Exit
behaviors around Internet usage.
A patient must also have a dual
diagnosis with another psychiatric
condition such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression or
anxiety in order to be diagnosed
with Internet Addiction Disorder.
Although the validity of Internet addiction as a legitimate mental health condition hasn’t always
been agreed upon, it’s now being taken seriously by the mental
health community, thanks in large
part to Young’s pioneering work in
the field. The most recent volume
of the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM-V), which consulted
Young’s expertise on the subject,
listed “Internet Use Disorder” and
Internet Gaming Disorder as subjects worthy of further study. Now
that more unified, accepted diagnostic criteria for these conditions are emerging, it’s likely that
the conditions will be classified as
clinical disorders in the next DSM
revision, Young explains.
Other countries, mainly in Asia,
have already begun taking serious
measures to address growing rates
of dependence on digital devices.
In China, Taiwan and Korea, as
much as 30 percent of the population may be experiencing prob-
TECH
HUFFINGTON
10.13.13
lematic Internet use, according to
the Center for Internet Addiction,
and China’s hospitals began opening special units for the treatment
of Internet addiction in 2008, the
Telegraph reports.
But even Internet users who
may not have an addiction still
frequently exhibit an unhealthy
dependence on digital devices that
could be interfering with their
work, lives and relationships. The
It’s like food addiction —
you’re learning new ways of
eating or new ways of using
the Internet, rather than a full
abstinence, 12-step program.”
average smartphone user checks
their device every six and a half
minutes (that’s 150 times a day)
and 50 percent of people aged
18-29 say that they use their
phone on the toilet, according to
a recent HuffPost/YouGov poll.
A 2012 study found that 66 percent of people are actually afraid
to lose or be separated from their
cell phone, while a University of
Maryland study even found that
college students forced to unplug
from their devices for 24 hours