An eyebrow-raising article in the 20 June issue of the Telegraph (UK) describes how one psychiatrist, Dr. Jerald Block, has declared Internet addiction to be a psychiatric disorder.
"Sufferers spend unhealthy amounts of time playing online games, viewing pornography or emailing.
"They suffer four symptoms: They forget to eat and sleep; they need more advanced technology or more hours online as they develop 'resistance' to the pleasure given by their current system; if they are deprived of their computer, they experience genuine withdrawal symptoms; And in common with other addictions, the victims also begin to have more arguments, to suffer fatigue, to get lower marks in tests and to feel isolated from society."
Does this describe any of you?
UPDATE: The original URL for this article is http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2152972/Internet-addiction-is-a-'clinical-disorder'.html
Check out some of the reader comments. Some of them are listed below - there are many more following the article.
Posted by Matthew on June 24, 2008 10:55 AM
Kimberly, cancel your internet.
Posted by Kimberly on June 23, 2008 12:55 PM
All I know is I can't get my daughter to anything when she's on the internet... "in a minute..." turns into 7 or 8 hours sometimes. And if I try to limit the time, she grows horns and actually makes me fear for my safety a little bit... Putting ANYTHING in front of your responsibility to the point of negative responses qualifies as an addiction at some level. Those of you who said "everything in moderation" are exactly right. An hour or so a day? No biggie. 7 or 8 hours and heaps of laundry that never get done and a filthy room and no job (because I'm looking on-line) and shirked responsibilities - there's a problem. Hey, if I drink a beer or two every day - no problem. But, if I indulge in a case of beer every day and scream at anyone who tries to take it away from me - I might be an addict...
Posted by Joseph on June 21, 2008 12:51 PM
As a consulting psychiatrist may I acknowledge that sometimes our colleagues embarrass us with their stupidity. A very provocative psychiatrist some years ago wrote an article published in a famous British journal titled "Bad Habits are Not Diseases". Maybe that renowned journal should republish the article, just substituting the term "internet" for the previous "bad habit". But we also must admit that you achieve much more publicity by drawing attention to yourself even if you say something ridiculous - and drawing attention is usually the real game that is being played.
Posted by Kim on June 22, 2008 12:39 PM
Horse hockey!! The internet is the last bastion of freedom of the press and true information. The global elite and military/industrial/pharmaceutical complex don't want an educated populace. The old soviet union used psychiatry to label dissidents with a "mental disorder" as an excuse to send them to the gulags. Enough already!
Posted by Jeff on June 22, 2008 11:42 AM
My online shrink said said there was no such thing as internet addiction! He says our 5 hours daily sessions are completely normal.
Posted by Susan Woods on June 22, 2008 09:41 AM
Who benefits by adding another label to serve for another product? Why do they want us to take their pills again?
I'd rather vaporize my cannabis and research the Internet, than drink beer & watch tv.
Sorry establishment, I'm still not still not convinced! lol
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