ward_(scientist
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I know I am (Score:5, Insightful)
Just because you use something often doesn't mean it's an addiction.
Re:I know I am (Score:5, Insightful)
Ditto for e-mail, browsing fark,
And you actually can get addicted to something like walking, running, biking or driving. Just because you aren't does not mean that others haven't been addicted.
Parent
Let's look at behaviour. (Score:4, Insightful)
The Internet - Guys (since most of you are), how long would you have to go without email before you'd have sex with another guy for $5 so you could use an Internet Cafe? (That's if you wouldn't do it for free, anyway.)
Okay, so the Internet is NOT addictive the same way as drugs are.
Cigarettes. Those are addictive. Now, apply the same behavioural process. What would you do for money to buy cigarettes that you would not do for money to buy a CD?
Would you do the same thing(s) for 30 minutes of Internet access?
Okay, so the Internet is NOT addictive the same way cigarettes are.
And so on and so forth. Until you get to the point where the Internet is no more "addictive" than telephones or television or radio.
Parent
The material is not addictive. (Score:3, Insightful)
Because normal, adjusted people do not prostitute themselves so they can watch TV.
Yes, they do.
But you're confusing the material being addictive with a person having an obsessive disorder.
And obsessive person will become "addicted" to anything.
The question is whether a non-obsessive person can become
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Absolutely!
I'm not addicted.
I only use it for legitimate, work-related purposes!
Certainly I wouldn't be reading slashdot in the middle of the day when I'm supposed to be working or anything!
I can quit any time I want.
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Just because you use/do something often doesn't imply that there aren't people who become obssesed with that something. Ever talk to a hard core auto racer? Better be conversant about tires and spring rates, because that's likely the only thing in her head.
On the other hand, you ever start to get the impression that there are people obessesed with labeling every obsession as a clinical addiction? Well, that is to say every obsession they do
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Do you derive great satisfaction solely from driving your car, and increasingly think only of your next opportunity to drive the longer it has been since your last drive? Do you start fidgeting and having nervous fits the longer you are away from your car?
Do other areas of your life start to suffer because you are out driving your car, for no other reason than to simply be driving?
Assume you are on vacation, are fully stocked up on supplies
Help! I've got Addiction Addiction (Score:5, Funny)
I'm addicted to calling everything and anything that people enjoy doing an addiction. I get wads of cash for treating these so-called addictions, and I have a powerful co-enabler called the pharmaceutical industry telling me it's all okay and I should keep doing it. What should I do?
Signed,
I'll take 'The Rapists' for $500, Alex.
(Please, if there are any psychologists or psychiatrists who read Slashdot, don't have me committed. It's a joke, m'kay?)
Parent
Re:I know I am (Score:5, Interesting)
To be diagnosed as having foo Addiction Disorder, a person must meet certain
criteria as prescribed by the American Psychiatric Association. Three or more of these
criteria must be present at any time during a twelve month period:
2. Two or more withdrawal symptoms developing within days to one month after
reduction of foo or cessation of foo (i.e., quitting cold turkey) , and these
must cause distress or impair social, personal or occupational functioning. These include:
psychomotor agitation, i.e. trembling, tremors; anxiety; obsessive thinking about what is
happening with respect to foo; fantasies or dreams about foo; voluntary or involuntary
imitation of the movements characteristic of foo.
(the mere act of thinking about foo while not engaged in foo presumably qualifies as "fantasies")
3. Use of the Internet is engaged in to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.
(if thinking about foo qualifies as withdrawal, then engaging in foo qualifies as relief of withdrawal)
5. A significant amount of time is spent in activities related to foo.
By this standard of addiction, any activity which one both considers ("fantasies") and practices, and which occupies a significant amount of time (even if it's simply liesure time), qualifies as an addiction.
Seems like a pretty broken definition to me.
Parent
Re:I know I am (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Symptoms list is s/alcohol/internet (Score:5, Insightful)
Isn't that last one just teh stupid? It's cribbed word-for-word from a typical symptom of alcholism, as are the rest.
Even if there are still ISPs in the world that charge by the MB, it just doesn't fly. Now, if they were talking about "unexpected" credit card charges, maybe... but pr0n addiction
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The $400 per month fees are terrible, but at least I have plenty of bandwidth.
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1. Let's say you're addicted to a certain facet of the internet, such as porn, MMORPG, ebay, whatever. If you're an alcohol addict but you primarily spend all of your money on Bacardi Rum, does that make you a Bacardi addict?
