Addiction to internet 'is an illness'

[Mugu]

The Observer, David Smith technology correspondent
Sunday March 23 2008

Tense? Angry? Can't get online? Internet addiction is now a serious public health issue that should be officially recognised as a clinical disorder, according to a leading psychiatrist.

Excessive gaming, viewing online pornography, emailing and text messaging have been identified as causes of a compulsive-impulsive disorder by Dr Jerald Block, author of an editorial for the respected American Journal of Psychiatry. Block argues that the disorder is now so common that it merits inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the profession's primary resource to categorise and diagnose mental illnesses. He says internet addiction has four main components:

· Excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives;

· Withdrawal, including feelings of anger, tension and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible;

· The need for better computers, more software, or more hours of use;

· Negative repercussions, including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation and fatigue.


Complete article at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/23/news.internet

[Richard D]

1. Hello, my name is Richard . . .

[Mika]

2. As demonstrated in GD Primaries.

;)

[rurallib]

3. Well given a choice between the wife and the internet

All I can say is I wish her well.

[cliffordu]

4. That's nothing to get too upset over.

I'm and chronic alcoholic and a drug addict, in recovery.

I'm not going to stick a gun in your face or wreck your car because I've had too much innernet for the day....

Well, maybe if I spend too much time at DU on the GD-P board.

Then all bets are off, motherf*cker. Gimme that wallet.

[Kolesar]

7. I think reading news stories and trading analysis with DU posters is intellectual

...and a function of civic involvement. Good luck with your recovery :hi: Be strong

[seemslikeadream]

5. coffee anyone?

[aquart]

8. Another addiction.

With half and half, please.

[lonestarnot]

6. Tubes disease? Nets nuts? Carpal Tunnel twister? Wha?

[Rex]

9. Oh yawn, tell us something we didn't know.

Sounds like someone got torn apart in a online forum and now is pissed off. Block the Noob.

[undergroundpanther]

10. Taken as an addiction

what are people addicted to online?
Escape from lonely overworked stressful lives, lives without empathy.


The ACE Study provides
population-based clinical evidence that unrecognized adverse childhood experiences are a major, if not the major, determinant of who turns to psychoactive materials and becomes ‘addicted’.

Given that the conventional concept of addiction is seriously flawed, and that we have presented strong evidence for an alternative explanation, we propose giving up our old mechanistic explanation of addiction in favor of one that explains it in terms of its
psychodynamics: unconscious although understandable decisions being made to seek chemical relief from the ongoing effects of old trauma, often at the cost of accepting future health risk.

Expressions like ‘self-destructive behavior’ are misleading and should be dropped because, while describing the acceptance of long-term risk, they overlook the importance of the obvious short-term benefits that drive the use of these substances.
This revised concept of addiction suggests new approaches to primary prevention and treatment. The current public health approach of repeated cautionary warnings has demonstrated its limitations, perhaps because the cautions do not respect the individual
when they exhort change without understanding.


Adverse childhood experiences are widespread and typically unrecognized. These experiences produce neurodevelopmental and emotional damage, and impair social and school performance. By adolescence,
children have a sufficient skill and independence to seek relief through a small number of mechanisms, many of which have been in use since biblical times: drinking alcohol, sexual promiscuity, smoking tobacco, using psychoactive materials, and overeating.
These coping devices are manifestly effective for their users... Read more..

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:jBjx-X49uRUJ:www.acestudy.org/files/OriginsofAddiction.pdf+ace+study+addictions&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a

[kineneb]

11. also called "dual-diagnosis"

underlying problem being covered by self-medication

never tried drugs, just abused myself internally... still working out the problems at 49...

now back away from my cable modem and no one will get hurt...
;-)