It turns out that arguably the most important invention of the 20th century could be hazardous to your mental health. The Internet has connected people, fueled an economic boom, democratized information and filled countless hours with endless entertainment, but some users may be too connected for their own good. Researches continue to debate whether Internet addiction is a proper mental health diagnosis, but some countries, such as China, already have a massive intervention infrastructure in place to deal with the problem.
History
The term "Internet addiction" gained formal use at a conference of the American Psychological Association in 1996, according to a 2006 study published by the American Medical Association. At the time, "Internet addiction" simply replaced "gambling addiction" in already available literature and peer-reviewed studies in an attempt to spur debate on the possibility of a new diagnosis. The pattern of behaviors associated with Internet addiction were taken directly from the entry for "Pathological Gambling" in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Vol. 4.
Symptoms
For a behavior to be diagnosed as a disorder, the behavior must negatively affect other aspects of the patient's life or render the day-to-day activity dysfunctional. Internet-addicted patients display obsessive use that increases over time and an inability to control the behavior. A patient may feel euphoric while engaging in Internet surfing and lie about his usage to family and friends. If he is a student, he may neglect his studies, or if he is working, late nights online could negatively affect job performance.
Diagnosis
In order for a new diagnosis to be included in the DSM, it must be accompanied by symptoms that result in some form of impairment or undue distress while also presenting in ways that are unique from other diagnoses already included in the manual.
Doctors at the National Health Insurance Corporation in South Korea, which has, like other Asian countries, been at the forefront of the debate surrounding Internet addiction, have begun using functional magnetic resonance imaging to monitor real-time brain activity in students who have been diagnosed with Internet addiction. Their findings, presented at the annual American Psychiatric Association meeting in 2009, showed significantly different frontal lobe activity in the study group but lacked a firm interpretation of those results.
Debate
Dr. Vaughan Bell, a research fellow with the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, argues that the Internet addiction, as a concept, doesn't make sense as it is a communications medium and not an activity. He suggests that when people use the Internet obsessively, it is more likely a function of an underlying diagnosis such as depression or social anxiety.
The question of whether Internet addiction is a distinct disease or a condition owing to underlying diagnoses is at the heart of the debate surrounding the possible inclusion of the diagnosis in the DVM-V set for publication in 2013.
Treatment Strategies
Treatment includes the use of psychotropic drugs and possibly hospitalization. In China, where the Internet population has grown from just fewer than 700,000 in the late 1990s to more than 330 million as of 2009, there is an extensive network of inpatient care facilities devoted solely to the treatment of Internet addiction, according to an expose in Wired magazine's February 2010 issue.
The facilities have come under fire from international activists for the harsh methods employed and the number of deaths reported at the so-called camps. The Chinese government began cracking down on unlicensed facilities attempting to capitalize on the hysteria surrounding Internet addiction by sending a number of camp staffers to prison after the beating death of a patient at a facility in the Guangxi province.
References
- Canadian Medical Association Journal: Internet Addiction: New Age Diagnosis?
- Virginia Tech: Internet Addiction Disorder: Causes, Symptoms and Consequences
- Wired: Obsessed with the Internet: A Tale from China
- International Development Research Centre: Internet Addiction in Asia: Reality or Myth?
- Seattle Times: 11 Signs of Internet Addiction