2. I think the root of the issue is that people are addicted to the interconnectedness, the constant flow of information, the need to be 'in' on something because you feel like you'd be missing out, whether it's a WoW raid or usenet discussion, i
Maybe yes, maybe no... (Score:5, Funny)
"Fetal Internet Syndrome" (Score:5, Funny)
My friends new Windows box is addicted, and it was never exposed, new from the store... computers with this syndrome have serious mental lapses if they can't get on the Internet to chat with Microsoft in the first thiry days after being turned on, and on a regular basis after that.
-- Terry
One sign of addiction (Score:5, Funny)
Re:One sign of addiction (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
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Re:One sign of addiction (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Right (Score:2)
On the other hand, where there's a problem there's money to be made prolonging the solution.
Dr R.D. MD, BA, MIEEE
Internet Councilor
Book now, only $932,377 per session!
Can't ANYTHING be addictive? (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean really, if addiction is defined as depending on the chemicals that are generated when we feel "good" wouldn't an excess of ANYTHING that makes us feel "good" be a candidate for a cause? And wouldn't it be expected that potential causes of addiction depend on the individual? Some are obvious and would impact virtually anyone (chemical manipulation) but other behaviors which don't directly alter mood via chemical means I would intuitively expect to be more subtle.
Heh, maybe anti-social people (not the angry, dangerous wackos but those who are just indifferent to and/or dislike social situations) would argue that the rest of us are addicted to social interaction.
Anybody with a medical degree around here that can point to some definitive definition of the word "addiction" and what it means, medically?
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- Jumping off of very tall cliffs
- Swimming with hungry sharks
- Watching "Dancing with the Stars"
Especially the last one; eventually I would have no choice but to poke out my eyeballs or go swim with some hungry sharks or something.
Corrections (Score:3, Interesting)
Jacques Cousteau, Steve Irwin (RIP), etc.
Somebody's watching it. Otherwise, they're wasting the cable!!!
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Yes it is completely possible to become addicted to damn near anything even remotely enjoyable. You
Professionals... (Score:2)
A need for an ever increasing amount of time on the internet to achieve satisfaction or a dissatisfaction with the continued use of the same amount of time on the internet.
As my work gets more and more complicated, and my programs longer and longer, I end up only achieving satisfaction when I've spent more than the usual amount of time in front of the computer.
Two or more withdrawal symptoms developing within days, weeks, or up to a month after a reduction or cessation of internet use. These include
addicted to broadband (Score:2)
I think part of the addictive effect the article describes is simply because of the volume and quantity of information available, as well as the interactivity
Less of a "disorder" than 75% of americans (Score:3, Interesting)
Like my friends who take drugs say. (Score:5, Insightful)
I just dont want to, and you arent going to convince me to stop.
OF COURSE im addicted to internet (Score:2)
If this is an addiction, we need more addiction in this world.
There must be a new patented drug for it (Score:2)
Wonderful. Is there any recent drug patent for treating Internet addiction?
I mean, now there are drugs for treating "social anxiety disorder" -- apparantly now being shy or introverted is a disorder in ther DSM-IV, right? And that disorder requires treatment by expensive prescription drugs (the R&D of which was probably paid for by your tax dollars to boot). That and other so-called "dis
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
That might work for a lot of people who just think they're depressed because it's the new thing on TV. If somebody truly is clinically depressed, they *can't* leave that dark room. It's not for lack of wanting - but the depression just prevents them from doing anything.
No. (Score:4, Informative)
And, perhaps the crux: "(VII) Internet use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical, family, social, occupational, or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by Internet use (e.g., sleep deprivation, marital difficulties, lateness for early morning appointments, neglect of occupational duties, or feelings of abandonment in significant others)"
I'm not saying there aren't people out there with problems, but you don't create a new disorder for every new communication/information tool. Do we have telephone addiction disorder? fax machine addiction disorder? television addiction disorder? Hey, I know, lets make a myspace addiction disorder and a friendster addiction disorder and a slash-- er wait.
sleep dep, maritial difficulties and the like are signs of other disorders, like depression. (or just a general state of distress).
The 'article' linked by the submitter is fluff, there is nothing empirical in it. It is also missing nearly 9 years of critiques of IAD. Why did this submission happen?
I learned it from watching you, Dad! (Score:5, Funny)
Winstons taste good (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
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of course not. the nerve to actually suggest that i'm addicted!
I can stop any time that I want to. In fact, after I finish submitting this post, linking to it from my del.icio.us account, blogging about it, making a video mash up of some select sounds from the blog post and uploading it to youtube and google video and visiting Zefrank's page for the 20th time today, i'll work on my network programming thing that's been pending for the last 2 months.
I'm TOTALLY in control of my life. thankyouverymuch./p?